Democracy is threatened by constraints on the mediaA new report by Irene Moss AO has found that Australia ranks behind New Zealand, Britain and Canada when it comes to freedom of the press, and the information citizens can get from government.This is shameful. Australia is a young and robust democracy. When it comes to media freedom, it should be second to none.Instead, journalists in this country work under absurd constraints, prevented from reporting anything that the government or the courts doesn’t want the public to know. It should pain you, the reader, to know that, at any one time, we in the media have in our possession facts about various matters that would make your hair curl. We can’t pass the information on because, at any one time, there are 1000 suppression orders in effect. To use one example: when gangland killer Carl Williams was found guilty of murder, the media was not allowed to report it for almost two years.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22708000-16382,00.html