Now, New Zealand’s 600 or so bloggers are invariably careless, partisan, malicious or deranged, and are generally incapable of seeing any difference between their views on any particular issue and someone else’s idea of “the facts”. Does that describe the political blogosphere?Ĭomment and fact must be distinguished. Will the same conflict of interest rules apply? Others have noted that the Statement of Principles includes a requirement to disclose any financial inducements and avoid obligations to news sources. How will it work for the others? The obvious first question is: what standards will apply? Surely bloggers won’t be expected to display the sort of balance that is supposed to be a staple of mainstream journalism. A prediction: if Whale Oil joins, he will withdraw in rage after the first complaint against him is upheld and make it his mission in life to ridicule and smear everyone associated with the Press Council, their children, neighbours, gardeners and pet labrador Boomer. What’s more, the Press Council cannot award damages or costs.īig bloggers such as Whale Oil, Public Address and Kiwiblog have indicated willingness to consider signing up. You can see why this waiver system might be bait for bloggers. This waiver is of very questionable legality – there’s a serious question about whether forcing complainants to forego their rights of access to court is void for public policy reasons – but it has never been challenged. Complaining is free, but complainants have to promise not to sue in court.
It may also help bloggers in arguing for source protection, exemption from the Privacy Act, and access to courtrooms and the Parliamentary Press Gallery, for example.Ī bigger attraction may be the waiver that many Press Council complainants are required to sign. Readers and sources may be more inclined to trust them if they know that standards are being enforced. They are journalists too, see? No longer the poor relations. What’s in it for them? Some may welcome the sense of legitimacy it bestows. For my part, I doubt there will be many bloggers who will want to pay hundreds of dollars to join. But will this do the trick? Will bloggers, for instance, want to join? Neville suggested on Radio New Zealand National’s Media Watch that subscription fees will be kept low – merely in the “hundreds” of dollars. “It’s important that a body set up to maintain high standards, and provide an avenue for reader complaints, keeps pace with those changes.” “The media world is changing and fragmenting,” says Rick Neville, who chairs the Press Council’s executive committee. So the Press Council is opening its doors to new media members. Stand-alone digital media, including bloggers, aren’t covered by any form of ethical regulation, even though they are often performing the same functions as mainstream news media in gathering and commenting on news and current events.
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It evaluates those complaints using its “Statement of Principles”, a sort of code of ethics containing rules about things like accuracy, balance, fairness, privacy, and maintaining the distinction between fact and opinion.īut it has become increasingly clear that there is a regulatory gap. The Press Council is an industry body that considers complaints against newspapers and magazines and their websites. Will the online community welcome the attentions of this defender of speech and guardian of journalistic standards? Or will it resist this as a new attempt to shit on it from a great height? It has decided to fly farther afield, casting its eagle eye over new terrains on the internet, including bloggers. The Press Council wants to spread its wings. This is my column for the first edition of the NewLaw magazine.
Budget leak: Nats’ behaviour “entirely appropriate”?.
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