<
https://theconversation.com/open-justice-no-more-how-victorias-courts-are-stopping-journalists-from-doing-their-jobs-276040>
"Covering the courts can be a tough gig. The pace is fast, there are many legal
considerations to be across, and media outlets are hungry for quality stories,
quickly.
Our study aimed to capture the experience of senior reporters covering the
courts in Melbourne and Victoria. We conducted in-depth inverviews with 12
journalists from five of the major media outlets in Victoria.
The journalists interviewed in our study described a justice system where
secrecy is expanding, access to information is shrinking, and public-interest
journalism is becoming increasingly difficult. These experiences point to an
undermining of the open justice doctrine, which is a crucial component of
liberal democracy.
Traditionally, journalists have played a crucial role in upholding open
justice. Our interview data indicate that that the role of journalism in open
justice is now being challenged by the Victorian judiciary.
This is how one senior reporter described how often Victorian courts breach the
2013
Open Courts Act.
Every day there are suppression orders that do not meet the basic
requirements, especially in terms of providing reasons […]the requirement to
give three days notice to the media is also routinely breached. (Ben Butler,
investigative journalist, ABC)
Commissioned by the Melbourne Press Club, our report paints a troubling picture
of how court suppression orders, limited access to court documents and
constrained access to police and government sources are undermining
journalists’ ability to scrutinise public institutions in Victoria."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
