Responsibility of the media

by Kim Shippey

Earlier this year, the International Communications Forum (ICF) and the Australian Press Council convened a two-day meeting in Sydney to discuss "The Role and Responsibility of the Media."

While the forty-two journalists, publishers, editors, and commentators from several countries looked out from their conference room at the surfers on the beaches below, they made a few waves of their own in their debates over such issues as handling clashes of race and culture; balanced reporting; and worthy aims and aspirations for publishers.

"Can the media help to reduce conflict—or should they just report it?" they asked one another. "Should the media try to change society for the better—or simply respond to what the public wants?" And, "What is truth, anyway?"

The ICF was established in 1990 when its founder and current chairman, Bill Porter, realized shortly after retiring from a successful publishing career of his own that the vast communications industry had to become more aware of its responsibilities. So, he suggested to friends in publishing, journalism, broadcasting, and advertising that the best way would be for media people to thrash out the key issues among themselves.

Thus it was that the Sydney conference carried forward the work of other successful ICF conferences held around the world. John B. Fairfax, who publishes ninety-eight regional newspapers and twenty-three agricultural magazines, said that in this age of instant television news coverage there is a call for greater responsibility among all branches of the media. And it is the newspapers, he emphasized, that are most capable of keeping "governments focused and politicians honest."

"But it is only through diligence, independence, and integrity," he said, "that the credibility of newspapers can be maintained and perhaps regained. The freely printed word should be the one thing that preserves our democratic society. And that can only be achieved by people dedicated to the highest principles of journalism and without the contamination of certain outside commercial interests. ... We can never forget as publishers, journalists, or whatever, whether we're making money or not, that we still have a social responsibility."

To this, fellow panelist Bill Porter added: "We may be at the beginning of an era of responsibility, having passed through eras of power and money."

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