IAG FRONTLINE SERVICE DELIVERY' Media and Government' Gold Coast, Qld'

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IAG FRONTLINE SERVICE DELIVERY.Media and
Government.Gold Coast, Qld.

• 20 November 2008
• Philip Castle
• Queensland University of Technology Journalism
  lecturer

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Brief CV

• Commonwealth Govt service, two years in Vietnam,
  30 years in the media, crime reporting, head of
  Australian Federal Police PR and ministerial
  media adviser.
• Since 1996 QUT lecturer in Journalism and some
  PR.
• Research on journalists dealing with trauma
  stories, balance between PR and Journalism and
  Journalism Ethics.
• Training, teaching and conferences in Australia
  and overseas and interviewing journalists,
  academics and clinicians including published
  papers and articles.
• BA in History Political Science (ANU), BA
  Journalism and Professional Writing (CCAE) and MA
  Research QUT.

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What is a journalist?

• gather news and write or broadcast it.
• be information managers.
• keep the bastards honest
• first write of history
• comfort the uncomfortable and make the
  comfortable feel uncomfortable
• be societys conscience

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What is news?

• New something that hasnt been known before or
  a development or revelations of existing
  information
• Report of any recent event
• Something that someone somewhere doesnt want
  published.
• News values proximity, timeliness, impact,
  conflict, bizarre, suspense, sensational, human
  interest, secrecy and celebrity.

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Audiences?

• Their primary target are the opinion makers but
  its hard to know.
• The Courier Mail sees its target as primarily
  49.
• TV younger
• Many under 25s when they log on, ie MSN
• New technology, myspace, sms, bloggs etc
• On-line delivery, but how does it pay?

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Public Relations Institute of Australia

• PRIA Code of EthicsIntroduction
• The Public Relations Institute of Australia is a
  professional body serving the interests of its
  members. In doing so, the Institute is mindful of
  the responsibility which public relations
  professionals owe to the community as well as to
  their clients and employers. The Institute
  requires members to adhere to the highest
  standards of ethical practice and professional
  competence. All members are duty-bound to act
  responsibly and to be accountable for their
  actions.
• The following Code of Ethics binds all members
  of the Public Relations Institute of Australia.
• Members shall deal fairly and honestly with their
  employers, clients and prospective clients, with
  their fellow workers including superiors and
  subordinates, with public officials, the
  communications media, the general public and with
  fellow members of PRIA.
• Members shall avoid conduct or practices likely
  to bring discredit upon themselves, the
  Institute, their employers or clients.
• Members shall not knowingly disseminate false or
  misleading information and shall take care to
  avoid doing so inadvertently
• Members shall safeguard the confidences of both
  present and former employers and clients,
  including confidential information about
  employers' or clients' business affairs,
  technical methods or processes, except upon the
  order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
• No member shall represent conflicting interests
  nor, without the consent of the parties
  concerned, represent competing interests.
• Members shall refrain from proposing or agreeing
  that their consultancy fees or other remuneration
  be contingent entirely on the achievement of
  specified results.

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Public Relations code (cont)

• Members shall inform their employers or clients
  if circumstances arise in which their judgment or
  the disinterested character of their services may
  be questioned by reason of personal relationships
  or business or financial interests.
• Members practising as consultants shall seek
  payment only for services specifically
  commissioned.
• Members shall be prepared to identify the source
  of funding of any public communication they
  initiate or for which they act as a conduit.
• Members shall, in advertising and marketing their
  skills and services and in soliciting
  professional assignments, avoid false, misleading
  or exaggerated claims and shall refrain from
  comment or action that may injure the
  professional reputation, practice or services of
  a fellow member.
• Members shall inform the Board of the Institute
  and/or the relevant State/Territory Council(s) of
  the Institute of evidence purporting to show that
  a member has been guilty of, or could be charged
  with, conduct constituting a breach of this Code.
  
• No member shall intentionally injure the
  professional reputation or practice of another
  member.
• Members shall help to improve the general body of
  knowledge of the profession by exchanging
  information and experience with fellow members.
• Members shall act in accord with the aims of the
  Institute, its regulations and policies.
• Members shall not misrepresent their status
  through misuse of title, grading, or the
  designation FPRIA, MPRIA or APRIA.
• Adopted by the Board of the Institute on November
  5, 2001, this Code of Ethics supersedes all
  previous versions. Code of Ethics
  Administration Procedures Manual
• This document spells out how the PRIA deals with
  alleged breaches of its Code of Ethics and is
  subject to continual review. 

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Journalists and the spin doctors?

• In the past many journalists have moved to PR
  positions but many now go straight from tertiary
  studies into PR. Why is this changing?
  Journalists view themselves as people who report
  to present their stories to the public (Len
  Granato and others) whereas PR present their
  material for their client to pass to the public.
  See the standard texts (Wilcox and Nolte).
• The issue here is what is the audiences
  (publics) positioning in this? Many are
  sceptical of PR, marketing and advertising and
  perhaps of the media (eg Laws/Jones in the
  cash-for-comment saga. They claimed they were
  entertainers not reporters???)

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Australian Journalists Code of Ethics

• Media Alliance Code of Ethics
• Respect for truth and the public's right to
  information are fundamental principles of
  journalism. Journalists describe society to
  itself. They convey information, ideas and
  opinions, a privileged role. They search,
  disclose, record, question, entertain, suggest
  and remember. They inform citizens and animate
  democracy. They give a practical form to freedom
  of expression. Many journalists work in private
  enterprise, but all have these public
  responsibilities. They scrutinise power, but also
  exercise it, and should be accountable.
  Accountability engenders trust. Without trust,
  journalists do not fulfil their public
  responsibilities. Alliance members engaged in
  journalism commit themselves to Honesty Fairness
  Independence Respect for the rights of others
• 1.  Report and interpret honestly, striving for
  accuracy, fairness and disclosure of all
  essential facts.  Do not suppress relevant
  available facts, or give distorting emphasis.  Do
  your utmost  to give a fair opportunity for
  reply.
• 2.  Do not place unnecessary emphasis on personal
  characteristics, including race, ethnicity,
  nationality, gender, age, sexual orientation,
  family relationships, religious belief, or
  physical or intellectual disability.
• 3.  Aim to attribute information to its source. 
  Where a source seeks anonymity, do not agree
  without first considering the sources motives
  and any alternative attributable source.  Where
  confidences are accepted,  respect them in all
  circumstances.
• 4.  Do not allow personal interest, or any
  belief, commitment, payment, gift or benefit, to
  undermine your accuracy, fairness or
  independence.
• 5.  Disclose conflicts of interest that affect,
  or could be seen to affect, the accuracy,
  fairness or independence of your journalism.  Do
  not improperly use a journalistic position for
  personal gain. 

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AJA Code continued

• 6.  Do not allow advertising or other commercial
  considerations to undermine accuracy, fairness or
  independence.
• 7.  Do your utmost to ensure disclosure of any
  direct or indirect payment made for interviews,
  pictures, information or stories.
• 8.  Use fair, responsible and honest means to
  obtain material.  Identify yourself and your
  employer before obtaining any interview for
  publication or broadcast.  Never exploit a
  persons vulnerability or ignorance of media
  practice.
• 9.  Present pictures and sound which are true
  and accurate.  Any manipulation likely to mislead
  should be disclosed.
• 10.  Do not plagiarise.
• 11.  Respect private grief and personal privacy. 
  Journalists have the right to resist compulsion
  to intrude.
• 12.  Do your utmost to achieve fair correction of
  errors.
• Guidance ClauseBasic values often need
  interpretation and sometimes come into conflict.
• Ethical journalism requireconscientious
  decision-making in context. Only substantial
  advancement of the public interest or risk of
  substantial harm to people allows any standard to
  be overridden.

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Both have to be ethical

• The PR response (Bernie Murchinson of QUT) is
  that both journalists and PR practitioners write
  for their organisations and both must be ethical.
  Journalists must behave ethically in their
  dealings with the public and PR practitioners
  must behave ethical within the framework of their
  organisation and clients demands.

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Codes of Ethics

• The problem is highlighted by the different
  emphasis in the Codes of Ethics.
• The AJA Code says be responsible and ethical to
  your sources and audience.
• The PRIA code basically says dont soil in your
  own nest or get caught doing it. Its all about
  remaining ethical to your clients, with little
  public responsibility.

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The balance is skewed

• Can journalists and PR practitioners (spin
  doctors) work together? It does sometimes, but
  its imbalanced (The McNamara studies). This is
  because both journalists and PR people need it to
  work. But lazy journalists rely too heavily on PR
  people and PR practitioners do take advantage of
  their numerical strength and they do have better
  resources which creates an imbalance. Often the
  Pr industry has more experienced journalists
  working for them whereas the working journalist
  is often quite inexperienced.

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How does it work in reality?

• Many journalists can be bought (bribed?) by the
  freebie, the junket, the food and grog. (the
  scooter see The Australian article), the well
  packaged story, the slick media kit or just a
  damn good media release.
• Many PR practitioners understand and know the
  craft or journalism better than the journalists.

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Basic rules of engagement

• A few basics to PR practitioners dont give
  garbage and dont lie.
• To journalists dont expect them to do your job
  for you, dont expect they will dump on their
  organisation or client, treat their information
  as opportunities for news leads but rarely the
  full story.
• A good site PR Watch - www.prwatch.org .
  Check the Spin of the Day

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PRwatch.com
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The tasks of journalism(Kovach Rosenstiel)

• First obligation truth
• First loyalty citizens
• Discipline of verification
• Independence from those covered
• Independent monitor of power
• Forum for public criticism and compromise
• Strive to make the significant interesting and
  relevant
• News must be comprehensive and proportional
• Practitioners must be allowed personal
  conscience.
• (Kovach, B Rosentiel,T The Elements of
  Journalism Three Rivers Press, NY, (2001)

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Theories of journalism

• The fourth estate.
• Advocacy
• Fox hole
• Information/explanatory
• Thuggery
• Public
• Advertorial
• Framing
• Agenda setting

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Problems for Aussie journalistsMEAA 2008 report
on press freedom

• secrecy
• legal constraints
• no bill of rights
• ineffective freedom of information access
• no longer a sense of a right to know
• privacy concerns
• concentration of media ownership
• just another business
• source and whistleblower protection

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The media and you

• Always assume on the record
• Make sure of your facts and even background
  information
• Are you allowed to speak to the media
• Why are you speaking to the media?
• Prepare before any interview
• Always assume they have spoken to others and/know
  some of the information anyway
• Understand broadly how the media works
• Check the information and give your contact
  details
• Remember dealing with the media is like to
  porcupines making love you have to do it very
  carefully.

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The tasks of journalism(Kovach Rosenstiel)

• First obligation truth
• First loyalty citizens
• Discipline of verification
• Independence from those covered
• Independent monitor of power
• Forum for public criticism and compromise
• Strive to make the significant interesting and
  relevant
• News must be comprehensive and proportional
• Practitioners must be allowed personal
  conscience.
• (Kovach, B Rosentiel,T The Elements of
  Journalism Three Rivers Press, NY, (2001)

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Truth above all else

• As the great teacher (JC) said and then youll
  know the truth and the truth will set you free.
• Sunlight is the best exposure and antiseptic.
• Regardless of a persons standing, never remove
  their personal dignity.