Increasing government restrictions on journalists will be the focus of a Press Freedom lunch this month in Sydney as part of the Future Forum.
Increasing government restrictions on journalists will be the focus of a Press Freedom lunch this month in Sydney as part of the Future Forum.
“Attacks on press freedom have increased as governments respond to extremist threats and global organisations try to control the flow of information for commercial benefit,” said Mark Hollands, CEO, The Newspaper Works. “In light of the recent Egyptian court decision to sentence Australian journalist Peter Greste and his two al-Jazeera colleagues to three years in prison and the clearance this week of journalist Alan Morrison in Thailand after more than a year, makes this debate an important one.”
An expert panel will also examine local terror laws and whistle-blower legislation in Australia and New Zealand.
Other topics will include government restriction of journalists, control of sports news reporting, live event coverage and photography restrictions, commercial efforts to contract away journalists’ rights; the impact of technology on press freedom and the need for public awareness of the importance of freedom of expression and press freedom.
The panel will be moderated by AAP executive editor Phil McLean and include: Clive Milner, chairman, News Media Coalition; Andy Moger, executive editor, News Media Coalition; Georgia-Kate Schubert, head of policy & government affairs, News Corp Australia; and Shayne Currie, managing editor, The New Zealand Herald.
The event, entitled “Please, let us do our Job” is part of the Future Forum and is sponsored by Australian Associated Press (AAP) and supported by the UK-based News Media Coalition and The Newspaper Works. It will be held on 11 September from 12.45pm to 1.25pm at The Hilton in Sydney. To register for the lunch email Kylie Hannah.
The theme for this year’s Future Forum is Influencing a connected world and the two-day event will be held on September 10 and 11 at the Hilton Hotel in Sydney. The annual conference convenes newspaper media executives from across Asia-Pacific and more than 600 delegates attended last year’s series of events.