The Greens party is calling for the government to introduce a media watchdog in Australia following allegations of phone hacking at Rupert Murdoch's News International publications.
In a statement yesterday, Greens leader, Bob Brown, said a new statutory media watchdog in Australia was necessary to avoid invasions of privacy such as those experienced by victims of the News International phone hacking scandals.
Brown has moved that the Minister for Communications, Stephen Conroy, “investigate the direct or indirect ramifications to Australia of the criminal matters affecting the United Kingdom operations of News International, and report back to the Senate.”
“Any new watchdog would be based on upholding the journalists' own code of ethics and ensuring citizens privacy while upholding the public interest.” he said.
According to the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979, accessing a person's “stored communication” such as a voice mail without their permission or knowledge, is already prohibited.
Last week AdNews reported that News Limited chairman and chief executive, John Hartigan, told his staff that “phone hacking is the antithesis of everything we stand for.”
Hartigan said, “It is a terrible slur on our craft. As the Times of London editorialised yesterday: “Journalism has a responsibility and an ethic. Its claims to public credibility rests on conducting its work in a way that is defensible to a reasonable person, known in the trade as a reader.”
In Australia, News Limited, which is controlled by Murdoch and is an Australian subsidiary of News Corporation, has interests in more than one hundred national, metropolitan, regional and suburban newspapers, including The Australian, The Herald Sun and The Daily Telegraph.
In terms of circulation, it has 68% of the capital city and national newspaper market; 77% of the Sunday newspaper market; 62% of the suburban newspaper market; and 18% of the regional newspaper market.
News Limited declined to comment on the Greens' calls to tighten the regulatory system.
British Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to today unveil the details of a judicial inquiry into the News of the World phone hacking scandal.
The inquiry is also tipped to investigate the police operation surrounding the events, and to examine the relationship between police and the media.
The Greens party's call comes amidst the ongoing media storm faced by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp over allegations that News International journalists hacked into the mobile phone voice mails of murdered school girls, and the relatives of dead soliders and terrorist attack victims.
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Murdoch and his son and News Corp deputy, James Murdoch, together with News International chief executive, Rebekah Brooks, have agreed to face a parliamentary sitting next Tuesday, where they will be questioned over their possible involvement in the scandal.
NewsCorp's share price has fallen more than 11% and lost more than $5 billion in value over the past five days of Australian trade.
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