'Be it on your head': discontinuities in history and conscience in Australian journalism

Abstract

Conclusion: Journalists in Australia have fought tough battles against attempts by various governments to manipulate and control the flow of news and, unlike in the United States, there is no Bill of Rights here to make written principle at least of the right of a journalist to do their job. Journalists who are good at that job invariably see themselves as standing with the public, not the political power base. They are no less subject to that sense of the boot on the head, or of being deprived of the information that might help them mediate some of the contradictions between aspiration and exclusion, than anyone else. The difference is that journalists do have the capacity to be included in the discussions, and to select their own levels of ignorance and conscience.