Bad Journalism of Bad PM?

In last Mondays Australian Newspaper, journalist Glenn Milne claimed that before Prime Minister Julia Gillard entered Parliament she had been unknowingly implicated in a major union fraud while she was working as a lawyer in Melbourne.

The article was deemed false and incorrect in its allegation toward the Prime Minister and was soon repudiated by the paper who also made an apology acknowledging that the accusations were untrue and unsubstantiated.

 In fact Mr. Milne had made no attempt to contact her for a comment before the story was published.

 The apology published by The Australian read:

 "THE AUSTRALIAN published today an opinion piece by Glenn Milne which includes assertions about the conduct of the Prime Minister. The Australian acknowledges these assertions are untrue. The Australian also acknowledges no attempt was made by anyone employed by, or associated with, The Australian to contact the Prime Minister in relation to this matter.The Australian unreservedly apologises to the Prime Minister and to its readers for the publication of these claims."

 Since this ‘incident’ Mr. Milne has since been sacked by the ABC as a panellist on The Insiders.

 Another journalist caught up in this whole debacle is News Limited columnist Andrew Bolt, who has further attacked the Prime Minister for interfering with the freedom of the press.

There has been much discussion about this story, especially with fellow students.

 While some think that Mr. Milne’s column was clear cut example of poor journalism, that is not adhering to facts and accuracy, others feel that this is a deliberate obstruction the power of the press and that the Prime Minister has over-reacted and abused her authority.

 What do you think?

 Being the unbiased reporter that I am, here are some links to a number of stories, from different sides discussing the matter.

- http://www.heraldsun.com.au/opinion/prime-ministers-hand-overplayed/story-e6frfifx-1226125924173
- http://www.smh.com.au/national/gillard-yarn-claims-scalp-20110906-1jw00.html- http://asiancorrespondent.com/64093/the-abcs-scandalous-silencing-of-glenn-milne/
- http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/media-needs-to-lift-standards-albanese-20110831-1jlea.html

I would like to draw your attention to a fantastic quote by Tim Dunlop, from a great opinion piece entitled ‘The Impossibility of Journalism’ from The Drum.

 He says, “Unfortunately for journalists, the impossibility of what they do does not let them off the hook. In fact, it is the very impossibility of what they do that defines their profession as a profession, and it is their ongoing battle to deal with the inherent contradictions in what they do that defines their success or failure”.

 You can read the full piece here: http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/2864816.html