Australian Greens Dissenting Report

The fight for a strong Fourth Estate is existential - it deserves a Royal Commission

1.1This year, Australian media has faced a reckoning, while also confronting an existential crisis. The Fourth Estate is grappling with its place in modern society. It is trying to adjust to the growing dominance of social media as a news source and its cannibalisation of the ad market. It continues to face accusations of racism, sexism and misogyny in its newsrooms and reporting, and there is a growing mistrust of mainstream media in the community. There is no greater time than right now for a Royal Commission into the state of the Australian media.

1.2The majority report notes submitters to this Inquiry were 'overwhelmingly in favour of an inquiry into the current state of media diversity, the conduct of media outlets in Australia and their impact on our democracy, with a particular focus on the Murdoch media'.[1] From academics and media experts, to members of the public, to public interest journalism organisations, and the group Australians for a Murdoch Royal Commission, the support and the persuasive evidence was provided in spades.

1.3This evidence supports and mirrors what the Senate Inquiry into Media Diversity heard, which led it to recommending a Commission of Inquiry. That Senate inquiry came off the back of a range of issues with the Murdoch Media—ranging from climate change denialism, to campaigns targeting women, and their bias reporting in favour of a conservative government both here and overseas.

1.4During the course of that inquiry, the 2019–20 summer bushfires, fuelled by the climate crisis, devastated millions of hectares of Australian bush, forests, towns and communities. Rupert Murdoch's son, James, was so incensed by News Corp's coverage of the fires and climate denialism he called it out publicly, condemning the family empire.

1.5The following January, we saw the United States Capitol attack, which Fox News was accused of having a role in after amplifying lies about the 2020 US election. Fox News ultimately agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems nearly $800 million to avert a trial in the voting machine company's lawsuit that would have exposed how the network promoted lies.[2]

1.6We are about to see another election in the US with Trump still refusing to admit he lost the 2020 election. The Federal Election here is just months away. We need an investigation into the workings of the Murdoch Media with the powers of a Royal Commission to compel witnesses now if there is to be any confidence and integrity in their reporting.

1.7It is disappointing that the Labor Party, which previously supported the recommendation of the Senate Inquiry into Media Diversity in Australia for the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry, has now seen fit to take the side of the Murdoch Media. It is this kind of cosy relationship between the government of the day and the Murdoch empire that drove more than half a million people to sign a petition calling for a Royal Commission.

1.8Unlike the Labor and Liberal parties, the rest of the country understands that holding the Fourth Estate to account is about integrity in our democracy. It is about reflecting our society by ensuring a diverse range of voices from a diverse range of outlets—not just billionaires. It is about having a strong public broadcaster that isn't constantly subject to attack and undermining from News Corp and its conservative allies. It is about addressing the rising mistrust and misinformation and disinformation perpetuated by some media outlets and left to fester online. It is about combatting the domination of social media as it squeezes the bottom line of mainstream legacy media outlets while also providing an avenue for new sources that reach younger generations who increasingly only get their news from the likes of Instagram or Tiktok.

1.9To claim that the Government is doing enough to address the state of Australian media right now is to misrepresent the reality. As the majority report notes, News MAP was promised some time ago, yet there has been nothing from the Communications Minister on it since February 2024. The Mis and Disinformation Bill recently introduced to the Parliament doesn't even cover mainstream media, leaving the likes of Sky News to broadcast fake news and downright lies on its YouTube channel.[3] The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) continues to be a toothless tiger, failing to hold outlets to account for their poor reporting. There's been no announcement by the Federal Government about how it will address Meta's threat to pull news if it is designated under the News Media Bargaining Code, or on any alternative policy to the Code, with many now agreeing it is no longer fit for purpose. There's no legislation to address problematic algorithms on social media that are controlling user's news feeds, pushing dangerous content to children and young people and scams to older Australians. There's no legislation to address the rise of artificial intelligence and its use in news reporting.

1.10There's no plan to ensure a healthy, diverse media landscape that upholds a strong democracy, at all. Our public broadcasters, the ABC and SBS, remain underfunded and vulnerable to political attack and undue influence.

1.11Time is running out for the Albanese Labor Government to take action before the next election, and the one thing they could have done was establish a Commission of Inquiry to ensure a thorough examination of Australia's media and to make strong recommendations to aid its future. Should the Dutton Liberals win the next election, our public broadcaster, the ABC, will no doubt be subjected to more funding cuts as we saw in the decade of the Coalition Government, as well as further bullying and attacks. News Corp will be buoyed and free to spread their climate denial, to spruik nuclear energy, and continue targeting anyone who seeks to hold it to account. The likes of Gina Rinehart, a good friend of the Coalition, will keep buying up various media outlets to dress up the billionaires' mining propaganda as news. Trust in the media will be in free fall.

1.12The Australian Greens are on the side of the Australian public on this one. We urge Labor and the Liberals not to disregard the legitimate concerns of the community, and indeed news organisations themselves, and risk leaving us behind the rest of the world. The Greens support this Bill and a Commission of Inquiry, not just into the Murdoch Media but all media in Australia and the whole media landscape, for the sake of our democracy.

1.13The Australian Greens recommend that the bill be passed.

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young

Deputy Chair

Greens Senator for South Australia

Footnotes

[1]Chapter 2, paragraph 2.3, p. 11.

[2]See, for example: Peter Hoskins and Michelle Fleury, 'Fox News lawsuit: Can it afford the $787.5m Dominion settlement?', BBC News, 19 April 2023 (accessed 10 October 2024).

[3]Mis and Disinformation Bill: Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024.