21 October 2019 AJF Media Release: We Need a Meeting of Minds The AJF welcomes the Australia’s Right to Know Coalition (ARTK) campaign for media freedom, which calls on the government to immediately address the lack of transparency damaging our democracy. We support all its campaign aims. This is a critical moment for both the media, the security services, and…
The AJF sent the following letter to Chief Executive Carrie Lam, joining the IFJ’s call for the Hong Kong government to ensure press freedom is protected. 9th September 2019 Dear Chief Executive Lam I write as a founding director and spokesman of the Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom (AJF), an advocacy group dedicated to defending press freedom across the Asia–Pacific region,…
An open letter from MEAA supported by us was published in all major papers on Friday 13 June. The letter urges parliament to make the necessary legislative changes to protect journalists and whistleblowers in their everyday work. We have detailed those much needed changes in our White Paper. Read the letter here. Photo credit: MEAA
The two raids by squads of Australian Federal Police officers on Wednesday sounded horribly familiar. This piece originally published in the Daily Telegraph. Images of them pushing their way into the offices of the ABC and the home of Daily Telegraph journalist Annika Smethurst, warrant in hand, riffling through personal belongings in a search for evidence recalled a night in…
The raid on the ABC shows we need a law to protect journalists and their sources This article was originally published in The Guardian. Democracy is, by definition, government by the people. Politicians act on behalf of those who employ them; that is, us Australian voters and tax-payers. As their employers, we have both a right and a responsibility to…
Raids by the AFP on Australian journalists should concern everyone who cares about independent media This article was originally published in the Daily Telegraph. If ever there was a demonstration of the need for a Media Freedom Act, this is it. The heavy-handed raids this week set a shocking benchmark for diminished press freedom in Australia. It is long since…
In response to the raid of Annika Smethurst’s home by the AFP, Chris Flynn, legal spokesperson of the AJF (and Partner at Gilbert + Tobin) can be quoted as follows: “News of the AFP’s raid of Annika Smethurst’s home, mobile phone and computer is deeply concerning to the AJF, and should be to all Australians. In any democracy, journalism that covers…