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 Saturday Paper (5th October) published a comprehensive look at how national security laws are impeding journalism. AJF co-founder and spokesperson Peter Greste was asked to contribute. You can view the piece here. Photo credit: AAP/Lucas Coch
Singapore passed a piece of legislation on Wednesday, which criminalises information deemed “prejudicial” to Singapore’s security, public safety, “public tranquility,” or to the “friendly relations of Singapore with other countries”. There is concern that the broad parameters of this reform will lead to a more restricted press in the country. The power to charge anyone for acting outside the bounds…
A. G. Sulzberger, Publisher of The New York Times wrote and published the following article on 23 September. It is well worth the read. You can read the article here. “This is a worldwide assault on journalists and journalism. But even more important, it’s an assault on the public’s right to know, on core democratic values, on the concept of…
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,…
Amanda Meade explored the role philanthropy plays – and will continue to play – in the rapidly changing landscape of journalism. This piece originally published in The Guardian. AJF’s Peter Greste is hosting a panel on press freedom at Sydney Opera House’s Antidote Festival, on September 01, with speakers Maria Ressa, Lina Attalah, Irina Borogan and Steve Coll on the…
Press freedom is heavily restricted on mainland China; it now threatens to become an issue in the ongoing demonstrations in Hong Kong. View the NY Times piece here. Photo credit: NY TIMES
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…