The AJF believes that if journalism is to be protected in law, the people who produce it also have ethical responsibilities. We believe that journalism needs an association, similar to other professions, that upholds ethics and standards, and helps the public identify work that makes those standards.
In Australia, most professions have an association to maintain ethical and professional standards. Journalism has no such organisation.
The association, named Journalism Australia (JA), would be able to admit members who show they understand the law and their ethical responsibilities. JA would then be able to hold those members accountable through a transparent complaints mechanism.
Membership would be entirely voluntary; nobody would be prevented from publishing if they were not a part of the association. But members would be able to badge their work, signifying their commitment to maintaining those standards. This would help the public identify high quality work and restore some measure of trust in Australian journalism.
Additionally, like most professional associations, JA would run professional development courses to help members advance their skills and knowledge. These courses would be particularly useful for small publishers and freelance journalists without the resources to organise their own programs.
Crucially, our Media Freedom Act defines journalism as a way of gathering, organising and presenting information in line with a code of conduct. Thus, the courts would presume that journalists who were part of JA’s system of accountability (or any other) deserve to have their work protected.
We’ve already started the process of establishing JA. We have drafted a constitution, registered the organisation, and formed a steering committee to turn the idea into a reality. JA must be run by and for its members, and not beholden to any other organisation, business or special interest group.