Australian Media: A Spin Doctor No More?
Gossip magazines are a guilty pleasure for many Australians. Their salacious content and covers reeling us in for an indulgent read. We usually head to them for the latest gossip not expecting 100% accuracy. So why have gossip magazines gotten away with breaking the guidelines of the Australian Press Council by so often blurring the lines between fiction and fact?
In a surprising new development, a recent ruling by the Australian Press Council allows gossip magazines to continue their truth distortion and publish lies about well known individuals as long as what is published has a small amount of truth, a major parallel to the APC’s own guidelines that encourage all member publication to “strive for accuracy and avoid being misleading” in content published.
The Daily was joined by Andrew Dodd, Director of the Centre for Advancing Journalism at the University of Melbourne, to unpack the implications of the APC’s landmark ruling as well as what this means for journalism in Australia going forward.
Original article here.
