Author and Investigative Journalist
I would like to set the scene for today’s discussion of pharmaceutical company sponsorship by looking at the whole range of tactics used by corporations and industry lobby groups to gain political and commercial advantage. I hope that examples from other spheres will illuminate the issues that you face.
I have just been through an eleven month defamation case. Fortunately, we mostly won. About 20 to 1 if it was a score. If I was ever going to be sued like this, I am pleased that the suer was a man of Lynton Crosby’s standing and that his case against me was so weak….
Unfortunately, defamation is a tool that can be used by any well resourced company or individual against people who have annoyed them or who they do not like. This has serious implications for journalism and public accountability — potentially chilling freedom of speech about the people who most deserve scrutiny and criticism — since the sad fact is that it is much safer for a news organisation to criticise poor people than rich and powerful ones.
We live in an era where the public spaces are being crowded with paid spokespeople, spin and trickery; where news and political discussion are being polluted by the glib outpourings of ever growing numbers of PR people; and where the public spaces available for real democratic activity are drying up. My subject for today is considering the CUMULATIVE IMPACT of the growth of public relations, and particularly its cumulative impact on the media and the other public spaces where politics occurs
Nicky Hager was invited by the Pundit website to reply to a column by Matthew Hooton.
Unelected political advisers are the most interesting and important part of many political issues, controversies and election campaigns. They can be more influential than the politicians they serve. Yet they usually get away with acting invisibly and avoiding media scrutiny.
It is a sad truth in politics, and maybe all human activity, that when people believe they are acting in secret they do things that they would never do if they believed other people might find out. Often good record keeping and the availability of those records is the best protection we have against deception, dishonesty and corrupt behaviour by people in positions of influence. I hope you recognise this important and powerful effect of your work
Inside Spin, the dark underbelly of the PR industry, Bob Burton, Allen & Unwin
review by Nicky Hager
I will be talking tonight about the history and characteristics of propaganda, starting with the WWII versions as seen in the “Towards the Precipice” poster exhibition here at the museum and moving on to contemporary examples that together help us to understand the world we live in.
I would like to propose a New Year’s resolution for news organisations: sorting out the difference between genuine media commentators and giving regular media space to political party spin doctors….