Re your post which included; "... i'm yet to see a defamation case against any of our media, ..."
Let me demonstrate why with just the following two personal experiences I had with elements of our media as a school principal who had no choice but to act in the best interest of students.
Case 1: In the early 1990s a visiting Indonesia student wrote to one of our TV stations offering to spill beans about oppression in Indonesia. They rang me seeking permission to land their helicopter on school grounds. I insisted on first checking with the Ed Dept's media unit; upon their advice I refused landing permission and advised the student of the potentially serious implications for her family in Indonesia. She decided not to be interviewed.
The TV station spat the dummy, threatened to run stories that would have defamed me and damaged the Govt. My response to them was that unlike them I had to act as best I could to protect the child's rights and would state as much ad infinitum.
The incident clearly demonstrated just how myopic, self-serving and unscrupulous elements of our media are. They are big players with very deep pockets.
Case 2: In the mid 1990s a newspaper began a storyline that posed serious threats to the privacy and welfare of local students. I met with an editor who started by asserting they could and would do as they wished and that if the Ed Dept didn't like it they had deep pockets to fight us in court. I replied that I would be forced to explain the details of what was happening in our parent newsletters; including this conversation. They backed off.
So there you have it. Some elements of our media are self-serving gutter rats who respect nothing while demanding the right to act as 'self-regulated' bully gods [as if they can be trusted; aka the UK's outing of such practices that have never been followed up in Australia ... hmmm?].
My faith in pollies we get to elect certainly ebbs and flows; with Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott that ebb has reached new lows. But I have absolutely no faith in self-serving media barons who have the power and mechanism to operate above and beyond our ineffective and inequitable judicial system.
David Brock [author of 'Blinded by the Right'] did a backflip on such behaviour and dedicated the rest of his life to exposing such behaviours. Australia needs just such a champion!
PS - these comments are not intended to target professional, investigative journalists and commentators; of whom we should all be very proud.
