AFP Overstep the mark?

[Slip_]

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24389812-29277,00.html

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24391364-29277,00.html

Wow...

[ELUSIV]

No they didnt overstep the mark.
Possession of classified documents for people who are not allowed to view that information is against the law, if they find evidence i hope they throw the book at him.

The media are absolute c*nts and lack any morals or ethics, they have no care for peoples lives, or peoples rights they only care about getting a good story and making money off it.

The shield law is a load of garbage which i hope never gets passed, it essentially will give journo's even more protection than they currently have in the name of "freedom of the press". I dont agree that the press should ever be above the law which is where they see themselves to be, they need to be chopped back down and put in their place. Im not saying censorship, but they should be subject to similar laws as the Police when it comes to gathering evidence. That is any sources need to be verified in a court of law to be legitimate and they cannot use information from sources gained from illegal methods, i.e. breaking and entering which is EXTREMELY common among journos.

The media need to be beaten down because they are one of the major problems with our society today, the job of the media is to inform and report accurately without bias the events of our society and the world but it has degraded into every possible media related publication be it print, TV, radio or online has gotten to a state where nothing they report can be trusted to be anything more than fiction with a few facts scattered about in the midst somewhere.

[ho57ile]

No they didnt overstep the mark.
Possession of classified documents for people who are not allowed to view that information is against the law, if they find evidence i hope they throw the book at him.

The media are absolute c*nts and lack any morals or ethics, they have no care for peoples lives, or peoples rights they only care about getting a good story and making money off it.

The shield law is a load of garbage which i hope never gets passed, it essentially will give journo's even more protection than they currently have in the name of "freedom of the press". I dont agree that the press should ever be above the law which is where they see themselves to be, they need to be chopped back down and put in their place. Im not saying censorship, but they should be subject to similar laws as the Police when it comes to gathering evidence. That is any sources need to be verified in a court of law to be legitimate and they cannot use information from sources gained from illegal methods, i.e. breaking and entering which is EXTREMELY common among journos.

The media need to be beaten down because they are one of the major problems with our society today, the job of the media is to inform and report accurately without bias the events of our society and the world but it has degraded into every possible media related publication be it print, TV, radio or online has gotten to a state where nothing they report can be trusted to be anything more than fiction with a few facts scattered about in the midst somewhere.


I agree but in certain instances this can be a good thing. I for one am a person who is very distrustful of the government and the powers that be so any sort of information into their shady doings is good news to me. They have to be kept in check somehow.

/conspiracy

[esky]

internet 101

no need to quote the post directly above you

[Slip_]

Fair enough ELUSIV. I aggree that at times, info should remain confidential.

But... crushing freedom of press?!

So... its NOT the public's joe's responsibility to form thier own interpretation of information provided by the media? As adults, we are accountable for our own beliefs and decisions forged on second hand info. The media doesn't make us believe thier content...

When have the media ever had morals or ethics?

If Joe public's soo fucking stupid... as to be misled by some of the absolute garbage that you see on the news every night... let them be.

Imo, its better us having access to all information... shitty/biased journalism included... then we can form our own judgements on this shit. Taking confidence in our own understanding.

The media keeps the government/big international enterprises/nations on thier toes... it doesn't have to be factual... it reminds the govt that they've got someone to explain this all too come 5'oclock news... they might lie to our media, but i'd like to think most of us know when they do.

Keep in mind most of the assumed/immediate conclusions of accounts/events provided by the media is like a security blanket for the uneducated... aslong as the media are, essentially, in a really loose manner, a representative for the public interest... they're playing thier part.

Ever thought what would happen if the public had no power to question? Who would be able to ask the questions?

The media 'should' be giving power to the people... its when one faculty controls all the media it becomes a bad thing.

Without making a personal attack, this shit is productive IMO... but i pretty much disagree 100% :p

[ELUSIV]

Everyone has an opinion mate, dont have any problems with people disagreeing with me as long as they make a constructive post on how they came to their differing opinion :)

Its a good point that the media are essentially the watch dogs of the government/military and god knows its a necessity, however the problem with giving the media that power is that they are probably the most ethically dubious people who can have it. In a perfect world the media would be reporting facts to keep watch on government corruption, but it isnt a perfect world and that isnt what happens.

We all know the power of the media and how quickly they can shape the public's response with the good old hot topic of hoons. There are many people here who used to crusie a good 7-8 years ago and they can attest to how different it was, you could get away with essentially anything back then. However over the last few years the media have caught on to a topic which they perceived can make them money, so they continually exploited it by deceiving the public. So its not about whether the public can make an informed decision because they dont have the information to begin with. If you dont have facts and you are being deceived you can essentially only come to a conclusion on false data, in the scientific world that would mean your conclusion is therefore unreliable and most likely incorrect. How do you propose you understand something based on incorrect, unreliable and biased material?

Imagine going through school and being taught geography that operated on the premise that the world is flat instead of round? You are RELYING on that information and if it is all you have then you can only make conclusions based on a flat world, which in reality we all know would be completely wrong as we have a spherical world. This is the situation with the media, and while i totally agree that the government needs a watchdog the media ARE NOT up to the job based on how they have been operating for such a substantial amount of time. I dont have the answer on how to fix it, but i do know that the media need a shake-up and to have their asses kicked, so that maybe one day we can receive information that we can rely on, and then they will be suitable to be the watchdogs of the government.

[xr06t]

interesting topic, and i agree with elusiv here.

i dont think that the media are the people who should be the 'watch dogs' for the government. they have their own agenda, and are just there to sell papers/get hits on their website etc. there is not often a story that has PROVEN facts in it, or fully discusses both sides of an arguement, THEN makes an opinion. One side of a story is reported, and an opinion is forced onto the reader.

Unfortunatly the whole way information is given to the public by the powers at be sucks. i mean zillion page laws that no-one has the time to read, and even if they could, its pretty much illegible to most anyway. Parliamentary question time or whatever pollies do all day is also a farce, all they do is argue. Questions are never actually answered and facts are rarely given.

[pgc]

The media are absolute c*nts and lack any morals or ethics, they have no care for peoples lives, or peoples rights they only care about getting a good story and making money off it.

The media need to be beaten down because they are one of the major problems with our society today, the job of the media is to inform and report accurately without bias... but it has degraded into every possible media related publication be it ...online...

nothing they report can be trusted to be anything more than fiction with a few facts scattered about in the midst somewhere.

You cut me Shrek. You cut me real deep....

[Slip_]

Well gents, i'll concede on this one.

I feel quite strongly in other area's of the matter, but thats me and my boggles. I think we all understand each other, it'd be pointless to draw difference to each others perspective further.

[vrocious]

will be interesting to read the contrasting stories from a fairfax brand media vs non-fairfax

[SlimLim]

The key here is classified documents.

Government classified documents are a exempt from the freedom of information act and are not to be in the possession of anyone unless security cleared to view them. It's against the law and you can go to prison for having them. Question is how did he get them? That's probably what they are trying to find out.

AFP would be acting on behalf of another agency or minister as they are the only ones who have the legal powers to conduct these types of searches.

[ELUSIV]

You cut me Shrek. You cut me real deep....

Aww donkeh :(

Your an exception dude, but i think everyone already knew that :P

[Miami]

There is a difference between investigative journalism, by media agencies with integrity, who are after the FACTS.

and TT/ACA/tabloid/gossip-magazines who are little more than sensationalist agencies after any spin they can put on whatever issue in such a way that it will sell them the most copies/get the most airtime.

That is my first comment in regard to this one.

Freedom of the press is one thing, versus censorship, yes. But this last section at the bottom of one of the articles bothers me -

"The raid is not a first for Dorling.

In September 2000, while Dorling was a staffer for then-Labor foreign affairs spokesman Laurie Brereton, AFP officers raided his home as part of a search for the source of a leak about the crisis in East Timor."

So, put simply, he is lying/spying/getting hold of classified government documents illegally for the purpose of using them to sell papers/advance his position as a journalist. People have ended up disappearing to Guantanamo Bay for less. He would have known this. Play with fire, you're going to get burnt.