Could Australia’s media survive Trump-style attacks?
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What did Donald Trump’s recent White House press pass revocations involve?
I don't think somebody should be allowed to come in and write fake stories, fake news.
For years, Donald Trump's attacks on the media were treated as part of the spectacle of his politics. Now, three major news organizations have had their White House passes revoked, and Trump says others could follow.
A very simple man. I don't want them in my office. I don't want them here. I would say the ban would go as far as you can.
Here in Australia, we're seeing Pauline Hanson follow the same playbook, with One Nation repeatedly deciding which news organisations can attend its press conferences. But unlike America, Australia's press freedoms have remarkably few legal protections backing them. So what happens when politicians stop respecting the rules we've simply assumed they would follow? I'm Ruby Jones and you're listening to 7am. Today, journalist and press freedom advocate Peter Craster on how fragile press freedom is in Australia and why we've relied so long on convention rather than law. It's Friday, September 25. Peter, welcome to the show.
Thanks very much for having
me. So over the weekend in the US, Trump banned some journalists, including those from CNN and Politico, from the White House. And this was just another step in what is a long and fractious relationship between Trump and the press in the US. Can you tell me, to begin with, a bit about what he said at the time and what happened next?
So I think it's worth backing up a little bit. You said it's just the latest, and it is just the latest in a long and fairly fractious relationship, but it is hard to overstate the significance of this one.
How did the US press pool react to Trump’s ban on major news organisations?
Trump in the past has kicked out CNN's White House correspondent in his first administration, Jim Acosta.
That's enough. That's enough. That's enough. Put down the
mic. That was overturned by the courts as a violation of the First Amendment rights. He's also banned Associated Press from parts of the White House, from the Oval Office, but hasn't revoked their passes. So in some respects, this feels like a continuation of a fairly long-running battle. But he's never actually banned three entire organizations from the White House and revoked their passes. And that is a very, very significant step. What happened was that at a news conference, he complained about those news organizations and said that he'd be taking some action.
Mr. President, on the ban, what does that mean in practice? Are you taking away their badges? Are you banning them from the pool? What does this actually mean?
When you say the ban, you don't have any bans. I'm involved and I got more bans.
A lot of journalists wondered what that would look like until the next day. Over the weekend on Saturday, they tried to enter the White House using their passes and they had those passes confiscated.
I went to scan my badge and enter my PIN number, and the lights around the reader blinked red.
Why is there no comparable legal back‑stop for Australian journalists?
I tried it again, and then the officer asked me to hand over my badge, and he said that it's been disabled. And as a
response, the big TV news networks that were all part of what's known as the White House press pool all had a chat. to work out how they were going to respond, and they decided to withdraw their support, that they were going to withdraw from the press pool itself. And that is a very big deal. This is the big news organizations that provide the TV coverage, not just to each other, but to the entire world, saying, we're not going to play ball. Now, of course, there are all sorts of other ways that the video can get out. There's no shortage of people with mobile phones, and the White House has its own streaming capacity. But not being on the networks, I think, is a very big deal and it escalates this pretty significantly.
Yeah, that show of solidarity that we saw from the big US broadcasters, that's unusual. And, I mean, tell me a bit more about the impact of that in terms of making life different for Trump and the White House and the way that he's covered.
Well... If there's one thing we know about President Donald Trump, it is that he absolutely loves the media.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What did Donald Trump’s recent White House press pass revocations involve?
0:01–1:48
2
How did the US press pool react to Trump’s ban on major news organisations?
1:48–3:04
3
Why is there no comparable legal back‑stop for Australian journalists?
3:04–7:12
4
What parallels does Peter Greste draw between Trump’s tactics and Pauline Hanson’s press bans?
7:12–10:08
5
How does Australia’s implied freedom of political communication fall short in protecting the media?
10:08–13:35
6
What lessons can be learned from the ABC’s 2019 federal police raid?
13:35–16:38
7
What would a Media Freedom Act look like and how could it safeguard journalists?
16:38–17:01
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from 7am
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