Earlier this morning RMIT University hosted the RMIT Communicator of the Year Award Breakfast at the Windsor Hotel in Melbourne. Retired High Court Judge, Michael Kirby and Melina Schamroth shared the award.
Jill Singer, Mike Smith and Jonathan Green all spoke on the implications of journalist job losses and the restructuring of the balance of power between the journalist and the PR practitioner. The key theme throughout was that truth and the public interest were being blurred and many cases forgetten in this upheavel.
Green has particularly dire predictions for the future of the dissemination of public information. He argues that PR practitioners are getting smarter and working harder while journalists are getting stupider and lazier. Green doesn’t believe it’s the fault of individual journalists, rather a broader problem tied to news room resources. The frames of reference of the “public interest” are being shifted to suit government and corporate agendas because journalists simply haven’t got the time or resources to initiate independent agenda setting.
Smith, who shared similar views on the current state of journalism, believes the problem may be temporary. He laments the lack of editorial leadership as well as newspapers increasing emphasis on puff pieces and soft news content. If a profitable online model can be built, reporter resources will increase, and we can again produce rigorous, probing and inquisitive journalism. The consumer will want to pay for this premium.
Classic values of hope and optimism seems to be out of fashion in media circles. Indeed, it took someone from outside the media industry to remind us that the purpose of the awards ceremony was to recognise and remind us of the value of honest and ethical communication.
Michael Kirby delivered a gracious acceptance speech and chose not to wallow in the negatives. Instead he spoke of his passion for communicating complicated and complex legal principles in simple terms. He argued that the law didn’t belong to lawyers and judges. It belonged to the people.
It was interesting to contrast Kirby’s humble and hopeful message with the indulgent pessimism that permeated Green’s speech. It is easy to be a pessimist and prophet of doom, but as Kirby reminded us, he was only able to be the “great dissenter” because he was passionate about communicating and resolving grievances. That Green, a senior figure in the Melbourne media landscape, couldn’t see any signs of hope or any model to build a positive way forward, speaks volumes of the industry’s current malaise.
