I think this is a very good rebuttal by the BSA to their execution and the genuine need in an age of disinformation and misinformation to hold the mainstream media to account…
Cabinet’s decision to abolish the Broadcasting Standards Authority was either a surprise, or not, depending on your viewpoint and your familiarity with years of calls – not least from the BSA itself – to reform a Broadcasting Act that predates the internet.
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The public response has been a case study in some of the problems with today’s information ecosystem.
As the dust has settled, there has been some thoughtful, nuanced debate about potential consequences – from media insiders, commentators and experts, and from communities who already experience harm from media, and fear more if legal protections are removed.
…the Government’s decision to scrap the Broadcasting Standards Authority is reigniting a much bigger argument than just broadcasting rules — what happens to journalism, accountability and democracy when misinformation spreads faster than facts?
Whether or not we should dump the BSA was never really the issue, it was always what would replace it.
The pearl clutching from Sean Plunket was always more dramatics than real threat to free speech.
The means for which normal everyday citizens could complain about Broadcasting Standards will be choked off as some sort of victory for shrugging as Government policy.
Hilariously a large chunk of complaints were from white people complaining about Te Reo or Māori Political Aspiration, so much so that they had to make a formal statement they would no longer take complaints about Te Reo in 2021 because they were swamped by angry whites incandescent with rage that their comprehension of the weather was delayed by almost three whole seconds by the use of Māori.
‘Broadcasting standards’ was always a pretty grab all for whatever society of the day wished to be offended by.
I’ve always been far less interested in ‘Broadcasting standards’ and far more focused on ‘Journalistic Standards’, and that is what we should be turning the BSA into.
In an age of disinformation and misinformation, we need all platforms to agree to Journalistic Standards which are fundamental to the fourth estate.
Look, put simply, this is too important to let Paul Goldsmith f**k up.
We now live in a media landscape polluted by misinformation and disinformation driven by social media hate algorithms.
A democracy is only as strong as its citizens awareness.
If you have citizens fed hateful bullshit, your democracy becomes hateful bullshit.
Right now we need more regulation of journalistic standards, not less!
What should replace the Broadcasting Standards Authority?
The BSA should be reformed into enhancing journalistic standards, backed by E Tu, the union of Journalists.
Whistleblower protections
Journalistic privilege as a legal right
Right of reply
Accurate quotes
Independence
Verification and evidence
Minimising harm to individuals
Protection of sources
No fabrication or plagiarism
Clear separation of news, opinion and advertising
Protection of free speech
No promotion of violence
No defamation
Truth always
These are what the JSA should be looking at and demanding from our Fourth Estate.
There were limitations to the BSA because it was written decades ago, I’m not opposed to folding it into the Media Council, but that requires a new set of rules with the focus on demanding the highest standards of Fourth Estate Journalism.
That’s not what the Right want.
The Right want an environment with no rules so that their hate messaging can rule the roost.
That’s why the Right are attacking the BSA, not to promote strong standards for journalism, but to remove any regulations so that their racist, homophobic, gleefully ignorant commentary can gain cultural acceptance.
This is far too important an issue to be left in Paul Goldsmith’s hands.
Ironically National scrapped Goldsmith in Epsom.
The government getting rid of an organization that will hold them to account just adds to a long list of corruption.