Journoz: Updates for Australian Journalists

Robert Fisk to speak at Edward Said Memorial Lecture

In commemoration of the work of Edward Said, Adelaide University is holding an Edward Said Memorial Lecture in Adelaide on 1 October 2005. Well-known journalist and Middle East specialist Robert Fisk will deliver the inaugural lecture. Get the invitation to the lecture here.

Public Right To Know Conference - Call for Papers

The issue of freedom of information will be explored at the 2005 Public Right To Know Conference at the University of Technology, Sydney on Friday, 4 - 6 November 2005. The conference is convened by the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism (ACIJ).

The conference brings together academic, journalists, media observers and students and will consist of both academic and non-academic presentations, lively debate and discussion.

Proposals for presentations about the issue of freedom of information are invited; particularly case studies that illustrate some of the principles and complexities that occur in practice.

Please send a 200-300 word abstract and your contact details, via email, to acij@uts.edu.au before 1 October 2005.

Should you have any questions about the conference prior to this date, please feel free to email Jan McClelland at jan.mcclelland@uts.edu.au (Ph: 02 9514 2295) or Chris Nash at c.nash@uts.edu.au (Ph: 02 9514 2312). For further details visit the website of the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism at http://www.acij.uts.edu.au/.

George Munster Forum

What: 2004 George Munster Journalism Award & Forum
When: 6.30pm on Friday September 17, 2004
Where: Guthrie Theatre, 702-730 Harris St, Ultimo, Sydney
Welcome drinks will be followed by award presentation and panel discussion. Admission is free.

Academics, students and journalists are invited to join the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism (http://acij.uts.edu.au/) on Friday September 17 for the annual George Munster journalism award and forum.
The prestigious George Munster award celebrates excellence in independent journalism. It carries a prize of $1,000, and is open to all journalists, working in print, broadcast and online media. Previous winners include journalists from The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, and the ABC, as well as freelance reporters and broadcasters.
As part of the award presentation, a panel of journalists, former Munster award winners, and academics will discuss the issues raised by the winning entry. They'll be taking part in the George Munster Journalism Forum, to be broadcast on ABC Radio National. The forum promises a lively debate on the issue of media independence. Originally instituted as an award for freelance journalism, the George Munster Award was expanded in 1998 to include applicants who are not freelancers but are able to demonstrate independence of mind and excellence in their craft.
George Munster was a co-founder of the Nation, and a freelance editor, journalist and writer of books. He later became an editor with Angus and Robertson Publishers and reverted to freelance work both as a journalist and book writer. His book Rupert Murdoch: A Paper Prince was launched in October 1985, soon after his death.
For more details, contact : Dominic O'Grady. Phone: (02) 9514 2295

It's today (and tomorrow)

The PUBLIC RIGHT TO SECURITY Vs PUBLIC RIGHT TO KNOW Media Conference opens tonight, 6pm, at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), 702 Harris St, Ultimo.

Expect hard questions about the media's coverage of the Iraq war when journalists, academics, students, and media observers gather this weekend at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) for the 2004 Public Right To Know conference.

The Australian Centre for Independent Journalism (ACIJ) hosts this annual event. It opens on Friday night, August 20, with Media Watch presenter David Marr and UTS associate professor Wendy Bacon as key speakers. They join international guests Dr Ilan Pape from the University of Haifa and Kathleen Burns from George Mason University in Washington to discuss whether the Australian and international media failed to adequately cover the war in Iraq.

"We are particularly interested in whether the media has failed to be sufficiently critical in assessing intelligence and government assertions about the nature and causes of the threats in the 'war on terror'," says ACIJ director and conference chair, Chris Nash.

"This is relevant in light of the performance of intelligence agencies in the US, UK and Australia. While the question of political doctoring of the more-or-less adequate intelligence advice has been addressed, the adequacy of the media in reporting a lot of the intelligence and political spin has not been probed," Nash says.

Over a dozen presentations will address the conference themes during the weekend event. These include How to Make Defamation Backfire, Photography, Censorship and Public Policy, and No Time for Silence: the deceit behind the legislative silencing of Australian citizens in the name of national security.

Conference presenters include Professor Liz Jacka from the University of Technology, Sydney; Jack Herman from the Australian Press Council; professor Mark Pearson from Bond University; Truda Gray and Associate Professor Brian Martin from the University of Wollongong; Genevieve Rankin from the University of Western Sydney and the Social Justice and Social Change Research Centre; and Dave Sweeney from the Australian Conservation Foundation.

The opening night session starts at 6pm on Friday August 20 with welcome drinks in the Guthrie Lecture Theatre at UTS, followed by presentations from 7pm. The Guthrie Theatre is located on Level 3, 702 - 730 Harris St, Ultimo, next to ABC Sydney.

Full conference details are online at www.acij.uts.edu.au. Registration is free.

CONTACT: Dominic O'Grady. Phone: 02 9514 2295.

Flick mania

I will be returning to the journoz blog soon but am writing a movie blog, Flick Knife, for fun in the mean time. I'll be writing about movies currently in the cinema or ones I've just caught up with on DVD. So many reviewers just tell the story of the film -- I'll try to do something different.

Time off

The journoz blog will be on a break for the next couple of weeks. Blame my back, not me, for the hiatus! Let's hope normal service will resume soon.

Time's nearly up

June 30 is the deadline for abstracts for this year's Public Right To Know conference to be held at the University of Technology, Sydney over the weekend of 20-22 August 2004. If you're keen on presenting at this conference, please let the conference organisers know asap.

The theme for the opening night plenary session is: The right to security vs the public right to know.

The conference welcomes a broad range of participants and papers from all relevant disciplines and professional fields. This year there's two special themes:

1. What, if any, provision should an Australian republican constitution make for the media. In particular, should provision for independent public sector media be entrenched in a republican constitution, and should the ownership and operation of private sector media be regulated in any way?

2. Project Censored. What are the stories of social significance that are overlooked, under-reported or self-censored by our news media?

The PR2K conferences combine academic and non-academic presentations. They examine the importance of free communication within and between journalism, media, the arts, government, the academy, interested organisations and the community. We strongly encourage proposals for presentations of case studies that illustrate some of the principles and complexities that occur in practice.

A selection of the academic conference papers will be peer-reviewed and published following the Conference.

2004 Conference: Key dates

* Call for Papers - issued on 6 May
* Academic Abstracts - due 30 June
* Proposals for Non Academic Presentations - due 30 June
* Acceptance of Papers - notified by 16 July
* Conference Registration - commences 28 July
* Conference Opening Night - 20 August
* Conference - 2 full days - 21 & 22 August 2003

More information on the conference is available at the PR2K website: http://acij.uts.edu.au/pr2k/index.html

Public Right to Know Conference

Announcement: CALL FOR PAPERS: PUBLIC RIGHT TO KNOW CONFERENCE 2004
The 2004 Public Right to Know conference will be held at the University of Technology, Sydney over the weekend of 20-22 August 2004. This is the fourth in a series of annual conferences organised by the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism (http://acij.uts.edu.au/).

The theme for the opening night plenary session will be: The right to security vs the public right to know. The conference will focus on two special themes, and welcomes papers that address them:

1. What, if any, provision should an Australian republican constitution make for the media? In particular, should provision for independent public sector media be entrenched in a republican constitution, and should the ownership and operation of private sector media be regulated in any way?

2. Project Censored. What are the stories of social significance that are overlooked, under-reported or self-censored by our news media? The ACIJ will launch an Australian version of Project Censored, begun in the USA by Sonoma State University.

The PR2K conferences combine academic and non-academic presentations. They examine the importance of free communication within and between journalism, media, the arts, government, the academy, interested organisations and the community. We strongly encourage proposals for presentations of case studies that illustrate some of the principles and complexities that occur in practice.

A selection of the academic conference papers will be peer-reviewed and published following the Conference.

Key dates

• Call for Papers - issued on 6 May
• Academic Abstracts - due 30 June
• Proposals for Non Academic Presentations - due 30 June
• Acceptance of Papers - notified by 16 July
• Conference Registration - commences 28 July
• Conference Opening Night - 20 August
• Conference - 2 full days - 21 & 22 August 2003

More information on the conference is available at the PR2K website: http://acij.uts.edu.au/pr2k/index.html

Best Australian journalism

A panel of judges drawn from journalism schools and the news media industry has identified what it considers to be the Best Australian Journalism of the 20th Century. The Best Australian Journalism of the 20th Century Conference, hosted by RMIT Journalism on 24-26 November 2004 will honour these media milestones, the full list of which can be found at RMIT Journalism's ezine, Fifth Estate (http://fifth.estate.rmit.edu.au/) . This interdisciplinary forum will appeal to journalists, journalism academics, historians, communication scholars and others researching the Australian media. Contact RMIT Journalism to receive regular email updates about the conference.

Call for papers

The conference organisers are calling for papers about the Best Australian Journalism of the 20th Century list. Papers may be about individual pieces of journalism, individual journalists or editors, or about professional practice themes arising from the list or indeed about journalism you consider important that has been left off the list. Papers may also be about the political, historical or social context surrounding the specific items on the list. Abstracts of not more than 250 words should be submitted by 16 July to muriel.porter@rmit.edu.au. Please indicate whether you are proposing your paper for the refereed or non-refereed presentation stream.

Bludging

journoz is taking an extended break over January. See you all in February.

Medical writing

The Australasian Medical Writers Association held their 20th Anniversary Conference in Sydney in November. The Association provides resources for medical writers and contact details for freelance members. Reports on the conference can be found at the AMWA site (http://www.medicalwriters.org/). Click on the link for Reports from our Twentieth Anniversary Conference 2003.

World Summit on the Information Society

The World Summit on the Information Society (http://www.itu.int/wsis/) is about to open in Geneva. The first phase will be hosted by the Government of Switzerland from 10 to 12 December 2003. The second phase will take place in Tunis almost two years later, from 16 to 18 November 2005, and will be hosted by the Government of Tunisia. The site has a lot of information about the first phase of WSIS, including the Draft Declaration of Principles (both the latest version and previous versions), the Draft Plan of Action (again the latest version and previous versions), as well as basic information about WSIS.

Down time

My Web server will be down for three hours on Sunday morning, October 26, for an upgrade.

September 11 sites

Gary Price has collated a handy set of 9/11 links on his ResourceShelf weblog at http://www.resourceshelf.com/. Links provided include archives, exhibits, reports, and articles, such as The Television Archive, a library of world perspectives concerning September 11, 2001, at http://tvnews3.televisionarchive.org/tvarchive/html/.

BEYOND THE PACIFIC SOLUTION: NEW DIRECTIONS IN REFUGEE POLICY

Australian Policy Online (http://www.apo.org.au/) is sponsoring a forum, Beyond the Pacific Solution: new directions in refugee policy, at 1.30 pm next Wednesday 10 September. The forum features:

• Peter Mares, author of the multi-award-winning book, "Borderline: Australia's Treatment of Refugees and Asylum Seekers"
• Kathleen Maltzahn, coordinator of Project Respect, a organisation working with women and girls in the sex industry, particularly women trafficked to Australia for prostitution
• Klaus Neumann, a senior research fellow at the ISR, who is researching the history of political asylum in Australia

Venue: AGSE Building, cnr William and Wakefield Sts, Hawthorn 3122

Further details: phone 03 9214 8886.

Pacific Media Conference

The Pacific Islands Media Association of New Zealand will be holding its 2003 conference on 3 and 4 October at Auckland University of Technology. Several key events will be happening including the launches of the Niue Star newspaper and the Pacific Journalism Review as well as the PIMA Media Awards. Over the coming weeks, more information about the conference, including registration forms, will be made available via the PIMA website at http://www.pima.org.nz/.

Today's the day

My book, Catch the Wave, is being officially launched in Brisbane today. It is also available in bookshops if anyone wants to get hold of it. Details of the book are at RMIT Publishing's site.

Powerhouse of ideas?

The annual Ideas at the Powerhouse festival is on again in Brisbane from 14-17 August at the Powerhouse at New Farm. The four-day program features more than 50 national and international speakers and commentators presenting their ideas for the future. Sessions include panels, lectures, discussions and debates. Many of the sessions are free, while some are ticketed at $25 or $15. To book for ticketed sessions, phone the Powerhouse on 07 3358 8600, or visit the Powerhouse box office, open Monday to Friday 9am to 4pm and Saturday 12 noon to 4pm, or book online. The site is at http://www.ideasatthepowerhouse.com.au/.

Deterrence doesn't solve anything

Peter Mares told a Victorian Department of Justice Forum on Refugees, entitled Human Rights and the Construction of an Australian Identity, that the partial success of deterrence policies in the West won’t stop the world refugee crisis from deepening. The full text of the speech is at http://www.apo.org.au/webboard/items/00330.shtml. It is part of an APO (http://www.apo.org.au/) Refugee Special for World Refugee Day.

Conference on the Public's Right to Know

One date to put in your diary should be October 17-19, 2003, which is when the 3rd National Conference on the Public Right to Know will be held at the University of Technology, Sydney. This is the third in a series of annual conferences organised by the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism (http://acij.uts.edu.au/). These conferences discuss the concept and application of the Public Right to Know. The conference will combine academic and non-academic presentations and examine the importance of free communication within and between journalism, media, the arts, government, the academy, organisations and the community. Details can be got from the web site at http://acij.uts.edu.au/pr2k/index.html

investigative journalism - RIP?

The Evatt Foundation is holding a public seminar on The Death of Investigative Journalism and Who Killed It? Speakers include Phillip Knightley and Four Corners reporter Chris Masters.
Venue: Seymour Centre, Sydney
When: Saturday 15 February, 6pm to 7.30pm
More info can be found at http://evatt.labor.net.au/events/10_20020309.html .

Bali bombing - seminar in Melbourne

Australian Policy Online will be hosting a seminar in Melbourne on 18 November on the implications of the Bali bombing for Indonesia and Australia. Speakers include Greg Barton (Deakin University), George Williams (Gilbert & Tobin Centre of Public Law, UNSW), and journalist and novelist Dewi Anggraeni. The seminar will be chaired by Peter Mares, author of Borderline: Australia’s Treatment of Refugees and Asylum Seekers. More details such as venue and time are at http://www.apo.org.au/webboard/items/00148.shtml.

Gays, lesbians and the media discussion

Monday 4 November 2002, 7-9 pm, Level 5 - Lecture Theatre 510, Bon Marche Building 3, University of Technology Sydney
David Marr (Media Watch presenter) and Margo Kingston (Sydney Morning Herald) and a panel of gay and lesbian journalists will discuss the representation of gays and lesbians in the media and in media workplaces. This free public forum will be chaired by Marcus O'Donnell (editor of Sydney Star Observer) and introduced by Wendy Bacon (Associate Professor of Journalism, UTS and Acting Director of the ACIJ). The forum is being held in association with the Gay Games. All welcome.