All The News That Fits

It isn't terribly nice when you see family squabbling in public.

But, in the public interest, it is particularly interesting to get an insider's view of the media's privileged position as gatekeepers of information.

Take the story of Bali 9er Scott Rush, the young man from Brisbane now spending a life term in Bali for conspiring to smuggle heroin.

It's been admitted that the majority of journalists covering the case knew of Rush's criminal past and chose not to publish anything in the Australian media in case it was used by Indonesia prosecutors to impose the death penalty.

Conspiracy of silence or responsible reporting?The question may have simply remained fodder for academics or a spirited discussion over a beer or 10 at the local press club had it not been for an episode of The Australian Story on the ABC (in which Rush's parents blamed the Australian Federal Police for tipping off the Indonesian police) and a front page story in The Courier Mail after the sentencing which outlined Rush's extensive criminal history.

Viewers of The Australian Story, and one would guess of the news media in general, felt manipulated into feeling sympathetic to those caught.

Journalists felt they had a moral obligation to not air anything that might trigger the death penalty.

What's your opinion?

Should the media publish or broadcast the facts of the case as they have them, no more-no less?

Or

Does the media have a moral obligation to withhold certain information from its audience?

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