MEAA to withdraw its support for the Australian Press Council

The nation’s media union has slammed the Australian Press Council and is withdrawing its support because it said it cannot do its job properly.

MEAA federal president Marcus Strom. Picture: Hollie Adams

The nation’s media union has slammed the Australian Press Council, saying it’s “not fit for purpose”, and is withdrawing its long-running support.

The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance is giving notice to leave the APC — the self-regulatory body for print media — after it said it had lost confidence it in to do its job.

MEAA federal president Marcus Strom said the union has contributed more than $1m in fees to the APC over the past decade but feedback from members was that it was not doing its job properly.

“We think there’s been inconsistencies in some rulings and we’re not very happy with the governance standards of the Press Council,” he said. “The status quo is serving no one — not the industry nor the public.”

Under existing rules, the MEAA must give four years’ notice before departing the APC. This means it will be unable to leave the organisation under 2025.

Mr Strom said there should be a “simpler system of self-regulation that is consistent across all platforms and organisations”. “Regulation should be simple, quick and pack a bit of punch,” he said.

“At the moment, you have negative adjudications being published and you have people openly mocking those adjudications.”

The MEAA pays $113,000 in fees to the Press Council annually, but from July 1 under a negotiated deal that amount falls to $25,000 a year.

Some 35 bodies provide funding to the council, including News Corp Australia, Fairfax Media and Community Newspapers Australia.

The Institute of Public Affairs’ director of communications Evan Mulholland criticised the MEAA decision.

“It appears the union just want a Press Council where every opinion that is not the left-wing orthodoxy … is deemed unacceptable and met with consequence,” he said.

The APC issued a statement on Wednesday night and said they were “disappointed” with the MEAA’s decision.

It said it did not agree with all of the observations made by the MEAA but “it does recognise the need for the self-regulatory regime to evolve to take account of convergence across all media platforms.”