Media have an obligation to report unpleasant truths

Thinking about the Australian Federal Police raids on a News Corp journalist and the ABC, are we as citizens still able to hold government accountable, or are we willing to tolerate a shoot-the-messenger mentality?

Sometimes unpleasant truths have to be told and we need to support journalists and others who are willing to do the telling. If we allow shooting the messenger to become the norm, society and our democracy will be the poorer for it.

What comes next? How far are we really from the type of rhetoric that casts the media as the enemy of the people? We should draw a line in the sand or else we risk no longer having a free press that can bring us stories in the public interest.

A tolerant transparent society allows the voicing of diverse opinions in a civilised manner.

Bill Bowman, Rhodes, NSW

The AFP may have their reasons, however the raids on a journalist and the ABC over the past few days, have surely pushed the boundaries. We all value freedom of information and know what we read is not always the whole story anyway.

Journalists must be protected and have their sources protected or we may as well go live in China or some other communist state.

Claire Jolliffe, Buderim, Qld

I am unimpressed by the cacophony of squeals coming from the media and the legal fraternity about the AFP raid at the ABC. The media, lawyers, and doctors can enjoy “privilege” but our security agencies and military can’t? Our special forces, sent into battle in the most murky circumstances where the rules of war are ignored by their opponents, are subject to summary, preliminary and public judgment as if they were just local police back home. That’s hardly fair and reasonable.

I recall the ABC program on the subject matter when it went to air and my impression was that it was a smear job on the special forces based on material that was from an incomplete investigation into a set of accusations.

M. Seward, Launceston, Tas

When our public broadcaster revealed that accusations had been made against our special forces in respect to civilian casualties in Afghanistan, I assumed that the Australian Defence Force had allowed access to SAS files. It is now known that this restricted material was leaked to the press. Those reports were broadcast prior to any convictions, causing enormous anguish to serving soldiers and their families, including one of our most highly decorated soldiers.

If the media expect public sympathy in the face of investigations by the AFP of this breach of the law, they will be mistaken.

Vicki Sanderson, Cremorne, NSW

There has been an over-reaction to the AFP use of lawful search warrants to obtain evidence for court prosecutions of two public servants who have allegedly passed secret material to journalists. The AFP’s actions are not an affront to press freedom or attempted intimidation of journalists because the whistleblowers appear to have committed a crime.

Paul Nolan, Lota, Qld

The AFP raids on journalists this week raise a few issues. Yes, to sustain democracy and maintain the rule of law we need a free and impartial press to probe and report. Accountability of our rulers and vested interests is essential in a democracy. But I worry when media people justify their actions by claiming they are publishing in the public interest. Journalists are unelected. Their opinion of what is in the public interest is not necessarily the view of the populace. The media must also be accountable.

Gareth Dowding, Brisbane, Qld

The AFP raid on the senior press gallery reporter Annika Smethurst together with the raid on the Sydney offices of the ABC are a cause of great concern.

My parents lived under the reign of Stalin and Hitler where the apparatchiks of both regimes performed their roles of terrorising the population with ruthless efficiency. People lived under the shadow of the proverbial midnight knock on the door.

A free press underpins our democracy and our government has the responsibility to ensure that citizens live in a society that is democratic and where government agencies are accountable for their actions. Raiding the ABC offices and journalists in the name of national security has no place in Australian society.

Ed Sianski, West Moonah, Tas