The Finkelstein inquiry into the media and media regulation flags a future need for government to fund journalists' education.
CANBERRA - The Finkelstein inquiry into the media and media regulation flags a future need for government to fund journalists' education.
“In a financially-embattled industry, there is often less investment in career development than in one which is booming,” Mr Finkelstein writes in his report, released Friday 2 March. “There is a strong public interest in quality journalism, so government might examine ways in which it can provide education funding for journalists.” He suggests a publicly funded “centre for investigative journalism” at one or more tertiary institutions.” The report recommends a proposed Productivity Commission inquiry assess international options for such a centre from those available overseas.
While Mr Finkelstein says there is no case for government support for the media now, “the situation is changing rapidly and requires careful and continuous monitoring … to see whether there will be a serious decline in the production and delivery of quality journalism.” While the report is silent on what such a centre would teach it endorses the efforts of existing journalism schools to ensure students understand their obligations, “journalism schools around the country devote considerable time to teaching ethics.”
While individual academics made submissions to the inquiry only three university based centres variously teaching or researching journalism provided proposals.
Taken from www.theaustralian.com.au.
More information can be found on theconversation.edu.au.
