Australian Black Monday 


Dailies’ Stand Against Media Restrictions And Growing Culture Of Government Secrecy
This Monday was not an ordinary day for Australian newspaper readers when they saw redacted. black marked lines on the front pages of every small to large newspaper. It did not take much time to know that this was the protest against Media Restrictions led by government by imposing 75 different laws against them. All media companies came together in an unprecedented action to fight for press freedoms and the public’s right to know what’s going on in this country. Advertisements were also released across Australia’s TV channels, asking the audience, ‘When the government hides the truth from you, what are they covering up?’

As an aftermath of 9/11 Australian Government laid 75 pieces of federal legislation in the name of protection of the public from national security threats in 2002. But that curbed the press freedom and helped government to keep people unaware of the Federal Government’s activities. These laws allowed the Government to decide what media should report and what should not.   
Media is campaigning against these coercive laws for last 2 decades. But the Monday’s black lines triggered after Australian Federal Police raided two prominent news sources. On 4th June 2019 they raided News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst’s home in Canberra with an authority for an investigation to check her home, computers and mobile phones. In April 2018 Smethurst reported that the heads of the defence and home affairs ministries had discussed draconian new powers to allow the Australian Signals Directorate to spy on Australian citizens for the first time. Under the mooted plan, spies would be allowed to secretly access emails, bank accounts and text messages with approval from the defence and home affairs ministers. She is now facing possible criminal charges.


(Here is her article.) https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/spying-shock-shades-of-big-brother-as-cybersecurity-vision-comes-to-light/news-story/bc02f35f23fa104b139160906f2ae709


Another unrelated raid happened on the same day on the ABC headquarters in Sydney after a report detailing incidents of Australian special forces troops killing men and children in Afghanistan,” according to a report in the Herald Sun. In 2017, ABC obtained government documents showing Australian special forces had killed unarmed men and children in Afghanistan.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/australia-police-raid-abc-headquarters-afghanistan-stories-190605052649208.html
Michael Miller, executive chairman of News Corp, also put out a strongly-worded statement. “It’s unprecedented to see the front page of every single newspaper pointing out the same issue we are challenged with having to deal with, but this is serious. It’s serious for all Australians, not just for media, but it’s our job to actually serve our communities.”
What does the campaign seek to achieve?
The campaign demands six changes to the existing Australian laws, which, the country’s media says, will go a long way in protecting press freedom.
According to the Herald Sun, the six proposed legislative reforms include:
§  The right to contest any kind of search warrant on journalists or news organisations before the warrant is issued
§  Law change to ensure public sector whistleblowers are adequately protected
§  A new regime that limits which documents can be marked ‘secret’
§  Review of Freedom of Information laws
§  That journalists be exempt from national security laws enacted over the past seven years that currently can put them in jail for doing their job
§  Reform to defamation laws
Indian government may it be Central or all the state Government, all have promised to maintain transparency in the governance. But we know how it happened. People are kept in dark and the decisions are taken in one night. May it be the eradication of Section 370 of Constitution or the cutting of trees in Aarey colony? It made a huge havoc after the incidents as public was not considered and the action implemented keeping unaware. These are an examples of Government’s non transparency. Indian media has also faced the gagging after showing the truth but some puppets are being poured by the praising words. They say what they are told to say. And they say it loudly so that the real cry could remain unheard. As we have the cultural diversity, we have ideological diversity too. And that has paralyzed our democracy. Let's hope for the day when the fourth pillar would get strong to make stand this world’s largest democracy proudly before the entire world.