Free political journalism is an essential part of democracy, a safeguard
against totalitarianism. In every Parliament House, a paradox may be
observed: living side by side are politicians who try to keep much of
what they say and do, and political journalists whose aim is to
penetrate the secrecy which and officials try to maintain. The outcome
of this constant struggle is a compromise. The politicians andofficials
are not able to suppress all that they wish to keep secret. The
journalists are unable to discover all thatshould, in the public interest,
be publicised.
Age Political reporter, John Bennets wrting in the 1965 cadet
journalists guide, The Journalists Craft (Sydney:
9
Angus&Robertson. 1965 pp 157)
Governments everywhere have gone online, and more data is being daily.
Government web sites include speeches, policy documents, briefing materials,
department structures and responsibilities, telephone indexes and biographies.
Political statements can be crosse referenced and contextualised by computer.
Political reporters who still need to rely on media releases can down load them for
confirmation and possible inclusion. Most media releases are also archived on the
web, allowing statements and policies to be checked against earlier pronouncements.
The ABC's former chief political reporter, Matt Peacock said that computers made it
easier to search for relevant documents, which might have otherwise ended "in the
bin".
…A big difference now with the Web is that you can go back and
people are much more on the record, particularly governments. So
that you do a search on a particular subject and you'll be able to
unearth the press releases that the Minister, or whoever else it is, said
a year or two years or three years ago on that same subject. So they're
a little bit more accountable and it's a bit easier now to search for that.
But certainly the key to what could be called investigative journalism
but could also be called just good, professional journalism, is having
time. (Peacock:2000