Hard News and Free Media As the Sharp Edge of Australian Soft Power
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STRATEGY Hard news and free media as the sharp edge of Australian soft power Graeme Dobell, Geoff Heriot and Jemima Garrett September 2018 Graeme Dobell Graeme Dobell is a Journalist Fellow of ASPI. A journalist for 47 years, he has been reporting on Australian and international politics, foreign affairs and defence, and the Asia–Pacific since 1975. Graeme worked as a reporter for the ABC for 33 years, 25 of those years with Radio Australia. Geoff Heriot Geoff Heriot is the director of Heriot Media & Governance Pty Ltd. Over the past decade, he has advised the boards and senior management groups of media and media-related organisations in Asia and the Pacific. Previously, he spent more than three decades with the ABC, variously as a journalist / foreign correspondent, executive producer and senior executive. Among his senior executive roles were those of Chief of Corporate Planning and Governance, General Manager of Corporate Strategy, and Controller of News and Programs at Radio Australia. He is currently a PhD researcher at the University of Tasmania. Geoff has master’s degrees in commercial law and Asian history, a graduate diploma in business administration, and undergraduate qualifications in media and journalism. Jemima Garrett Jemima Garrett is an award-winning freelance journalist, journalism trainer and communications consultant specialising in the Pacific. She has more than 30 years’ experience in the region, including as the ABC’s South Pacific correspondent and ABC Radio Australia’s Pacific economic and business reporter. In her two decades teaching journalism and communications in the Pacific and providing media training in Australia, she has worked for corporations, governments and community groups. She is author of the book Island exiles, a history of the Nauruans during World War II. About ASPI ASPI’s aim is to promote Australia’s security by contributing fresh ideas to strategic decision‑making, and by helping to inform public discussion of strategic and defence issues. ASPI was established, and is partially funded, by the Australian Government as an independent, non‑partisan policy institute. It is incorporated as a company, and is governed by a Council with broad membership. ASPI’s core values are collegiality, originality & innovation, quality & excellence and independence. ASPI’s publications—including this paper—are not intended in any way to express or reflect the views of the Australian Government. The opinions and recommendations in this paper are published by ASPI to promote public debate and understanding of strategic and defence issues. They reflect the personal views of the author(s) and should not be seen as representing the formal position of ASPI on any particular issue. Important disclaimer This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in relation to the subject matter covered. It is provided with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering any form of professional or other advice or services. No person should rely on the contents of this publication without first obtaining advice from a qualified professional person. Cover image: Studio microphone on stand with on air sign © Grassetto / iStock photo. Hard news and free media as the sharp edge of Australian soft power Graeme Dobell, Geoff Heriot and Jemima Garrett September 2018 © The Australian Strategic Policy Institute Limited 2018 This publication is subject to copyright. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of it may in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, microcopying, photocopying, recording or otherwise) be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted without prior written permission. Enquiries should be addressed to the publishers. Notwithstanding the above, educational institutions (including schools, independent colleges, universities, and TAFEs) are granted permission to make copies of copyrighted works strictly for educational purposes without explicit permission from ASPI and free of charge. First published September 2018 Published in Australia by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute ASPI Level 2 40 Macquarie Street Barton ACT 2600 Australia Tel + 61 2 6270 5100 Fax + 61 2 6273 9566 Email [email protected] www.aspi.org.au www.aspistrategist.org.au Facebook.com/ASPI.org @ASPI_org ISBN 978-1-925229-46-2 (ebook : pdf) ISBN 978-1-925229-45-5 (print) CONTENTS FOREWORD 4 AN OZ VOICE IN THE ASIA–PACIFIC 6 Executive summary Introduction Fake news and weaponised media Speak for ourselves Australian international TV Foreign policy and media revolutions The Australian International Broadcasting Corporation REJOINING THE ‘GREAT GAME’ OF THE AIRWAVES: AUSTRALIA’S INDO-PACIFIC FUTURE 17 Executive summary Introduction Unjoined forces Speaking up, defending norms The role of the state in a networked world A contemporary rationale Bargaining with audiences Six functions of an international broadcaster for Australia Not a time for business as usual Recommendations in brief REBUILDING AUSTRALIA’S MOST POWERFUL ‘SOFT POWER’ TOOL 29 Executive summary Introduction The role of international broadcasting The state of Australia’s voice in the region Changing audiences and technology The competitive media market The way forward for Australian broadcasting in the Asia–Pacific FOREWORD Michael Shoebridge — Director, Defence and Strategy, ASPI. Australia’s thinking about the strategic challenges to Australian power and influence, notably in the South Pacific, has focused mainly on defence relationships, development programs and security. In doing this, it has neglected perhaps the most powerful ‘soft power’ tool Australia possesses to engage with the peoples and governments of our near region—Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. That tool is the international reach of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Commentators and ministers have been concerned at the rise in influence of other states that don’t share Australian values and that seem to be using their power and influence in disruptive, and at times coercive, ways. Beyond concern, though, little seems to be being done to strengthen Australia’s voice and influence outside formal defence and development partnerships. For about $75 million per year, Australia could fund a new separate arm of the ABC—the Australian International Broadcasting Corporation—to reach out and engage with audiences in Pacific states, and in nations across Asia, through a variety of platforms—online, mobile telephony, and traditional broadcast tools such as radio and satellite. The influence and credibility that comes from an independent but state-funded broadcaster like the ABC has an impact far outweighing propaganda-driven content and broadcasts from state-owned media entities that are now broadcasting to the peoples in our near region—sometimes precisely because it’s critical of its ‘home’ government’s actions. Three Asia–Pacific media specialists have produced three perspectives on the history, dynamics and politics of funding of the ABC’s international efforts over the past two decades. Their work is collected here in this ASPI publication. They show that, while Australian politicians and ABC leaders themselves have been distracted by domestic and institutional issues, other state-owned media organisations—such as China’s—have expanded their footprint across Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. Australian Government decisions over the past decade haven’t just meant that Australia has trod water while this happened—in fact, we’ve stepped back and silenced broadcasts and local content while others have stepped up. Graeme Dobell is an experienced political journalist who knows the South Pacific and Southeast Asia well. His report provides a graphic and passionate history of Australian regional broadcasting and calls for a new Canberra consensus that puts aside domestic politics and prejudices to empower our national broadcaster’s voice in our region. He makes a strong case for establishing a new Australian International Broadcast Corporation, drawing on the ABC’s charter to ensure independence from government, both to give the broadcaster credibility and to avoid internal organisational prioritisation of domestic needs undercutting the international arm. Graeme’s research allows us to understand that the ‘fake news’ and media manipulation and distortion currently practised by several state actors isn’t new, but just another version of propaganda. It’s best countered by something that’s also not new—quality journalism. 5 As he says, fake news is today’s propaganda, a fresh title for old issues, and a dark element of the electronic challenges in this digital century. Meanwhile, the words that describe good journalism—‘reliable’, ‘independent’, ‘factual’—are exactly the same things needed in the foreign policy of a country seeking to persuade others, protect interests, project influence and promote values. Geoff Heriot’s contribution gives a strong articulation of the purpose of independent Australian international broadcasting to the people of our near region: this is to reach out to foreign publics in order to represent the idea, legitimacy and competence of Australia as a rules-based democracy. It also influences attitudes and behaviour through the framing of public discourse about events of significance in the region and Australia’s place in it. Geoff cites research establishing the influence of the ABC as a result of its perceived ‘lack of bias and impartiality, quality of journalism and ethics’. It outperforms