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Negotiating Freedom of Expression in Public University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+ University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 2018 Towards an intersectional model of policy development, advocacy and journalism: Negotiating freedom of expression in public Julie Posetti University of Wollongong Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses1 University of Wollongong Copyright Warning You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own research or study. The University does not authorise you to copy, communicate or otherwise make available electronically to any other person any copyright material contained on this site. You are reminded of the following: This work is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this work may be reproduced by any process, nor may any other exclusive right be exercised, without the permission of the author. 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Recommended Citation Posetti, Julie, Towards an intersectional model of policy development, advocacy and journalism: Negotiating freedom of expression in public, Doctor of Philosophy thesis, School of the Arts, English and Media, University of Wollongong, 2018. https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses1/588 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] Towards an intersectional model of policy development, advocacy and journalism: Negotiating freedom of expression in public Julie Posetti Supervisors: Prof. Stephen Tanner A/Prof. Marcus O’Donnell This thesis is presented as part of the requirement for the conferral of the degree: Doctor of Philosophy This research has Been conducted with the support of the Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship University of Wollongong Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts: School of the Arts, English and Media August 2018 Abstract This practice-based PhD thesis presents a major work of hybrid journalism-policy research - the candidate’s UNESCO-published study Protecting Journalism Sources in the Digital Age1 (Posetti 2017a2) - and associated outputs (including journalism, industry reports, and public events), together with this critical and connective exegesis that provides theoretical and reflective context for the major artefact (i.e. aforementioned book) at the core of the project. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) commissioned the major artefact in 2014 to provide quantitative data and qualitative research to demonstrate international developments in legal and normative frameworks that support the principle of confidential source protection which is central to the practice of investigative journalism, with an emphasis on emerging digital era implications. The resulting book, published by UNESCO in 2017, examined a decade’s worth of relevant source protection developments in 121 countries. Its impact was significant, as evidenced by international media coverage, citation in a major judgement on journalistic source protection from the European Court of Human Rights, through a Report from the UN Secretary General, and via a UN General Assembly Resolution on journalism safety. Described by UNESCO as a “benchmark study” (UNESCO 2017a), the book makes a major contribution to this emerging area of scholarship, especially through its development of a comprehensive 11-point framework for assessing legal source protection instruments and normative environments. It is the first study of its kind to map and analyse the convergent digital era threats posed to source protection globally. These laws and frameworks sit at the complex intersection of a range of threats involving: the undercutting of source confidentiality by mass and targeted surveillance; the risk of source protection laws being trumped by national security and anti-terrorism legislation; the expanding requirements for third party intermediaries to mandatorily retain (and potentially handover) citizens’ data for increasingly lengthy periods of time; and debates about diverse digital media actors’ entitlement to access source protection laws where they exist. This exegesis provides a critically reflective account of the development of the study (i.e. Protecting Journalism Sources in the Digital Age) as a hybrid work of journalism and international public policy research. It presents a theoretical account of the scholarship around source protection, the fraught history of the UN’s role in commissioning research designed to develop international freedom of expression rights and standards, and the shifting nature of journalism and press freedom 1 The Book is appended to this exegesis as a PDF: Appendix 2 2 Note: The book that sits at the centre of this PhD project was sole-authored By the candidate 1 advocacy in the networked public sphere. It describes the act of ‘making content out of process’ and maximising research impact through the extended life of the project. This involved interwoven collaborations, engaging stakeholder communities and broader publics in the research and dissemination processes, explaining and promoting the study’s findings, and carefully negotiating iterative publication through protracted UN diplomatic and bureaucratic processes. Together, this critical reflection and scholarly analysis form the exegetical thesis, explicating the hybrid model of networked public communication at the heart of the production, publication and impact of the UNESCO-published study Protecting Journalism Sources in the Digital Age. 2 Acknowledgments This PhD project would not have been possible without the love, support and sacrifices of my husband and daughter. So, Tim and Amalia: this is for you. It is also submitted with recognition of the patient, encouraging and insightful supervision of Professor Stephen Tanner and Associate Professor Marcus O’Donnell. Sincere thanks also go to my mother and sister who loyally helped ‘pick up the pieces’ during the last phases of PhD deadline push. Finally, I would like to express gratitude for the contributions of the myriad researchers, research assistants, peer reviewers, expert interviewees3 and UNESCO staff4 affiliated with the development of the book at the heart of this project: Protecting Journalism Sources in the Digital Age (Posetti 2017a). My sincere hope is that this PhD, in its multiple intersecting components, will serve investigative journalism, help support the development and maintenance of open societies through sustainable accountability journalism, and draw attention to the importance of the public’s ‘right to know’, along with journalism’s role in defending it. Additionally, I hope it ultimately aids the vital research and advocacy on press freedom, journalism safety and media literacy undertaken and supported by UNESCO’s Freedom of Expression and Media Development Division.5 Julie Posetti, August 2018 3 For a full list of researchers, research assistants, review panel memBers and expert interviewees connected to the UNESCO study, see the imprint and appendices within Protecting Journalism Sources in the Digital Age (appended in full to this exegesis and also available here: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0024/002480/248054E.pdf ). The book is sole-authored by the candidate, who was also the project’s Chief Researcher. 4 Particular thanks go to Dr Guy Berger and Caroline HammarBerg 5 Disclaimer: This Body of work is the responsiBility of the author, and the ideas and opinions expressed in it are not those of UNESCO, and they do not commit the Organization 3 Certification I, Julie Nicole Posetti, declare that this thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the conferral of the degree Doctor of Philosophy, from the University of Wollongong, is wholly my own work unless otherwise referenced or acknowledged. This document has not been submitted for qualifications at any other academic institution. Julie Nicole Posetti 31st August 2017 4 List of Names and Abbreviations Exegesis Informants6 Dr Guy Berger, Director of Freedom of Expression and Media Development, UNESCO Prof. David Kaye, UN Special Rapporteur Dr Courtney Radsch, Advocacy Director, CPJ James Risen, Investigative journalist, The Intercept Abbreviations ABC – Australian Broadcasting Corporation CPJ – Committee to Protect Journalists NWICO – New World International Communication Order UN – United Nations UNESCO – United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization UN GA – United Nations General Assembly UN AOC – United Nations Alliance of Civilizations UOW – University of Wollongong WAN-IFRA – World Association of News PuBlishers WEF – World Editors Forum 6 See also list of interviews at the end of the ‘major artefact’ attached (Appendix 2) 5 Table of Contents ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................................
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