“It’s… the first time in a long time where we have all been so unified on an issue”
An interview about press freedom and political journalism with The West Australian’s federal political editor, Lanai Scarr, by Samantha Goerling.
Considering the media raids this year, do you think it’s been one of the most threatening years for freedom of the press in Australia?
Lanai Scarr: I think it was the year that it was highlighted the most. As it was said in the talks today, we have been experiencing issues with press freedom for a long time. I think it has been getting worse and the raids highlighted the level that it’s at.
The raids have sparked a parliamentary inquiry into press freedom. Do you think there is some benefit to come from the raids?
One-hundred percent. It was horrible for Annika Smethurst to have her underwear drawer raided, that was a very traumatic experience. She wrote in the paper this week, about how it had affected her life. I do think that it’s a good thing that we have sparked a national conversation and the Right To Know Coalition. There is more focus on this issue now, so I think that’s of benefit and hopefully out of this we’ll have a better situation for the press and press freedom in this country.
One of the things that impressed me was the media unity in the wake of the raids. Recently we saw papers around the country black out their front pages as part of the Right To Know campaign. Are there any other instances that come to mind where such unity across the board has been shown?
I mean you are rivals, you are fighting for the best story. But you still are all colleagues, you still are doing the same job. I very much believe we don’t have to be enemies because we work for different organisations. But it probably was the first time in a long time where we have all been so unified on an issue.
What do you think are some of the most important changes that need to happen to make it easier to do your job as a reporter?
There are reviews happening at the moment, I don’t think they necessarily have the answers. What I do think we need though, is a culture where whistleblowers do feel like it’s okay to come forward. A culture where, if we do have a story that relates to national security, it is okay to go and talk about your story and ask for advice from those within intelligence establishments and that’s not going to unleash a series of events that mean your story won’t run. That’s sometimes what happens now.
You almost feel afraid to talk to someone in government and run something by them in case they do something to kill the story, when that’s not how it should be. There should be a level of respect where you can come to them in good faith and say, ‘I’m going to report on this story but I want to ensure there are no national security implications and I want to ensure it’s not going to impact this or that person’.
For young political reporters, what are the key tools needed to be successful?
I think that the most important skills for being a good journalist, getting a good job and ones that helped me are: being hungry, being interested in people, being keen, being enthusiastic, having a positive attitude and being reliable and willing to do the work.
I learnt from some of the best journalists who gave me their time and were very generous in teaching me skills that I needed to be a great journalist. I learnt from Caroline Overington, Hedley Thomas, Cameron Stewart. They were so generous with their time because you do want to help younger journalists. I’m the same, I want to mentor people, I want to help people.
The refined skills of our trade can be taught on the job but the skills that I spoke about earlier in regards to positive attitude can’t be taught. So, for any aspiring journalists I would say those are the skills that will see you rise to the top and succeed, because people will want to teach you and see you succeed.
The Shining A Light Newsroom was supported by Edith Cowan University. See the full Shining A Light Newsroom coverage here.
