Australia's Right to Know is "a coalition aimed at persuading governments and the courts to end the erosion of free speech". To launch the venture, senior managers from several Australian media companies held a press conference in Sydney.

There was News Ltd chairman and chief executive John Hartigan, and Fairfax Media boss David Kirk.


Mark Scott, managing director of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).


Julie Flynn from Free TV Australia, which is "an industry body which represents all of Australia's commercial free-to-air television licencees".


The ABC also interviewed the enemy: Phillip Ruddock, the federal attorney-general.


The fuss is all about our rankings in “Two international studies [that] ranked Australia 35th and 39th on a world press freedom index,” according to Hartigan. The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (the journalists' union) says that "restrictions had become so severe that the public was being denied crucial information", which is ironic in the light of the MEAA's recent ruling on how reporters can cover stories in remote aboriginal settlements. In these areas, it seems the peak industry body is on the side of those who would deny the public access to important coverage that will inform the way it votes, for example.