McGinty explains his side of West feud

by Lydia Monka

April 30, 2008

WA Health Minister and Attorney-General Jim McGinty visited Murdoch University on April 29 to deliver a lecture on the good, the bad, and the uglier aspects of media ethics and responsibilities.

Facing a packed room of journalism, PR and politics students, Mr McGinty, accompanied by his press secretary Astrid Serventy, tackled the complex relationship between politics and the media during the one hour lecture. The minister referred to his own recent strife with the local press.

The contentious feud between Mr McGinty and West Australian editor Paul Armstrong over the last year is no small secret.

The dispute began in May 2007 over the introduction of shield laws to protect journalists and their sources - leading to alleged comments by the Attorney-General that the West Australian was deliberately inaccurate and dishonest in its coverage of health issues, and did not deserve shield laws until they lifted their standards.

Mr McGinty stressed the importance of ethical behaviour and honest, balanced reporting to the room of future reporters.

“Journalists must ensure they have the highest ethical standards,” he said. “There is a natural tension between the government and the media - but the media is looking for impact and entertainment which has a corrupting potential.”

But Mr McGinty said, by large, Perth was well served by its media.

“As long as they get it roughly right,” he joked, referring to the coverage the press gives him.

On the ‘uglier’ side of journalism, the minister spoke of the papers “not only getting it wrong but doing so with malice”. This was a reference to last January when an erroneous front page photo of a woman lying across chairs in a Perth hospital was published. The article claimed a shortage of beds in hospitals, and the editorial went to town, Mr McGinty said.

He admitted he had “broken every rule in the PR book” with his reluctance to back down from the hostilities, and by imposing a moratorium on the West Australian’s access to government media releases.

“I think the message needed to be sent to the management of the West Australian that their behaviour was threatening the nature of our democracy,” he added.

After the lecture, students were able to pose their own questions to Mr McGinty.

When questioned about his current stance on the controversial shield laws, Mr McGinty commented that he personally supported the laws, but had been making a point by holding off until now.

“Hopefully they will be appearing in the not too distant future,” he said. “Not all journalists should be penalized because of the West Australian."