'Draconian' govt 'media regulation' proposal 'threat to press freedom', says News Ltd boss

Sydney, Sept. 6 (ANI): News Limited chief executive Kim Williams has hit out at 'draconian' government proposals for a new media regulator, by which it can threaten to send journalists to jail.

Williams said new technology and markets were driving media diversity and a government-funded regulator would be a 'threat to press freedom'.

According to the Herald Sun, in a speech to the Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers' Association future forum, Williams said this was a turbulent time for print media publishers who were overseeing major change.

He said quality print businesses would survive by ensuring customers were 'front and centre' and by adapting to different modes of delivery, the report said.

Williams said in this era, recommendations for sweeping changes to regulation by two government-instigated reviews, one by retired judge Ray Finkelstein and another looking at convergence, were dangerous.

"I find it, as I hope all of you do, deeply concerning we have reached a place where words like 'government', 'journalist' and 'jailing' can all appear in the same sentence when describing a report by a retired judge," he said.

The former head of pay-TV company Foxtel also said that proposals for new public interest tests for media ownership should be "passed into the dustbin of history", the report said.

According to the report, pointing to a growth in television channels and a "staggering array of online news and information websites", Williams said Australians were able to access a large number of media outlets.

"Australians don't need dangerous new laws to give them greater media diversity, they just need a mobile device, or a television, or a laptop," he said.

According to the report, Williams said there were ways to boost accountability for journalists without the prospect of "unhealthy levels of government oversight".

"None of this is to say our collective journalists and media outlets are perfect," he said.

"I acknowledge freely that the Australian press's self-regulation could have be improved in the past and given greater resources," he added.

According to the report, Williams added that 'a growing diversity of choice was causing big issues for traditional media companies and was forcing big changes'. (ANI)