{"id":25710,"date":"2016-04-04T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-03T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=25710"},"modified":"2016-04-04T12:20:11","modified_gmt":"2016-04-04T02:20:11","slug":"oz-military-media-policy-shut-em-out-shut-em-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/oz-military-media-policy-shut-em-out-shut-em-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Oz military media policy: shut \u2018em out, shut \u2018em up"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The standard political and military approach to journalists is to use and abuse. The hacks return it with gusto.<\/span><\/p>\n

When things go wrong and the going gets tough, the political\/military approach shifts gear to shut \u2018em out and shut \u2018em up.<\/span><\/p>\n

See use\/abuse or shut-up\/shut-out as the two arms of Oz government and Defence media policy. Express these two arms of dealing with The Press or news media with formal labels: Engage versus Exclude.<\/span><\/p>\n

Governments have to Engage because they have voters to reach and stories that need telling. The frustration of having to Engage is expressed in that wonderful<\/span> Tom Stoppard<\/span><\/a> line: \u2018I\u2019m with you on freedom of the press. It\u2019s the newspapers I can\u2019t stand.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

While governments must Engage, the Australian military\u2014seeking to please itself and its political masters\u2014has consistent Exclude instincts.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Exclude habit-of-mind is an unsung yet enduring bit of the ANZAC tradition.<\/span><\/p>\n

A century of Oz military history reveals a tendency to see Oz journalists as only slightly less dangerous than the enemy. An attack from the rear, deploying large headlines, is dreaded.<\/span><\/p>\n

The WWI official correspondent, C.E.W. Bean\u2014the man who inscribed the ANZAC legend in the histories then enshrined it in the War Memorial\u2014remarked that his two bugbears at Gallipoli were \u2018Turkish flies and Australian officers\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

The flies still irritate and officers still buzz.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unpack elements of the Exclude habit as displayed by the Australian Defence Force, using shut-up and shut-out lenses.<\/span><\/p>\n

In war and conflict zones, Defence has an almost unique ability to control the access of hacks\u2014a formidable shut-out power. Stay with us and do as we say and we\u2019ll protect you. Go solo and risk death.<\/span><\/p>\n

The complex conundrum is infused with tragedy. The growing roll of dead freelancers in myriad conflicts is a strong argument for getting into bed and becoming an<\/span> \u2018embedded\u2019<\/span><\/a> correspondent with the military.<\/span><\/p>\n

In WWI and WWII the shut-up tool was powerful censorship laws. In democracies, such overt control is today out of fashion.<\/span><\/p>\n

The military can no longer censor what hacks write or broadcast or tweet. Instead, there\u2019s \u2018media policy\u2019. Control the information flow. Hire lots of Media Minders. Direct the story. Stay on message. Talk about what you want to talk about.<\/span><\/p>\n

Negative or unwanted yarns are subject to \u2018damage control\u2019 and \u2018rapid response\u2019 and \u2018clarification\u2019; even a carefully-phrased denial.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mount the counter-attack of talking points. If something bad happens on your patch, try to shift the news cycle with diversion or feint. Give \u2018em different, fresh meat\u2014don\u2019t look here, look over there at this new, shiny thing.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the centre of the mindset is secrecy, often an all-purpose shroud. Defence shares the secrecy habit with everybody else in official Canberra. The threat of terrorism has generated a lot of new shut-up legislation aimed at hacks.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the words of the hacks’ union\u2014the Media Alliance<\/a>\u2014the strengthened ASIO Act means \u2018Australian journalists face jail terms for legitimate public interest journalism.\u2019 The fundamental effect of the law \u2018is to intimidate whistleblowers and journalists.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

In Canberra, the shut-up\/shut out habit is political practice and bureaucratic custom as well as ANZAC tradition.<\/span><\/p>\n

With any policy approach, both formal and informal forces are at play. Apply this stated and unstated model to the way Defence does media policy:<\/span><\/p>\n

Stated Reasons for Shut-up\/Shut-out<\/strong><\/p>\n