Where are all the journalist activists?

That's the title of an article written by Margaret Simons in today's edition of Crikey!

She says none of the journalists are acting as forces against the new cross-media ownership laws proposed by Helen Coonan. Yesterday was the closing date for inquiries about Coonan's discussion paper.

All I will say is that I agree with her. Who will stand up for media diversity, free expression and fair reporting if journalists don't? Not the media owners, that's for sure--they'll just sit back and rub their hands together.

Action has to come from those working in the field to make the media industries in Australia more accountable and impartial. As much as media CEOs talk about how much they value their staff, they can't escape being governed by the bottom line.