September 1998 Volume 79  Number 9 "serving the protectors"
Editorial
By Andy Dunn (secretary@pasa.asn.au)

Andy Dunn

Why Oppose The Media?

Who said that policing and news gathering are worlds apart? Police and news gatherers perform essentially the same duties: they gather, assess, prepare and present information, albeit to different audiences.

Both practitioner groups provide essential services, suffer community backlash, work around the clock and are used by the political process.

Jane Doyle drew parallels between the two vocations in Brett Williams’ article, Partners of the News Kind - she was right about all of them.

So, surely there’s much greater scope for co-operation than conflict between police and the media.

To engender that spirit of co-operation, however, the relationship must be recognized as one of inter-reliance. The police rely on media outlets for everything from traffic-accident broadcasts to “docudramas” such as Australia’s Most Wanted. The media rely on police as a supremely important source of information.

If the news media has respect for police, as Doyle has suggested, it should be reciprocated.

Graeme Goodings indicated in Partners of the News Kind a willingness by reporters to respect confidentiality and maintain open communication lines.

If respect and communication prevail, there seems little reason why the relationship can’t be free of discord.

The Fallen

The recent shooting murders of Victorian police officers, Gary Silk and Rodney Miller, were detestable. But they were also stark reminders that committed, operational police everywhere tread a fine line between life and death on a daily basis.

That some within the Australian community take their police services for granted is greatly disappointing to the selfless, blue-uniformed men and women who protect them. But police aren’t discriminating: they serve the unappreciative just as well as the grateful.

Police union representatives from around the country, including South Australia, attended Silk and Miller’s funerals. It was a saddening, unenviable task.

To honour all Australian police by whom the supreme sacrifice has been paid, the National Police Remembrance Day will be held this month.

Anyone who ever doubted the depth of police courage and commitment should attend and be enlightened.

Which Half, Joan?

Around three billion people across the globe don’t use toilet paper, according to SAPOL human resources director, Joan Russell.

Joan was being interviewed by Today Tonight reporter, Liz Kefford, about SAPOL’s treatment of Tanya Hunter (A Career Lost, Police Journal, July 1998) when she said: “For Heaven’s sake, half the world doesn’t use toilet paper.”

How that relates to supplying prisoners in police custody with what anyone in the free world would consider a necessity isn’t clear.

But perhaps, to satisfy abounding curiosity, Joan could explain exactly which half of the world it is whose habits justify the denial of dignity to others.