Australian media demands press freedom law reforms

CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s three largest media organizations have joined forces to demand press freedom law reforms that would prevent journalists from risking prison for doing their job.

New Corp. Australia, Australian Broadcasting Corp. and Nine Entertainment released their agreed demands on Wednesday for law reforms following police raids on consecutive days early this month at ABC’s Sydney headquarters and a News Corp. reporter’s Canberra home in search of leaked government documents.

The rival organizations want journalists to be exempt from national security laws passed that “would put them in jail for doing their jobs.”

They also want a right to contest warrants such as those executed in Sydney and Canberra. Both the ABC and New Corp. this week lodged court challenges to both those warrants in a bid to have documents returned.

The Associated Press