Reporting on war: Press Gallery interactions with Australian Prime Ministers, 1941-2013

Reporting on war: Press Gallery interactions with Australian Prime Ministers, 1941-2013

The Canberra Parliamentary Press Gallery has long been the centre of national debates over whether journalists are reporting independently for public audiences. The debates have escalated during the news coverage of Australia’s longstanding role in terror-related conflicts. In particular, critics have charged that many journalists have not fulfilled their roles as watchdogs to hold political leaders to account during Australia’s extensive military interventions overseas. More recently, scholars have acknowledged journalists’ growing willingness to present increasingly nuanced reporting of Australia’s role in international conflicts. This paper seeks to answer the question: how has the press gallery portrayed the prime ministerial messages of terrorism between World War II and Australia’s longest conflict, the war in Afghanistan? This study focuses on the press gallery’s interviews of the prime minister during the period from John Curtin in World War II to Julia Gillard during the conflict in Afghanistan. The study argues that Press Gallery journalists initially focused on upbeat messages and personality profiles of Curtin, as well as of Robert Menzies when he was Prime Minister during the Vietnam War.This style of reporting continued with the media coverage of John Howard and Kevin Rudd during Australia’s military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. Drawing on the theory of the public sphere, the study finds that press gallery journalists gradually departed from the stage-managed photo opportunities. The journalists involved public audiences in more national debates over the meaning and value of the war. Public discourse and citizen contributions to the news became more influential in shaping the press gallery coverage of war and terrorism.