Ears gone temporarily deaf

Sometimes a dissenting voice wavers of its own accord. Sometimes it falls on ears gone temporarily deaf.

There is no guarantee of free speech in Australia, and while not wishing to engage with why that is right now, the way is, I feel, is sometimes unjust.

When I heard that a Sydney radio broadcaster was being investigated by Australian media regulators over its coverage of a political issue I kind of shivered a little as I recall myself telling fifty people or so at a function years ago that (radio personality) John Laws was unfairly accused and unjustly condemned.

Laws, my all time favorite voice, was being investigated by the media regulators over, for want of a better description, commercial product placement on his radio programs. Every producer I knew dreamed of doing product placement deals. It seemed so unfair - I guess it was my very own "Leave Britney Alone" moment.

Nobody is above the law, but I did think that John Laws was on the pointy end of some arbitrary muscle-flexing. I guess you have to take your lumps when you get them, but he always was an entertainer, never claimed to be a journalist.

You could have heard a pin drop in this place.

I had another very different kind of experience of a sudden move in an unexpected direction by the broadcast media regulators which seemed to me equally unjust, in the day. Years before, Melbourne 3MBS-FM, the volunteers broadcasting some wonderful music from the Arts Centre here had to restructure the way the radio station paid for itself. It was an issue to do with the station's playlist, which came with a subscription, which made it somehow less egalitarian than had been intended, the regulator suddenly decided. It caused a great deal of stress, was very technical, it seemed to me, for very little value, to ordinary people just trying to do good.

MBS happily eventually survived, and so did John Laws. And so did I, that awkward moment when I guess I said something nobody wanted to hear.

Today I am looking at a transcript of a radio broadcast that caused all the fuss going on now. I can't get the Sydney broadcaster on my radio, but I sure would like to hear some exchanges on Melbourne radio which are as straightforward as this:

David Karoly: I am receiving a travel allowance to cover the costs of going to meetings of the Science Advisory Panel and I am receiving a small retainer which is substantially less than your daily salary.

Alan Jones: So you're paid by the Government and then you give an opinion on the science of climate change. Have you ever heard about he who pays the piper calls the tune?

It looks like a real lively radio exchange between passionate people to me , and I love the way this Jones guy sucks the reference to his salary right up.

Broadcasters have enforceable agreements with the media regulators that I don't think prohibit asking a straightforward question. Thank goodness somebody still is. I go to sleep listening to Melbourne broadcasters, and while that is sometimes appropriate, at others I would appreciate a wake-up. Please.

Broadcast media regulation in Australia is the way it is. I can't think of a better way myself, except that I admire the United States people greatly for their commitment to the principle of free speech, even if individual cases sometimes fly in the face of common sense. The law may overturn reason, but reason may not overturn the law.