{{Short description|1999 Australian media scandal}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}} The '''cash for comment affair''' was an Australian scandal that broke in 1999 concerning paid advertising in radio that was presented to the audience in such a way as to sound like editorial commentary. John Laws, a shock jock radio presenter for Sydney talk back, was accused of misusing his authority as an announcer.<ref name="mtmb"/> While the initial publicity had died down by the end of the year, it sparked major changes in the way the radio industry is conducted in Australia. This resulted in a second scandal in 2004, leading to the resignation of Australian Broadcasting Authority head David Flint, after he had been found to have been less than impartial in his role in original "cash for comment" investigations.
Some have pointed to the Broadcasting Services Act 1992, which has treated the media more as a business than a cultural institution, for a decline in the relevance of ethical standards in the Australian media industry.<ref name="eet">{{cite book |title=Remote Control: New Media, New Ethics |editor=Catharine Lumby and Elspeth Probyn |chapter=Ethics, Entertainment and the Tabloid: The Case of Talkback Radio in Australia |last=Turner |first=Graeme |year=2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |isbn=0-521-53427-5 |page=88 }}<!--|accessdate=18 July 2011--></ref>
==Reporting== In 1999, reporters Richard Ackland, Deborah Richards and Anne Connolly from ABC's ''Media Watch'' programme revealed that 2UE talk back hosts John Laws and Alan Jones had been paid to give favourable comment to companies including Qantas, Optus, Foxtel, Mirvac and major Australian banks, without disclosing this arrangement to listeners. Prior to giving favourable commentary to a group of banks, Laws had repeatedly criticised them for imposing unjustified fees on customers while cutting back on services.<ref name="mmm">{{cite book |title=Media, Markets and Morals |chapter=A Conflict of Media Roles: Advertising, Public Relations and Journalism |last=Spence |first=Edward H. |author2=Andrew Alexandra|author3=Aaron Quinn|author4=Anne Dunn |year=2011 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |location=West Sussex, United Kingdom |isbn=978-1-4051-7547-0 |page=101 }}<!--|accessdate=18 July 2011--></ref>
Though they both initially vehemently denied any wrongdoing, Laws and Jones defended the practice by claiming that they were not employed as journalists but as "entertainers", and thus had no duty of disclosure or of journalistic integrity.
==Inquiry== {{Quotebox | quote = I'm an entertainer, there isn't a hook for ethics. | source = John Laws<ref>{{Cite news |author=B. Toohey |date=18 July 1999 |title =Laws case open a can of worms | work=The Sun-Herald |publisher=Fairfax Media}}</ref> | width = 12em | align = right }} The Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) estimated the value of these arrangements at AUD$18 million, and found that Laws, Jones, and 2UE had committed 90 breaches of the industry code and five breaches of 2UE's license conditions. The inquiry heard that Laws received cash and VIP hospitality at Sydney's Star City Casino for not discussing negative aspects of gambling.<ref name="ars">{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/nov/15/4 |title=Australian radio stars in cash-for-comment scandal |author=Christopher Zinn |accessdate=18 July 2011 |date=15 November 1999 |work=The Guardian |location=UK |publisher=Guardian News and Media }}</ref>
The ABA made it clear that Laws was not a journalist, but a radio personality, and so journalistic ethical standards didn't apply to him.<ref name="rai">{{cite book |title=Culture in Australia: Policies, publics and programs |editor=Tony Bennett and David Carter |last=Turner |first=Graeme |chapter=Reshaping Australian Institutions: Political Culture, the Market and the Public Sphere |year=2001 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |isbn=0-521-80290-3 |page=169 }}<!--|accessdate=18 July 2011--></ref> The inquiry focused on the extent to which deliberate commercial endorsement had led to distortions in which the public was misled about important matters.<ref name="mtmb">{{cite book |title=More than a Music Box: Radio Cultures and Communities in Multi-media World |chapter=A Medium for Mateship: Commercial Talk Radio in Australia |last=Flew |first=Terry |editor=Andrew Crissell |year=2003 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=1-57181-473-6 |pages=236–243 }}<!--|accessdate=18 July 2011--></ref> Regulations were subsequently tightened to prevent such behaviour; however, the ABA was accused of weakness and inconsistency in enforcing these regulations.{{citation needed|date=July 2011}} Included in the changes were new sponsor disclosure requirements. Laws used a cow bell to announce sponsor deals following more stringent disclosure requirements.<ref name="fmtp">{{Cite news |url=http://www.couriermail.com.au/entertainment/confidential/laws-130000-farewell-bill/story-e6freq7o-1111118151573 |title=Fairfax Media to pay John Laws' cash-for-comment fines |accessdate=18 July 2011 |date=26 November 2008 |newspaper=The Courier-Mail|publisher=News Queensland }}</ref>
In 2004, Laws and Jones were again accused of cash for comment in relation to deals both had made with Telstra. Laws was found to have breached the rules but Jones was cleared; the revelation of flattering letters written by ABA head David Flint to Jones, at the same time that Jones was under investigation, led to accusations of impropriety that ultimately forced Flint's resignation.
==Fines== 2UE was fined $360,000 for Laws's improper conduct.<ref name="jla">{{Cite news |url=http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/john-laws-ads-cost-2ue-radio-360000-20090717-dnlb.html |title=John Laws' ads cost 2UE radio $360,000 |author=Katelyn Catanzariti |accessdate=18 July 2011 |date=17 July 2009 |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref> Initially the radio station was to pay the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), the succeeding media regulatory agency to the ABA, AUD$10,000 for each of the 13 breaches involving a sponsor disclosure requirement. The Communications Law Centre intervened, arguing that a harsher penalty was appropriate.<ref name="jla"/> This led to the Federal Court imposing a larger fine.
==See also== {{Portal|Australia|Journalism}} *Astroturfing *Journalism in Australia *List of Australian political controversies
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/19991129021422/http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s62543.htm Stories in 1999] – Media Watch
Category:Corporate scandals Category:1999 in Australia Category:Radio in Australia Category:1990s in New South Wales