“mining giant takes over fairfax- editorial independence is lost’’

“ Mining giant takes over Fairfax- Editorial Independence is lost’’ Editorial independence is an integral part of a bona fide newspaper. Journalists should write from the perspective of the powerless, rather than the powerful, to allow everyone to know truths. The second readers hear that articles with important, vital and relevant significance to them are being suppressed, or that certain articles are being published to merely fulfil various political agendas hidden inside them, the reliability and sincerity of the true nature of the publication becomes defunct. When the objectivity of the media machine breaks down, everybody will lose. As journalistic integrity and accuracy are important principles, the amount of freedom an editor is given to make a decision and control what is written can be a decisive factor which differentiates between a trustworthy media establishment and an untrustworthy media establishment. When editorial independence in a world-renowned company vanishes, the effects can drastically change the world, especially the world’s perspective on anything. For one, if a mining giant were to take over a company like Fairfax they could use them like a lapdog to tell its viewers absolutely anything they want to be told. For example the mining company could use its power over the editors to blacklist other competitors in order to gain a business monopoly. With that same power the company can make themselves the centre of attention in all media through Fairfax nationally and internationally. This benefits the company as it will acquire more regular contractors through its fame. Also, whatever reported by Fairfax on any instance can always be seen not to be 100% true due to the freedom of the editors to make decisions is controlled and interfered by its owner. Such examples could be propaganda. This propaganda may alter what the exact or actual incident may have been in any hot news or topic. This could be done to enhance the company’s fame or respect. We are living in a time when the attempts to censor or restrict the information provided to the public are increasing drastically under the auspices of national security or political agenda. Editorial independence is one of the only freedoms that allow us, the public to know the truth. Without editorial independence we will never really know the whole story. All the perceptions that we have will be those the powerful and the governed want us to have, not what we really should have. This is why editorial independence is essential to have in any media company, especially the famous companies.