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Cash for comment affair
The cash for comment affair was an
Australian
scandal that broke in 1999,
concerning paid advertising in radio that is
presented to the audience in such a way as
to sound like editorial commentary. It is
widely considered a breach of journalistic
integrity. 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 Association head David
Flint, after he had been found to have
been less than impartial in his role in
"cash for comment" investigations.
In 1999,
Media
Watch revealed that 2UE
talk
radio 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.
The Australian
Broadcasting Authority estimated the
value of these arrangements at $18 million
and found Laws, Jones, and 2UE to have
committed 90 breaches of the industry code
and five breaches of 2UE's license
conditions. Regulations were subsequently
tightened to prevent such behaviour;
however, the ABA has been accused of
weakness and inconsistency in enforcing
these regulations.
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.
See also payola.
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