“But it’s in the public interest!”

One of the most common defences for a journalist who has just leaked disclosed information goes along the lines of…

“But it’s in the public interest!”

But what determines if something is in the public interest?

According the Carson’s article on the website The Conversation, public interest journalism is not yet ‘universally defined’, however one common idea pushed by journalists is that it stands for pursuing information that the public has a right to know (2017).

Source: ABC Four Corners

So for me to understand public interests, I guess I would define it as watchdog journalism, kind of like what ABC’s Four Corners does in holding power to account and exposing scandals that invoke inquiries and prevail justice.

We can look back at notable cases of corruption such as the Watergate Scandal, which although was revealed through whistleblowers, the main cusp of the scandal was that this was in the public interest as it exposed the wrongdoings of the current President of the United States. 

But in keeping within our country Australia, I’m going to focus of the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre in Darwin where a horrendous cycle of abuse from the ‘screws’ working within was revealed, triggering a royal commission after an exclusive Four Corners episode aired.

Isolation cell at DDYDC. 
Source: ABC Four Corners

Horrifying revelations exposed the inhumane treatment of youth detainees with cases such as daring a teenager to eat animal faces in exchange for some junk food being heard, in which the guards filmed this and uploaded the content to Snapchat for others to see (James, 2015). Even more shocking was the excessive use of tear gas on the inmates and the isolation cells that harboured no running water or sunlight with detainees confined inside for days and sometimes weeks (James, 2015).

This revelation sent shockwaves around Australia and if it were parents treating their children this way, the authorities would have no hesitation in removing them this situation. What’s more shocking is that institutional organisations like prisons main function is to reform its inmates and rehabilitate their self’s to behave normally and conform to the social norms of society. Instead, the youth detainees at the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre have fallen victim to systems that wants to break them. How do we expect these youths to come into a society and respect it when they’ve been subject to inhumane treatments and by figures abusing their power to negatively impact on their rehabilitation? Cases like this really open your eyes to the sad nature of some people in the world and how power can blind people on right and wrongs of society, even if they are simply black and white like this case.

Youth detainee subject to torturous treatment. 
Source: ABC Four Corners

References

Carson, A. (2017). Explainer: what is public interest journalism?. [online] The Conversation. Available at: http://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-public-interest-journalism-78996 [Accessed 29 Aug. 2017].

James, F. (2015). Detention centre probed amid claims teens forced to fight, eat animal poo. [online] ABC News. Available at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-23/darwin-youth-detention-centre-investigated-by-police/6796988 [Accessed 29 Aug. 2017].

Meldrum-Hanna, C., Fallon, M. and Worthington, E. (2016). AUSTRALIA'S SHAME - Four Corners. [online] Abc.net.au. Available at: http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2016/07/25/4504895.htm [Accessed 29 Aug. 2017].