Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Saturday 11 October
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Journalists are being jailed in many countries just for doing their jobs. Meanwhile, in Australia, new restrictive laws are being proposed for those who report national secrets. What happens when journalists run afoul of the law just by doing their job? What are the risks to journalists of pushing the boundaries … and the risks for our democracy if they don’t?
With members from Peter Greste’s family, Alan Morison, Phuketwan (via video link) and human rights advocates.
Featuring
Alan Morison
Alan Morison worked at the Age and News Ltd over a long career in print in Melbourne before steering the Age’s online development in the 1990s, then moving – first to CNN in Hong Kong, then to Phuket, Thailand. He started Phuketwan.com in 2008 with the intention of covering local tourism, and in 2009, with colleague Chutima Sidasathian, revealed the ‘'pushbacks’‘ of Rohingya boatpeople by the Thai military.
Hundreds perished before Thailand’s government ended the inhumane process. The pair shared regional SIPA awards for Investigative Reporting and Human Rights Reporting. Morison also has two Walkley Awards.
Lois and Juris Greste
Award-winning foreign correspondent Peter Greste was arrested in Cairo in December 2013. He had been in Egypt only weeks, working on a short relief posting as a journalist for an international TV news network. Peter’s parents, Lois and Juris Greste, discuss his plight, representing the FREE PETER GRESTE campaign.
After a trial which attracted worldwide attention, on June 23, 2014, Peter was convicted of reporting false news and endangering Egypt’s national security. He was sentenced to seven years jail. He remains in Cairo’s Tora Prison.