Accuracy is not so much a value as it is a prerequisite. If you are not being accurate in your reporting, you are simply not being a journalist or reporting news.
Perspective is, in my opinion, a severely underrated value for journalists. The arrival of Schapelle Corby at the end of May saw the unedifying spectacle of virtually every mainstream media outlet scrambling to catch a glimpse of Schapelle or, failing that, the vehicle she was in. For what? To report that someone who had served a prison sentence had returned home after being deported. It was an event which would affect no one but the Corby family. A modicum of perspective on the part of all the reporters covering not only her arrival but covering the coverage of her arrival might have led them to report on something more worthwhile. For instance, that same week, the Bureau of Crime and Statistics released a report into the Safer Pathways domestic violence prevention program in NSW which found that it was not achieving its goals. No celebrity drug mules in that story though.
Ownership of traditional media outlets (TV, newspapers and radio) has become increasingly concentrated, particularly in Australia which is one of the most concentrated media markets in the world. It is in the digital sphere that diversity in reporting is flourishing but digital only platforms still struggle to achieve the same level of penetration as traditional media outlets. The New Daily is not going to secure an interview with the Prime Minister with the same level of ease as say 7:30 or Today, thus making it difficult for upstart new media outlets to directly tell truth to power. However, this gives non-traditional media outlets an edge given that they do not have to answer to the bottom line of a corporate ownership structure.
With regards to the Corby debacle, it is nigh impossible to find a media outlet that did not buy into the hysteria surrounding this non-story but one example of online only journalism in the form of Media Bites, a web-only segment of Media Watch on iView and Facebook, dissected part of the hysteria. In terms of independence, The New Daily has the unique feature of being supported by Industry Super Funds. This will still require the site to be making a profit, but super funds do not have the same motivations behind their support for journalism as News Corp or Fairfax. In a report on the superiority of Industry Super Funds, the author is upfront about The New Daily’s ownership by Industry Super Funds.
