Dr. David Robbins:

The Deputy asked the $64,000 question when she spoke about the influence on media of its reliance on advertising. There is a lot of research into the sociology of journalism and how journalists see themselves. In some ways, they see themselves as quite like academics. They carry out research, teach and might move to different universities but they have their own professional norms and independence. They have their own professional code of ethics and their own trade union. They see themselves as having professional guardrails in place against commercial interference by proprietors. It is a danger to which they are very alive. On the other hand, there is no doubt that such interference happens and can pervade the culture of organisations. I was working in the Independent Group when it was owned by Tony O'Reilly and when it was owned by Denis O'Brien. Nothing was ever said but there is a culture in that organisation and it something of which journalists in all organisations are aware. It is still an open question as to whether their professional norms are strong enough to guard against that.