The Age, along with most other Australian newsrooms, is today launching an unprecedented campaign for greater press freedom.

Media freedom is too precious to take for granted.

Devoting so much space in our newspaper and website to the Your Right to Know campaign is not a decision we take lightly. We are not suggesting press freedom is an issue that trumps, say, our government’s response to climate change.

Credit:Richard Giliberto

Nor do we dismiss reader scepticism about a campaign by the media that seeks to change some of the laws that govern the conduct of journalists even though we argue these changes would make it easier for us to obtain information that is in the public interest and protect sources. This masthead is not above scrutiny any more than the institutions or individuals it has written about for 185 years.

Nevertheless, The Age believes that in recent years there has been a hardening of attitudes and among some politicians, public servants, security officials and legal figures that has stymied the flow of information a reasonable person would expect in a liberal democracy. A web of laws covering freedom of information, whistleblower protection, national security, suppression and defamation have either been tightened or applied over-zealously to the point where Australians are not being properly informed about important matters of national interest.