But now to the watchdog who's occasionally asked to rule on such matters, the Australian Press Council which finds itself once again at war with Australia's most powerful media group and its flagship newspaper, The Australian.

Oz will boycott decisions of 'political stack' — The Australian, 2 June, 2017

So what is this political stack and what's all the fuss about?

Well, last month the Press Council announced its newest member, Carla McGrath.

Whom it trumpeted in a media release as the council's first-ever indigenous representative.

Until the council realised next day it had actually appointed at least two indigenous members before.

Colin Bourke and Natascha McNamara.

Hmm. Not a good start for a body that's supposed to uphold media standards.

And it doesn't get better because McGrath is deputy chair of independent grassroots group Get Up Whom News Corp's Miranda Devine characterised somewhat harshly on Sky last week as the:

MIRANDA DEVINE: ... extreme left-wing political activist group that is effectively the militant wing of Labor and the Greens and the union movement. — Sky News, 1 June, 2017

Like her colleagues at The Australian, Devine is clearly not impressed by McGrath's appointment, arguing:

MIRANDA DEVINE: It's the equivalent of putting, say, Assad, President Assad from Syria as head of the UN. — Sky News, 1 June, 2017

Ha, well it's not.

But she does have a point, because, as you can see from its 2013 election ad, GetUp is not a big fan of News Corp or its newspapers.

Their owner US billionaire Rupert Murdoch has an agenda to get rid of our current PM. Fair enough, we all have an opinion. But political bias presented as news is misleading crap. — YouTube, 27 August, 2013

As a paid up member of the Press Council, the Australian is bound to publish its decisions and accept any findings.

But it's often been at war with the council in the past, running a long and vicious campaign against its former chairman Julian Disney.

Arguing over decisions it didn't like.

And in one memorable spray calling the council:

... off the dial ... boneheaded ... ... ponderous ... ... on a crash course with reality Drunk on power ... — The Australian, 14 August, 2014

So the Press Council should surely have anticipated an adverse reaction.

But it's also not just News Corp that thinks McGrath's appointment is a mistake. Plenty of rival journalists and their union agree:

How can the deputy chair of GetUp, which actively campaigns against one side of politics, be on the Press Council? — Twitter, @jamesmassola, 1 June, 2017

Journalists' union calls for activist Carla McGrath to quit Press Council

— The Australian, 3 June, 2017

News Corp, which voted against McGrath's appointment, has said that 5 of its papers will now refuse to co-operate with Press Council investigations or accept its adjudications.

But Devine thinks it should go even further and withdraw all funding and support:

MIRANDA DEVINE: ... she's apparently very well qualified in other areas. But she is completely disqualified by her relationship with GetUp and he was told this, the Press Council, the other members were told this by the media members, by News Corp representatives on the board and others, Fairfax I believe as well, and they just paid no attention they thought it was irrelevant. Well it is the only relevant thing about this new member. — Sky News, 1 June, 2017

Miranda, for once in a lifetime, we agree there's a problem.

McGrath is indeed an impressive individual. But her appointment was always likely to weaken an organisation that, now more than ever, needs the respect of everyone in and outside the media.

The Press Council told us she won't be adjudicating anything for 12 months and that:

the overwhelming majority of the Council Members was satisfied that any potential conflicts of interest could be successfully managed — Press Council Statement, 2 June, 2017

But, we doubt that will be enough to appease the nation's biggest newspaper group. Or avert another unnecessary, long-running war.

Read a statement from The Press Council here.