Canberra Press Gallery

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The Canberra Press Gallery (officially called the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery) is the name given to the approximately 180 journalists and their support staff, including producers, editors and camera crews, who report the workings of the Parliament of Australia. The name derives from the press galleries, enclosed viewing areas above the chambers of the Senate and House of Representatives, which the Speaker and the Senate President have allocated to the use of media representatives.

The expression "Canberra Press Gallery" also refers to the association of Gallery journalists which represents their professional interests in dealing with the Parliament. The current President of the Gallery is Karen Middleton, national politics correspondent for SBS.

Despite their official title, Gallery journalists spend very little time in the press gallery itself, apart from during Question Time (one hour in each sitting day). Journalists work mostly from their own area in the Parliament House building, above the Senate chamber, comprising television studios, radio booths and office space. Somewhat confusingly, this area is also commonly called the Press Gallery.

Conventional wisdom among both journalists and politicians attributes great power and influence to Gallery journalists, who are somewhat disparagingly referred to as "the pack" (as in wolf pack) by politicians. Ian Ward says: "gallery journalists are collectively responsible for the great majority of news stories about federal politics that appear in Australian Print and broadcast media." Many of the best known names in Australian political journalism, such as Malcolm Farr, Michelle Grattan, Laurie Oakes, Alan Ramsey, Glenn Milne, Paul Bongiorno and Dennis Shanahan are Gallery members.

[edit] References

Clem Lloyd, Parliament and the Press: A History of the Canberra Press Gallery (1988)
Ian Ward, "The media, power and politics," in Andrew Parkin et el, Government, Politics, Power and Policy in Australia, Pearson Education Australia (2006)