What makes a journalist? Let’s write professional accreditation into the job

Journalism academics in Victoria were disappointed when Monica Smit, the public face of prominent anti-vaccine group Reignite Democracy Australia, decided not to pursue a defence that she was a journalist when she defied lockdown orders to attend anti-lockdown protests in Melbourne.

At the height of the public protests, Smit had marched with the crowds while repeatedly telling her livestream that she was a journalist, even though she later made video admissions that she was using the journalist exemption as a “loophole”.

Last week Smit was found guilty of breaching public health orders on August 21 2021, but no conviction was recorded as she had spent 22 days in jail.

The case brought back into focus the question of who is a journalist in 2023, a question exacerbated in recent years with the ease of use of livestream technologies and rise of “independent”, “new media” or “citizen” journalists who range from Real