Journalism lecturer Sally White gave me a gentle but stern reprimand many years ago when I observed it seemed to take forever for the Australian Labor Party to decide on and then publicly announce the appointment of the late Joan Kirner as Premier of Victoria.

I had spent an entire day in amongst the Press Gallery at the Victorian parliament as a wide- eyed and somewhat green around the gills undergraduate that was granted what the privilege of a lifetime. I had somehow wangled a press pass at the Victorian Parliament and the Kirner elevation to the top job in Victoria was the first major event I got to witness.

This was a long day. People went from one room to another and the factions did what they did. I sensed an impatience amongst some members of the gallery at the time and that must have rubbed off on me as well.

Sally’s message to me about the event and my attitude towards it evident in my report of the day’s proceedings was as clear as a blue sky on a moderately warm Spring day in Melbourne during pandemic lockdown.

Journalists are observers and not participants in the activity. Political parties make important decisions when they change leaders and those decisions will happen in their own time. Journalists are there to report the outcome and provide an analysis for their audience.

I recalled this particular conversation as I watched with some concern the way in which journalists, political leaders, business groups and professional advocates and agitators persisted in asking Daniel Andrews for a firm time for a press conference for the announcement of a roadmap out of the current restrictions.

Let’s deal with the obvious culprits first. Politicians, associations and Twitter activists will seek to generate an enormous amount of noise in the COVID pandemic space where they consider a political advantage can be obtained by whacking the incumbent government.

They may seek to cover pure partisan arguments on issues related to the economy and its health but in reality they are upping the level of white noise and seeking attention.

You can’t blame them for doing so in some respects because there is a captive audience each day for a press conference that can go from anything to 30 minutes all the way to two hours. The Father’s Day press conference was motion picture length stuff and the opponents of Daniel Andrews would also want air time to offer their perspective.

Journalists on the other hand can be a curious lot. The repeated queries on Twitter about the timing of a press conference suggests that some people in the media have forgotten their role is actually to kick back, observe and question. The press conference will be held whenever it happens to be held and – as Sally White told me – that is somebody else’s decision rather than one of journalists that are paid to observe, analyse and – where their role demands – provoke their audience into thought.

Demands for a firm press conference time on social