Editing Cash for comment affair (section)

==Inquiry==
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| quote = I'm an entertainer, there isn't a hook for ethics.
| source = John Laws<ref>{{Cite news |author=B. Toohey |date=18 July 1999 |title =Laws case open a can of worms | work=The Sun-Herald |publisher=Fairfax Media}}</ref>
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The [[Australian Broadcasting Authority]] (ABA) estimated the value of these arrangements at AUD$18 million, and found that Laws, Jones, and 2UE had committed 90 breaches of the industry code and five breaches of 2UE's license conditions. The inquiry heard that Laws received cash and VIP hospitality at Sydney's [[Star City Casino]] for not discussing negative aspects of [[gambling]].<ref name="ars">{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/nov/15/4 |title=Australian radio stars in cash-for-comment scandal |author=Christopher Zinn |accessdate=18 July 2011 |date=15 November 1999 |work=The Guardian |location=UK |publisher=Guardian News and Media }}</ref>

The ABA made it clear that Laws was not a journalist, but a radio personality, and so journalistic ethical standards didn't apply to him.<ref name="rai">{{cite book |title=Culture in Australia: Policies, publics and programs |editor=Tony Bennett and David Carter |last=Turner |first=Graeme |chapter=Reshaping Australian Institutions: Political Culture, the Market and the Public Sphere |year=2001 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |isbn=0-521-80290-3 |page=169 }}<!--|accessdate=18 July 2011--></ref> The inquiry focused on the extent to which deliberate commercial endorsement had led to distortions in which the public was misled about important matters.<ref name="mtmb">{{cite book |title=More than a Music Box: Radio Cultures and Communities in Multi-media World |chapter=A Medium for Mateship: Commercial Talk Radio in Australia |last=Flew |first=Terry |editor=Andrew Crissell |year=2003 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=1-57181-473-6 |pages=236–243 }}<!--|accessdate=18 July 2011--></ref> Regulations were subsequently tightened to prevent such behaviour; however, the ABA was accused of weakness and inconsistency in enforcing these regulations.{{citation needed|date=July 2011}} Included in the changes were new sponsor disclosure requirements. Laws used a [[cow bell]] to announce sponsor deals following more stringent disclosure requirements.<ref name="fmtp">{{Cite news |url=http://www.couriermail.com.au/entertainment/confidential/laws-130000-farewell-bill/story-e6freq7o-1111118151573 |title=Fairfax Media to pay John Laws' cash-for-comment fines |accessdate=18 July 2011 |date=26 November 2008 |newspaper=The Courier-Mail|publisher=News Queensland }}</ref>

In 2004, Laws and Jones were again accused of cash for comment in relation to deals both had made with [[Telstra]]. Laws was found to have breached the rules but Jones was cleared; the revelation of flattering letters written by ABA head [[David Flint]] to Jones, at the same time that Jones was under investigation, led to accusations of impropriety that ultimately forced Flint's resignation.