One Nation leader Pauline Hanson believes journalistic credentials need to be toughened up to stop anyone from calling themselves a journalist, again raising the prospect of a licensing system.
Senator Hanson was responding to a national "Right to Know" campaign launched on Monday by Australia's major media outlets calling for better protections for whistleblowers and journalists doing their jobs.
"But we've got to be very careful who we define as being a journalist. People who write a book could be classified as a journalist or those people that blog on Facebook," she told the Nine Network.
"But I believe that people must be accountable to the public whoever they are, what position they are in."
Major media companies across the nation have blacked out their front pages as part of a coordinated push for legislative change to protect press freedom and force the federal government to increase transparency.
Senator Pauline Hanson says the role of a journalist should be defined. Source: AAP
Liberal frontbencher Angus Taylor told reporters the government was committed to striking the right balance between press freedom and national security.
"This is about getting the balance right and making sure we have a regulatory framework where we do protect press freedoms because they are enormously important, [but] there are circumstances where national security needs to be taken into account," he said.
"As we've always said if there's strong evidence and strong arguments to change we are open to making those changes."
Press freedom hit headlines in June when the Australian Federal Police raided the home of News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst and the ABC offices, in the latter case over a series of made possible by a whistleblower.
Opposition legal affairs spokesperson Mark Dreyfus said Labor supported the campaign against censorship and defending press freedom.
"What's important is that the government take action... the government needs to introduce legislation that better protects journalists when they are doing their jobs," he said.
"The government needs to introduce legislation which better protects whistleblowers, and the government need to comply with Freedom of Information Laws."
The nation's major commercial and public media companies are warning against creeping laws that allow elected governments to cover-up scandals and hide or restrict information.
Media companies want law changes so journalists don't fear imprisonment for doing their jobs and stronger protections for whistleblowers.
But Barnaby Joyce has argued media freedom cuts both ways.
The Nationals backbencher, whose personal life made headlines in 2017 over revelations he was expecting a baby with a former staffer, acknowledged a free press was vital for a functioning democracy.
But Mr Joyce said media freedom must be used responsibly.
Barnaby Joyce has said media freedom must be used responsibly. Source: Supplied
"To get respect around the term public interest, you've got to act in the public interest," he told reporters in Canberra on Monday.
"You can't say putting a private individual - a pregnant woman crossing the street - on your front page is in the public interest, which you did, and give yourself a Walkley for it."
The issue of a licensing system for journalists has been raised in the past because effectively, in Australia, anyone can call themselves a journalist.
But opponents have pointed to China's restrictions on reporters, raising questions about who or what authority should decide if someone can work as a journalist.
Senator Hanson said she didn't think the media campaign would resonate with Australians although "I think it should".
