tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post8490103651720241711..comments2023-11-05T23:07:01.842+11:00Comments on Grog's Gamut: Election 2010: Day 14 (or waste and mismanagement – the media)Greg Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956402439870441083noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-78115439293623351892010-09-09T18:11:39.944+10:002010-09-09T18:11:39.944+10:00no left wing bias at all in the journalists you ch...no left wing bias at all in the journalists you choose to praise and criticise. none... you may be completely right, but I find your ability to choose journalists just as shallow and ideologically driven as you claim their reporting is.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-59379951135622033722010-09-08T18:14:30.922+10:002010-09-08T18:14:30.922+10:00Bloody brilliant!
The same stupid meaningless qu...Bloody brilliant! <br /><br />The same stupid meaningless questions keep getting asked over and over again. Julia Gillard was asked several times if she and her partner would get married before moving into the Lodge. Today, the independents are still being asked if they'll experience a backlash in their electorates for supporting Labor. They've been asked these questions for the last two and a half weeks - I think we've all heard the answer by now. As a news consumer (and journo), this is unacceptable. I want news that is useful.newswithnippleshttp://www.newswithnipples.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-65345764554695965822010-08-07T16:01:02.694+10:002010-08-07T16:01:02.694+10:00an excellent post and excruciatingly accurate - fo...an excellent post and excruciatingly accurate - for the most, it is too hard, and too time-consuming to analyse policy. this is down to individual journos as much as it is the environment in which they operate. and it irks many of us no-end. the next problem, which you didn't touch upon, is that the public, for the most, like tat. what to do in an age of shrinking revenues?<br /><br /> yours, a mewsroom inhabitant.@billcodehttp://www.inkybinary.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-72378730489355568952010-08-03T23:16:39.740+10:002010-08-03T23:16:39.740+10:00Thanks Reluctantly Anon - I do realise I am rather...Thanks Reluctantly Anon - I do realise I am rather naive about the processes (I have never claimed to have been a journalist).<br /><br />I should say again this - and my sort of "update" in my latest post (which I wrote before reading your comment) should not be seen as a "you journalists are all crap" post.<br /><br />No doubt there are a few journos who believe "he thinks it so easy why doesn't he come out and try". And fine if that's how they want to react, they can. But personally Tony Wright's inital tweet on the post was what I was hoping for - something that might just spur a bit of discussion, perhaps a bit of thought.<br /><br />I am sure many of your are as frustrated by the constraints of press conferences and filing and pressures of what your editors want as we readers are. <br /><br />I am really glad you have engaged here with some comments because I do think it is interesting to find out about life in the pack. <br /><br />And yep, sure I'm pretty harsh on you guys. But I have tried not to be too personal (and yeah I took a bit of a shot at Matt Franklin - but he's another big boy who has about 10,000 times more clout than me so I think he can handle it) and if doing so means we get to find out more about the reasons about why the news comes out as it does - which happened a bit with the twitter discussion and your comments, then I think that's pretty good. <br /><br />And if some in the pack also think "what the hell I'll ask about policy" than that's pretty good too :-)Greg Jerichohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04956402439870441083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-47367971181616129162010-08-03T18:46:36.809+10:002010-08-03T18:46:36.809+10:00To Anonymous (August 2, 2010 3:57 PM):
I was just...To Anonymous (August 2, 2010 3:57 PM):<br /><br />I was just talking about the journos stuck on the buses - their job basically is to act as wire services, cover everything as quickly as possible and leave it up to senior political journos to analyse. So you're right - although I don't know too many newsrooms with 10 or 20 people who can analyse policy, unless there are some sh*thot cadets around... <br /><br />To Bill (August 2, 2010 6:22PM): <br /><br />You're right, too. There's clearly a disconnect between what a lot of people want and what the media industry think they want: the buzz words are all about social media, immediacy, be fast, be first, etc. And your restaurant analogy is a good one - I'd just add that only an arsehole would abuse a waiter who is worked to the bone in a shortstaffed establishment and therefore denied the satisfaction of doing a good job by a boss whose only concern is slashing the budget. <br /><br />To Grog (August 2, 2010 9:31 PM: Yeah, seriously re. toilet - the plane then becomes a haven where you can get something to eat and pee when you like!!! The bus has a toilet too, but bus time is filing time. <br /><br />Re. questions - you wouldn't hear them because most of us never get our questions out - what I was saying is if you could see how it happens unedited, and could see all the journos as well, you'd see some frustrated faces trying to shout over all the rest, and failing. Say 20 journos have three questions each, but Abbott or Gillard only answer six, that's a whole lot of unanswered questions that yes, someone should chase up, but again you're then filing then rushing for a plane. <br />I understand Gillard is better than Abbott about methodically answering more questions. <br /><br />And people have written about their frustrations, but (and I'm only speaking from a print perspective) in a campaign, only about a quarter of what you write ever sees the light of day. <br /><br />As for ridiculous and superficial questions, who knows. Probably someone's either been told by a bureau that they have to ask it, or they have a particular slant in mind. <br /><br />Anyway, onya Grog. It's really invigorating to see such passionate and informed debate, and I'm glad that now I'm off the bus I've had to time to join in. <br /><br />Reluctantly anonymous.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-54264602558780414532010-08-03T18:46:12.695+10:002010-08-03T18:46:12.695+10:00To Anonymous (August 2, 2010 3:57 PM):
I was just...To Anonymous (August 2, 2010 3:57 PM):<br /><br />I was just talking about the journos stuck on the buses - their job basically is to act as wire services, cover everything as quickly as possible and leave it up to senior political journos to analyse. So you're right - although I don't know too many newsrooms with 10 or 20 people who can analyse policy, unless there are some sh*thot cadets around... <br /><br />To Bill (August 2, 2010 6:22PM): <br /><br />You're right, too. There's clearly a disconnect between what a lot of people want and what the media industry think they want: the buzz words are all about social media, immediacy, be fast, be first, etc. And your restaurant analogy is a good one - I'd just add that only an arsehole would abuse a waiter who is worked to the bone in a shortstaffed establishment and therefore denied the satisfaction of doing a good job by a boss whose only concern is slashing the budget. <br /><br />To Grog (August 2, 2010 9:31 PM: Yeah, seriously re. toilet - the plane then becomes a haven where you can get something to eat and pee when you like!!! The bus has a toilet too, but bus time is filing time. <br /><br />Re. questions - you wouldn't hear them because most of us never get our questions out - what I was saying is if you could see how it happens unedited, and could see all the journos as well, you'd see some frustrated faces trying to shout over all the rest, and failing. Say 20 journos have three questions each, but Abbott or Gillard only answer six, that's a whole lot of unanswered questions that yes, someone should chase up, but again you're then filing then rushing for a plane. <br />I understand Gillard is better than Abbott about methodically answering more questions. <br /><br />And people have written about their frustrations, but (and I'm only speaking from a print perspective) in a campaign, only about a quarter of what you write ever sees the light of day. <br /><br />As for ridiculous and superficial questions, who knows. Probably someone's either been told by a bureau that they have to ask it, or they have a particular slant in mind. <br /><br />Anyway, onya Grog. It's really invigorating to see such passionate and informed debate, and I'm glad that now I'm off the bus I've had to time to join in. <br /><br />Reluctantly anonymous.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-40160378633679584012010-08-03T01:03:08.058+10:002010-08-03T01:03:08.058+10:00Great post mate, sorry I'm a little late on th...Great post mate, sorry I'm a little late on the reply, I only just got around to reading it properly. There is a profound disappointment hanging over this election. At least the latham had the potential of going postal at some stage. I think the traditional media is realising how archaic they are, while doing very little to be proactive about it. <br /><br />Out of all the journos you've listed , I notice Grattan doesn't rate a mention. I really like her stuff, but what's your feeling on her contribution to this election?Dechttp://twitter.com/declanfnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-8981453261654119612010-08-02T22:17:04.280+10:002010-08-02T22:17:04.280+10:00If journalists are getting no useful information f...If journalists are getting no useful information from press conferences, the answer is simple: stop going. Stay away from press conferences and do some reading, then write a story based on that. If the story is wrong, get some more facts and write a better story. Public policy is about what happens, not what is said: so look at what happens.Andrew Elderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-46649659141908744292010-08-02T21:36:32.064+10:002010-08-02T21:36:32.064+10:00Mikey - you are absolutely right. When I was draft...Mikey - you are absolutely right. When I was drafting this post in my head on the way home from work I was meaning to put in that you had to read Sheridan through the prism of his bias.Greg Jerichohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04956402439870441083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-3369518142798178902010-08-02T21:31:24.530+10:002010-08-02T21:31:24.530+10:00Cheers Anon thanks for the comment.
I haven'...Cheers Anon thanks for the comment. <br /><br />I haven't doubt you guys work long days. Really no time to go to the toilet? What not even on the plane? <br /><br />And yeah maybe my line about it being a booze and twitter cruise was a frustrated vent.<br /><br />But this post is not about you guys not working long hours it is about the questions being asked and the coverage being given.<br /><br />You write:<br />"As for asking questions, anyone who has seen a live, unedited version of one of these press conferences should have seen that Abbott, particularly, will answer just the smallest fraction of questions journalists want to ask. "<br /><br />Well I do watch the unedited press conferences (I'm a politics nerd) - in fact this post was spurred by wactcing two last Friday. I waited for the policy questions. I waited in vain. And so I wrote my post<br /><br />It is very intersting you say Abbott particularly will answer just the smallest fraction of questions. <br /><br />I have two responses - firstly why doesn't the media hold him to account on this? We have had a plethora of articles (esp in The Oz) on Julia's in a buble campaign Why not any about how Abbott seems determined to ensure the least possible accountability? Is he worried as Annabel Crabb would say of his truth parrot? If he seems to be doing everything to avoid answering questions that would be an interesting thing to know.<br /><br />Secondly, if you only have a few questions why waste them on trivia? Why was the first Q to Gillard that day about Cheryl Kernot? Why was the second about Mark Latham? and on and on. <br /><br />My point wasn't that you guys have lots of opportunity to ask questions, if anything it was that you have too few - so don't waste them!<br /><br />And yes I know your editors are demanding and they want you to cover certain things - which I may think trivial but which sell papers. But if that is the case then say it is, don't say it's because you only got to ask one question.<br /><br />Yes you work hard, surely you don't want to look back on it and think, geez half the things I asked them about were pointless. <br /><br />But again thanks for your comments (whoever you are). You may think I despise journalists or hold you all in contempt. I don't. This post came about purely because I wanted to know about some policy that affected my family. No one - not the Liberal Party nor the media seemed to care.<br /><br />That this post has gotten such a reaction perhaps suggests (if not on this particular policy) that I was not alone in feeling frustrated.Greg Jerichohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04956402439870441083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-49595398938077066412010-08-02T18:51:11.119+10:002010-08-02T18:51:11.119+10:00Interesting post man. However I have a debate on t...Interesting post man. However I have a debate on this one "eg Sheridan sadly is about the only decent one who can write about foreign policy"<br /><br />Sheridan, alas in my opinion, is not a balanced journalist. He's an opinionated opionionist with preconceived notions and a world view. And it comes across in everything he writes.Mikey_Capitalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07804458524821811591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-4723747997667255462010-08-02T18:22:32.134+10:002010-08-02T18:22:32.134+10:00In reply to reluctantly Anonymous at August 2, 201...In reply to reluctantly Anonymous at August 2, 2010 3:27 PM,<br /><br />Thank you for your insight and speaking for myself, I feel your frustration. With respect though, I think to tell people they don't get how things work kind of misses the point.<br /><br />We are the audience. We are the news consumers. If the consumers aren't satisfied with the service, that means there's something wrong. Telling the people who feel dissatisfied that it's their fault for not understanding the system is a bit like complaining about bad service at a restaurant, and being told by the waiter that you just don't understand how a kitchen works. <br />We know that ridiculous amounts of work go into it, but the final product just leaves us wanting something better.<br /><br />I appreciate that you answer to your editors and not your readers, so maybe it's time to tell the editors that the customers aren't happy. I applaud Grog's efforts to do that.Billhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03412983524190021368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-70885580297103388232010-08-02T17:34:25.526+10:002010-08-02T17:34:25.526+10:00I'm so sorry these days for the too many media...I'm so sorry these days for the too many media and communication degree graduates who rock up to newsrooms minus practical experience. They arrive with not a wit about how and who to interview or how to use the equipment of the various mediums. Sure they’re eventually trained on the job - by experienced journos during and after shifts. They’re paid equivalent wages despite trainee status and within weeks are on the road making idiots of themselves because network executives are oblivious (?) to their amateur status. And yes some of you do “work 12 to 16 hours a day, every day…busting arses to meet the immediate demands of the web as well as traditional mediums. No time to eat, to find a bottle of water, to go to the toilet. Just a relentless demand for more and more copy, faster and faster”. In other words media outlets work on the premise you should be grateful to have a job with their elite outfit. More profit for inferior output. Until the consumers complain as did this blogger nothing will change.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-18255270428662965782010-08-02T15:57:37.425+10:002010-08-02T15:57:37.425+10:00I can't let that last comment get away without...I can't let that last comment get away without a response. Yep, print media is on the decline, but major papers still have ten or twenty journos capable of commenting on policy issues, or putting questions in writing. Not everything has to be reported, or analysed on the same day; that's what weekend and Sunday papers are for. Most media operations nowadays put their senior writers and commentators in head office for the duration. Get them to ask the questions of the campaign offices; put them in writing. Hassle the sh-t out of them to get answers. Tiredness and media management are not an excuse.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-68894623436964210122010-08-02T15:27:33.227+10:002010-08-02T15:27:33.227+10:00You're so right, but also so wrong.
You'...You're so right, but also so wrong. <br /><br />You're right to question the amount of money spent by news organisations sending journalists on this farcical tour. It's churnalism, regurgitated press releases most of the time.<br /><br />But you're completely wrong to blame the journos, and all the comments here can only have been made by people who have no idea how the process works.<br /><br />The journos are working 12 to 16 hours a day, every day. They are busting their arses to meet the immediate demands of the web, as well as their traditional mediums. <br /><br />There is no time to eat, to find a bottle of water, to go to the toilet. Just a relentless demand for more and more copy, faster and faster. That copy gets picked up and used by people who have better things to do than deal with the restrictions of the campaign bus. <br /><br />As for asking questions, anyone who has seen a live, unedited version of one of these press conferences should have seen that Abbott, particularly, will answer just the smallest fraction of questions journalists want to ask. <br /><br />It's a battle to get noticed, get a question in, and the leader will pick certain people and ignore others, and only seven or eight questions are allowed before the conference is abruptly terminated. <br /><br />I defy anyone who is attacking journalists on these campaigns to do a better job. Try doing better when you are exhausted, starving, and asked to write up to 10 stories a day, as soon as they happen. <br /><br />Good luck. <br /><br />And if we find half an hour after such a day, before we fall into a strange bed exhausted, for a drink, trust me, it's well deserved. <br /><br />NB: Sorry, have to be anonymous, although it grates.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-52217241513538558272010-08-02T14:22:45.668+10:002010-08-02T14:22:45.668+10:00As a former Press Gallery Journalist who covered e...As a former Press Gallery Journalist who covered every election between 1977 and 1990,and who is still active on the political fringe, I'd like to make a few comments. Election campaigns used to be ordered, organised and reliable processes. Each party would release detailed policies covering almost every issue imaginable. In the case of the ALP these were often based on party policies, endorsed by the ALP conference. Sometimes, they would vary from these, and that would be a story in itself. The parties would make available documentation, costs, spokespeople - shock horror - experts from the private sector, the union movement and academia. Often two or three journalists and commentators, and perhaps an editorial writer would spend time on each of these announcements. I can remember poor old Peter Shack being pilloried for not producing a coalition health policy in 1990. I'm waiting for Peter Dutton (who?) to get the same treatment. <br />What we have seen since the mid nineties is a massive concentration, not on policy content, but on spin, presentation and getting the "headline" right. Who to blame for this? The fact that getting anywhere in politics nowadays depends not on capability, understanding or (shock horror) passion and commitment, but on towing the line, knowing the right people, following and established, inflexible and narrow pathway, and NOT being an independent thinker, and NOT being articulate. There are, of course, notable exceptions; but when you look at the first Hawke Cabinet, or even the first Fraser cabinet, there are few of the capacity of John Button or Michael Duffy or Gareth Evans or Peter Walsh or Peter Baume, Margaret Guilfoyle, or Peter Nixon or (even) Jim Killen; and there are even fewer on the backbench like Alan Missen, or Ian MacPhee, or Barry Jones, or Gerry Hand; passionate, committed people, whether you agreed with them or not. Politics has become corporatised and institutionalised and the people who want power for the sake of power, the Mark Arbibs and Karl Bitars of the world have taken over; and behind them are people I can only describe as sinister, or even malevolent. And while I'm, I would have to say that the decline of independent journalism and principled media leadership bears a lot of the blame. Unfortunately, the vast majority of our editors are ethical and intellectual pygmies compared with many of their predecessors, and journalistic training has turned into teaching young journos who to write a pithy tweet. We get the politicians we deserve; sadly.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-90541580514778812902010-08-02T12:10:30.839+10:002010-08-02T12:10:30.839+10:00last night i went looking on the ALP website for c...last night i went looking on the ALP website for clarification on their East Timor processing facility/Immigration/"Sustainable population" policy...Couldn't find any of it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-71357056446196134022010-08-02T09:48:11.019+10:002010-08-02T09:48:11.019+10:00This is a great article and I hope it gets read by...This is a great article and I hope it gets read by journalists who go a deep shade of shameful red. It's not that they lack the intelligence or ability to write a decent article it's that they seem to think they are here to entertain their readers with bon mots at politicians expense.Bobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-36453246581159032642010-08-01T22:56:04.129+10:002010-08-01T22:56:04.129+10:00Until now, I couldn't figure out why I was so ...Until now, I couldn't figure out why I was so unimpressed with this election, why I felt there was no meat on its bones. Now I realise that we're simply being fed pathetic point-scoring political pap that, as Todd Sampson so eloquently put it the other night, is easy to follow, so it's easy to swallow. If what's being reported is about point scoring between the parties, then it's easy to tell 'who's winning'. If it's about policy, then you actually have to stop to decide whether or not you agree with it and why, which takes time/brain power and longer than a 2 minute news item.<br /><br />It's little wonder that the population remains at a loss as to what the difference is between the two political parties; without digging into the detail of their policies you wouldn't have a clue. <br /><br />I love this article because it's made me want more from this election and its reporting. Unfortunately it's also probably going to make me incredibly frustrated every time I identify another oxygen wasting question asked by the 4th Estate. Nevertheless, thank you!LozVoxnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-33358658411471837092010-08-01T15:19:12.305+10:002010-08-01T15:19:12.305+10:00Really must protest at the comments of Anonymous,A...Really must protest at the comments of Anonymous,August 1, 1.31 am. on Latika Bourke.<br /><br />They are not only unfair but commit the very sin of trivialisation for which Grog rightly reprimands journalists. What bearing does the image Latika Bourke uses in her avatar have on her discharge of her professional duties?<br /><br />Grog's comment at 8.40 am draws attention to a good policy question from Latika at Tony Abbot's press conference yesterday and another good one from Alison Rehn.<br /><br />Also felt Marion's earlier criticism of Latika's tweet about press pack's breakfast was churlish in the extreme. Latika Bourke's faithful tweeting of press conferences is a boon for those of us less technologically endowed.<br /><br />I don't think there's anything in Grog's post suggesting that journalists have to be po-faced machines who tweet only on serious matters. As I read it, his point is that journalists need to use their opportunities to question the leaders seriously & professionally, asking informed and intelligent questions and avoiding the silly ear lobes, leaks, plots etc which so often lead the evening news bulletins.<br /><br />We should certainly do everything we can to support Grog's clarion call for responsible reporting, but that doesn't include excoriating individual journalists for simply being human. Far better to use legitimate criticism , as Grog does, and to applaud and encourage good policy questions when we see them.Agnes Macknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-24540356123399024482010-08-01T11:11:39.091+10:002010-08-01T11:11:39.091+10:00Grog, this is a sensational piece and it deserves ...Grog, this is a sensational piece and it deserves all the attention it has received. I hope that it causes some in the fourth estate to review their methods, although that likely represents a victory of hope over reason.Greghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12787535573098680813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-89825548371096042792010-08-01T08:51:21.672+10:002010-08-01T08:51:21.672+10:00Through its feverish obsession with the mechanics ...Through its feverish obsession with the mechanics of politics, the media unwittingly reveals to the public its own internal mechanics.<br /><br />The scrutiny made available by the internet – including the availability of primary source material and the ability for experts outside the media to provide informed insights on policy issues – means journalists are struggling for revelance.<br /><br />Ironically, the more irrelevant they are rendered, the more they seek to extrapolate from the stories they are reporting on, by indulging in half-baked speculation and spin and by inserting themselves and their own egos.<br /><br />Having cast themselves into this role, they find it hard to go back to “straight” journalism. And their desperation for fresh ways of driving a manufactured narrative forward leaves them susceptible to easy manipulation by the paid spinners in the party machines.<br /><br />So you end up with this perpetual theatre that is divorced from the lived reality and concerns of most voters.<br /><br />The political parties, meanwhile, play the media’s game by using policy positions purely as branding exercises. The substance is irrelevant. What matters is how each announcement shifts the media narrative forward.<br /><br />WHY this is all happening was the subject of the series of posts I wrote under the title of The Failed Estate on Lavratus Prodeo, but can be summarised as relating to the death of the mainstream media’s business model, the loss of the craft of journalism as older hands desert the industry, the disintermediating influence of new technology and the growing power and sophstication of the PR industry.<br /><br />In simple terms, people can now see how the media makes the sausages. And it is not a pretty sight.Mr Denmorenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-51909482841112226022010-08-01T08:42:30.401+10:002010-08-01T08:42:30.401+10:00I have to say Tony Abbott yesterday geting asked s...I have to say Tony Abbott yesterday geting asked some excellent policy questions - including one about his disability policy and whether or not it applied to students with Down Syndrome (asked I think by Alison Rehm of the Daily T). Abbott fudged it, and about all we know is 6,000 students are eligible which sounds like he's a bit vague n the details. <br /><br />Latika Bourke also asked Abbott when he announced his dental plan for ADF families was there any plan to have a universal dental plan - a good question.Greg Jerichohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04956402439870441083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-22124714029989363522010-08-01T04:05:19.382+10:002010-08-01T04:05:19.382+10:00Grog, thanks much. Here's an idea: just as fin...Grog, thanks much. Here's an idea: just as financial advisors are legally bound to declare stock- holding interests in companies they may comment on, perhaps journalists should be obligated to reveal their voting record. We could go back say two federal and state elections with the caveat that previous voting did not necessarily suggest future voting intentions. At least readers would be potentially better informed about the various agendas, biases, and respective media stables' general tendencies toward governments of both persuations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-29292117596422497382010-08-01T03:20:25.925+10:002010-08-01T03:20:25.925+10:00Brilliant article.
I firmly believe that a majo...Brilliant article. <br /><br />I firmly believe that a major factor in the removal of Kevin Rudd as prime minister was a press gallery that was bored with reporting on policy and found it easier to write about soap opera. They kept dropping hints about a challenge until it became a self-fulfilling prophecy. <br /><br />From the beginning, they had openly derided Rudd for being detailed about policy - because it's such a drag having a PM who's interested in policy. <br /><br />If they want to write about personal gossip, they should try getting a gig on the entertainment pages.Billhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03412983524190021368noreply@blogger.com