Post by pim on Dec 23, 2013 8:33:34 GMT 11
... is an angry book by Kerry-Anne Walsh called The Stalking of Julia Gillard. As you would expect the book dumps on Kevin Rudd big time (and a cheerio to Spindrift who salivates and leaps to Rudd's defence every time the name "Rudd" appears in one of my posts. Spare yourself the bother mate and it gets a bit boring when you feel you have to fight every battle on every front). No surprises there and the very title of the book would suggest that it's going to dump on Rudd. But the book goes a lot further than that. In the book Walsh bares her fangs and sharpens her claws and subjects her colleagues in the journalism profession to a mauling and a savaging. She really rips into 'em over the way they reported rumour and innuendo as fact, and ignored the real stories, and allowed themselves to become players in the political process in most disgraceful corruption of the ethics of journalism. It was as if, having been caught napping in the events of 2010 when Rudd was ousted, they were not going to allow themselves to be caught napping again.
Walsh is particularly savage towards the Murdoch empire and at the same time she slaps the Fairfax media around the ears and knees the ABC in the groin. Nobody is spared.
I'm enjoying the book and practically read it in one sitting. Not quite finished yet, though. I've been saying that Australian journalists are a lazy mob of bludgers for a long time now. I can think of two examples just off the top of my head:
1. On the ABC TV news recently there was a report on the WW2 wreck of HMAS Perth which was sunk in a naval battle in Indonesian waters in 1942 or maybe 1943. The remains of several hundred Australian sailors are with that wreckage and it should be declared a war grave. That would have to be done with the co-operation of the Indonesians of course since it's within their territorial waters and therefore within their jurisdiction. Securing the co-operation of the Indonesian Government in this matter would be a necessary first step in stopping divers from stripping the wreck of its metal. The footage that accompanied the report showed how the wreck is systematically being stripped and sold as scrap. Then cut to the newsreader who blithely calls the divers "bounty hunters". No they're not you dumb arse. Didn't you listen to what was said in the footage you just showed?
2. The other example of dumbed-down lazy journalism is this fluff piece from the Murdoch website:
PM Tony Abbott rules out reinstating Knights and Dames in Oz
www.news.com.au/national/pm-tony-abbott-rules-out-reinstating-knights-and-dames-in-oz/story-fncynjr2-1226788026229
I seem to recall that particular issue was settled during the time of the Howard Government when the Queen Herself decreed that there were to be no more knighthoods or imperial honours bestowed on "Orstraylians". It's a non-issue and it says something about the poor state of Australian journalism when the big news story is what's NOT gonna happen rather than what's actually happening.
Perhaps Kerry-Anne Walsh is onto something about the Australian media!
Walsh is particularly savage towards the Murdoch empire and at the same time she slaps the Fairfax media around the ears and knees the ABC in the groin. Nobody is spared.
I'm enjoying the book and practically read it in one sitting. Not quite finished yet, though. I've been saying that Australian journalists are a lazy mob of bludgers for a long time now. I can think of two examples just off the top of my head:
1. On the ABC TV news recently there was a report on the WW2 wreck of HMAS Perth which was sunk in a naval battle in Indonesian waters in 1942 or maybe 1943. The remains of several hundred Australian sailors are with that wreckage and it should be declared a war grave. That would have to be done with the co-operation of the Indonesians of course since it's within their territorial waters and therefore within their jurisdiction. Securing the co-operation of the Indonesian Government in this matter would be a necessary first step in stopping divers from stripping the wreck of its metal. The footage that accompanied the report showed how the wreck is systematically being stripped and sold as scrap. Then cut to the newsreader who blithely calls the divers "bounty hunters". No they're not you dumb arse. Didn't you listen to what was said in the footage you just showed?
2. The other example of dumbed-down lazy journalism is this fluff piece from the Murdoch website:
PM Tony Abbott rules out reinstating Knights and Dames in Oz
www.news.com.au/national/pm-tony-abbott-rules-out-reinstating-knights-and-dames-in-oz/story-fncynjr2-1226788026229
I seem to recall that particular issue was settled during the time of the Howard Government when the Queen Herself decreed that there were to be no more knighthoods or imperial honours bestowed on "Orstraylians". It's a non-issue and it says something about the poor state of Australian journalism when the big news story is what's NOT gonna happen rather than what's actually happening.
Perhaps Kerry-Anne Walsh is onto something about the Australian media!
