The Murdoch Media

[Willo]

I agree Ian but it is with mixed feelings. The free to air TV stations are in big trouble as is the print media but the other side of the coin is the loss of quality journalism that we have seen over many years now as the traditional media fades away.

How can we get journalism back into the news?

Has it been a coincidence that now most journalists are employed to write/report to their employers political leanings.
To stay employed has their independence been compromised?

Sin, When you ask “how can we get journalism back into the news” I take it you mean truly independent journalists who give an unbiased opinion.
If it is. I’m not sure.

 

[Sintiger]

Has it been a coincidence that now most journalists are employed to write/report to their employers political leanings.
To stay employed has their independence been compromised?

Sin, When you ask “how can we get journalism back into the news” I take it you mean truly independent journalists who give an unbiased opinion.
If it is. I’m not sure.

There are two things I want back

One is good journalists who understand their subject matter. I can give one example of health where I have experience. I am appalled by the quality of what many journalist write where they clearly do not understand what they are writing about.

The other is truly independent journalism. Journalists who will on one occasion be critical of a government as an example but then be equally critical of an opposition on something else. Interviewers who you can watch over and over again and have no idea what their political leaning is.

I am happy to read well researched opinion pieces that i may end up not agreeing with but not when you read them and know straight away they are written from a political bias.

The other thing is journalism now makes things political that should not be and that is part of a societal trend to pigeon hole views and concentrate on our differences rather than what we have in common.

Examples should be
The voice should never have been political
Climate change should not be political
The need for tax reform should not be about politics. How it is done may be philosophical but not that we need reform.
The level of support for Israel or the Palestinian cause is not a political issue

None of those examples mean we don’t have different views but the fact that so many times they are seen as conservatives will always have view x and left leaning people will always have view y means we never get to truly debate the real underlying issue.

We are all guilty to some extent, but we should try our best not to be imo.

Rant over

 

[Willo]

There are two things I want back

One is good journalists who understand their subject matter. I can give one example of health where I have experience. I am appalled by the quality of what many journalist write where they clearly do not understand what they are writing about.

The other is truly independent journalism. Journalists who will on one occasion be critical of a government as an example but then be equally critical of an opposition on something else. Interviewers who you can watch over and over again and have no idea what their political leaning is.

I am happy to read well researched opinion pieces that i may end up not agreeing with but not when you read them and know straight away they are written from a political bias.

The other thing is journalism now makes things political that should not be and that is part of a societal trend to pigeon hole views and concentrate on our differences rather than what we have in common.

Examples should be
The voice should never have been political
Climate change should not be political
The need for tax reform should not be about politics. How it is done may be philosophical but not that we need reform.
The level of support for Israel or the Palestinian cause is not a political issue

None of those examples mean we don’t have different views but the fact that so many times they are seen as conservatives will always have view x and left leaning people will always have view y means we never get to truly debate the real underlying issue.

We are all guilty to some extent, but we should try our best not to be imo.

Rant over

No rant. I’d rather read your opinion on this, than a lot of other ideas that shoved down our throats.
By the way, I agree completely with your post/pov opinion on this.
Things always change, not always for the better.
I just hope the wheel turns and it has some semblance of what you have written comes about.
I’m not that optimistic it will happen though, too many powerful, vested interests groups seek to dominate society to their own ends.
But we can only hope.

 

[Baloo]

In the US at least, everything changed when the Fairness Doctrine was abolished in 1989. Until then, all media had to present both sides of the story fairly. When it abolished, media outlets started to reflect the ideology of their owners. Now we have what we have today where it is difficult to find an outlet that will present both sides fairly.

In Australia I don't believe we ever had a similar regulation like the Fairness Doctrine. But we have one the highest concentration of media ownership in the western world. News and Nine own about 2/3 of all our commercial media. This concentration started when I think Hawke/Keating loosened the foreign ownership laws for media in Australia, then Howard relaxed the cross media ownership laws allowing media companies to own TV, Radio and Newspaper. There were restrictions before that on cross media ownership.

This allows a narrative to be pushed everywhere when the media company wants a narrative pushed. You'll find the narrative in newspapers, radio and TV in all capital cities in Australia, pretty much unchecked.

 

[Ian4]

I agree Ian but it is with mixed feelings. The free to air TV stations are in big trouble as is the print media but the other side of the coin is the loss of quality journalism that we have seen over many years now as the traditional media fades away.

How can we get journalism back into the news?

Too late for that. and I have no sympathy for them if their industry dies. If they have to parrot the ideology of their employer to be able to hold down a job, then they should walk if they want to retain any integrity. Michael West did exactly that and is one of the more respected independent journalists going around.

There are two things I want back

One is good journalists who understand their subject matter. I can give one example of health where I have experience. I am appalled by the quality of what many journalist write where they clearly do not understand what they are writing about.

The other is truly independent journalism. Journalists who will on one occasion be critical of a government as an example but then be equally critical of an opposition on something else. Interviewers who you can watch over and over again and have no idea what their political leaning is.

I am happy to read well researched opinion pieces that i may end up not agreeing with but not when you read them and know straight away they are written from a political bias.

The other thing is journalism now makes things political that should not be and that is part of a societal trend to pigeon hole views and concentrate on our differences rather than what we have in common.

Examples should be
The voice should never have been political
Climate change should not be political
The need for tax reform should not be about politics. How it is done may be philosophical but not that we need reform.
The level of support for Israel or the Palestinian cause is not a political issue

None of those examples mean we don’t have different views but the fact that so many times they are seen as conservatives will always have view x and left leaning people will always have view y means we never get to truly debate the real underlying issue.

We are all guilty to some extent, but we should try our best not to be imo.

Rant over

investigative journalism is dead. One of the better investigative journalists in Australia in recent years isn't even a journalist, but a comedian (Friendly Jordies). If they actually did their job, i would suggest many corrupt politicians would have been jailed in recent years. And we would likely have seen a different result in 2019.

 

[Sintiger]

Too late for that. and I have no sympathy for them if their industry dies. If they have to parrot the ideology of their employer to be able to hold down a job, then they should walk if they want to retain any integrity. Michael West did exactly that and is one of the more respected independent journalists going around.



investigative journalism is dead. One of the better investigative journalists in Australia in recent years isn't even a journalist, but a comedian (Friendly Jordies). If they actually did their job, i would suggest many corrupt politicians would have been jailed in recent years. And we would likely have seen a different result in 2019.

Nick McKenzie is still someone you would call an investigative journalist but I sometimes worry about his subject matter and how it is influenced by who he works for. But he is an investigative journalist.

Mixed feelings about friendly Jordies. I loved what he did to Barilaro, even though it got him into a lot of trouble. But there is a level of sensationalism sometimes that I’m not in love with.

 

[Baloo]

Poor Bolty. I'm sure the 3 siblings are now reconsidering whether to fight Ruppies changes or not.

Bolt’s ultimatum: I’ll quit if James Murdoch wins succession battle

The high-profile conservative columnist says he’ll walk if James Murdoch takes over News Corp.

www.theage.com.au

 

[Sintiger]

Poor Bolty. I'm sure the 3 siblings are now reconsidering whether to fight Ruppies changes or not.

Bolt’s ultimatum: I’ll quit if James Murdoch wins succession battle

The high-profile conservative columnist says he’ll walk if James Murdoch takes over News Corp.

www.theage.com.au

Doesn’t matter to me if Bolt resigned, I don’t listen to him anyway. However if you think about what he is saying it is essentially that he will only work for a media company that pushes and agrees with the views that he has.
That’s not journalism.

 

[tigerman]

Press Freedom

Right wingers will love that the right wing Murdoch Media have been successful in having the media banned from the Murdoch families dirty linen fight in court.

 

[Willo]

Press Freedom

Right wingers will love that the right wing Murdoch Media have been successful in having the media banned from the Murdoch families dirty linen fight in court.

Who cares? Well….obviously you do.

 

[DavidSSS]

Press Freedom

Right wingers will love that the right wing Murdoch Media have been successful in having the media banned from the Murdoch families dirty linen fight in court.

Maybe someone should hack their phones, I'm sure some of their former employees would know how.

DS

 

[TigerMasochist]

If it weren't for right wing meedjia then we'd only have the left wing meedjia's thoughts n opinions to learn from and believe in.

 

[Ian4]

If it weren't for right wing meedjia then we'd only have the left wing meedjia's thoughts n opinions to learn from and believe in.

You mean things such as scientific fact, reason, logic and rationality?

That would be such a shame.

 

[Willo]

If it weren't for right wing meedjia then we'd only have the left wing meedjia's thoughts n opinions to learn from and believe in.

You mean things such as scientific fact, reason, logic and rationality?

That would be such a shame

Oh yeah, of course they have the monopoly on that ……. and narrow mindedness

 

[Ian4]

Oh yeah, of course they have the monopoly on that ……. and narrow mindedness

disprove me then

 

[Willo]

disprove me then

You made the statement. The onus is on you.

 

[Ian4]

You made the statement. The onus is on you.

I mean… where do I start?

Climate change? Its basic high school level science that is generally rejected by conservatives out of self interest.

Many conservative ideals are linked to irrational religious beliefs. Creationism has been debunked by facts such as carbon dating, evolution and the big bang.

Those against same sex marriage and/or claim homosexuality is unnatural are more likely to be conservative… The archaeology tells us marriage predates organised religion. Nature tells us hundreds of animal species engage in homosexual behaviour.

I think its pretty safe to say that a generation of neoliberalism and trickle down economics has failed society. The gap between the rich and the poor keeps getting bigger. Housing affordability keeps getting harder. But if you dispute this, then please make your argument.

Some will claim that socialism hasn’t worked in many countries. But communism isn’t real socialism. Authoritarian socialists such as Venezuela isn’t real socialism. Real socialism is democratic where everyone gets a say. Australia is an example of this. We’re far from perfect, but we are still an example of socialism. Universal healthcare. Universal education. Roads. Public transport. Social housing. Etc. etc.

Archaeology tells us early man were hunter gatherers (Libertarians). They fended for themselves, and survival was tough. But then man settled in one location. They started agriculture. They shared jobs and chores. They looked after and protected each other. They thrived. Nowadays, people call it the dawn of civilisation. But that’s not really the right word, isn’t it…? Do you wanna guess what it really is? Or do I need to say it?

I could go on and on but I’ll finish with how virtually every conspiracy theorist is ideologically linked with the hard right. Those who believe Donald Trump is here to save us from deep state paedophiles. Those who believe the COVID Vaccine causes more deaths or it contains 5g nanotechnology. That Andrews didn’t fall down the steps but was bashed by Lindsay Fox’s son in law.

 

[IanG]

I could go on and on but I’ll finish with how virtually every conspiracy theorist is ideologically linked with the hard right. Those who believe Donald Trump is here to save us from deep state paedophiles. Those who believe the COVID Vaccine causes more deaths or it contains 5g nanotechnology. That Andrews didn’t fall down the steps but was bashed by Lindsay Fox’s son in law.

I'd ask who exactly is the leftist media? The ABC is lurching to the right. The Guardian is centrist and have appointed a political editor recently who has definitely taken them more in a neoliberal centrist direction at the very least.

 

[Willo]

I think someone has been smoking or ingesting something
No doubt the 10 Commandments were edited and printed by Rupert.

 

[TigerMasochist]

You mean things such as scientific fact,

That would be such a shame.

Haaarrrgh. Scientific facts????? They get it wrong so often that they don't even need to lie or fudge their data to seriously mess *smile* up. So many scientific facts that simply get proven wrong every few years by updated knowledge that always becomes relevant years to late.