Who's pulling the strings at your ABC?

Has the ABC made a decisive move to dumb down their content?

Why is it, every time I tune in I get slapped in the face by some Rupert Murdoch operative?

Like this morning [28/3/10].

Why does Kim Dennison need to interview a bought and paid for Murdoch property, and poison my ears with his know-nothing prattling about the movies Rupert wants you to see?

Sam Cleveland gets paid by Murdoch to sprout his rubbish. Ipso Facto, his opinion is worth exactly what Rupert pays for it. He lies down with dogs and you are not supposed to believe that he gets up with fleas.

Go right ahead, if you're just a stupid sucker for more of Rupert's punishment, but do not expect me to pay for that crap with my taxes. Rupert has a very well known hatred for publicly funded journalism and broadcasting. If you have two operating neurons you would be able to work out why that is.

FFS, Get Murdoch's people OFF MY ABC!

NOW!

Action: e-mail someone at your ABC and tell them what you think.

The ABC's PM gears up for Earth Hour

I had just been to see the brilliant 'Micmacs', a witty and amusing film pointedly critical of the vermin who profit from the global arms trade, and was feeling a little less despondent about the state of the world, and a little more hopeful about the power of humanity and creativity.

Then I tuned in to PM.

How deflating.

What's this doing on one of Australia's more serious and reputable current affairs shows?:

The latest debate on climate science to emerge centres on a paper which suggests humans played no role in the recent warming trend. Instead, it says El Nino activity is to blame.

A group of climate scientists say that's false, misleading and that the data's been manipulated by climate deniers. They've now had their rebuttal published.

But the authors of the initial report say they wanted to respond, but their attempt was rejected. ...

And this?:

... EMILY BOURKE: Unlike the federal health debate earlier this week, the worm didn't make an appearance.

TORY MAGUIRE: I was on the Daily Telegraph live blog during the debate and we ran a poll at the end and it was wildly in favour of Mr O'Farrell.

EMILY BOURKE: Tory Maguire is the deputy editor of the opinion website, The Punch. She says Kristina Keneally took the curious step of defending her government without conceding to any mistakes.

TORY MAGUIRE: I think she looked like a bit of a Pollyanna, to be honest. She was actually asked by one of the journalists on the panel if she had anything to apologize for, for the Labor Government, for, you know, the last 15 year and she said, no, absolutely not.

EMILY BOURKE: Imre Salusinszky is the New South Wales political reporter for the Australian newspaper.

IMRE SALUSINSZKY: Neither of them was prepared to commit even to such obviously urgent projects as the M5 duplication or the completion of the M4 east. What that tells us is either that they don't think they're going to be able to afford it during the, the four years between 2011 and 2015. Or more likely, that in terms of big ticket promises like that, they will keep their powder dry until we are considerably closer to the election than we are now. ...

Thanks Mark!

If you find it unacceptable that your ABC continues to give air time to climate change sceptics and News Ltd.'s propagandists, then write to the ABC and let them know. Sure, they might ignore you, give you the brush off, or an unsatisfactory response.

But if there's anyone in the ABC who is arguing against the Murdoch/neoconservative/fossil fuel industry agenda, they need all the ammunition, they can get.

Also, 2010 is a federal election year.

Let your candidates know how you feel.

Murdoch Hates Journalism and Democracy

The 'Columbia Journalism Review' has an interesting piece about Murdoch's war with the New York Times.

Unfortunately, the writer of the piece, Ryan Chittum, is so starry eyed about his ex-employer (the 'Wall Street Journal') that he seems unable to see what Murdoch is really up to there, and everywhere else for that matter.

For a business journalist, Chittum shows a remarkable and depressing naivete.

Action: actively and loudly denigrate and ridicule Murdoch's garbage papers and other outlets at every opportunity to anyone who will listen.

What's missing in this picture?

Deputy Premier Paul Lucas featured in a 'Gold Coast Bulletin' story[20/3/10] about their new look

Evidently, Queensland's Deputy Premier attended last week's launch of the "new look, ultra slick" 'Gold Coast Bulletin'.

No one's saying there's anything wrong with politicians attending and speaking at business events and launches etc., but the Murdoch press is in a unique (verging on monopolistic) position in this country.

And because they are so obviously derelict in the performance of their democratic duty they deserve special sanction.

So what's missing in this picture?

You.

Think about it.

In a proper, functioning democracy there is supposed to be a healthy tension between politicians and the media, and both of them are supposed to serve and inform you.

In Australia, we are sliding toward "junk politics" and "inverted totalitarianism", where both work together against the interests of the citizenry, but we still have the bare bones of a democracy.

2010 is a federal election year.

Ignore the corporate media and let your candidates know that you will not accept this any longer.

2010 is an election year - Part 3

On the ABC's 'Lateline' last night, Senator Stephen "can I say, frankly" Conroy said:

... STEPHEN CONROY: Well, look, I think a comparison between the ABC and the BBC is frankly a nonsense. The BBC has got an enormous resource base. It's been growing for many, many years.

The ABC has been starved of funds through the entire 11 and a half years. Not just starved, it had its funding substantially slashed. And what we've seen for the first time in 12 years is the single largest increase in funding to the ABC since it became incorporated.

We make no apologies for that. We believe after 11.5 years of Howard Government's attacks on the ABC, that it was important to give a big boosts, even though we were in the middle of a global financial crisis.

So I reject the comparisons with the BBC, but what you're seeing is that the ABC is at the cutting edge of the digital transformation that's taking place in the country - fabulous applications like iView; the regional hub broadband program. These are exciting innovations that are keeping pace with where technology is taking us. If other media companies haven't been able to keep pace as well, that's for them to deal with. It's not to say, "Stop..." ...

For all this new technology and proposed national news network, the quality of ABC's reporting of local issues and news coverage has noticeably deteriorated over the past couple of years.

For example, with a few rare exceptions, the ABC's Coast FM spends the majority of airtime reporting and discussing stories which have appeared in the Murdoch press, giving publicity to commercial endeavours (eg yesterday Scott Mayman interviewed James Valentine about his new Foxtel show), unquestioningly repeating talking points and engaging in a general dumbing down and avoidance of environmental and social equity issues, and treating its listeners as if they only have one brain cell and are a bunch of Rona Joyners.

Yes, the surf and traffic reports are very helpful, but despite some good stories, they could do better. In fact the best segment this year so far was Cam Young's interview with an expert who said botox injections not only freeze facial muscles, but can also stifle emotions.

Why aren't ABC Coast FM doing a local Council round up every week? Or interviewing more local politicians of ALL stripes? Or conducting a round up of the Law Courts and Police matters?

2010 is an election year.

Ask your federal candidates what they will do to ensure that ABC local maintains and enhances its coverage of local issues.

If you have a question for your politicans or Council CEOs, write to them directly

A new column titled "Council Corner", with CEO of the Gold Coast City Council, Dale Dickson, has appeared on the "letters" page in this week's [10/3/10] 'Gold Coast Sun'.

Although this is the first week we've seen anything about "Council Corner" in Rupert Murdoch's 'Gold Coast Sun', Mr Dickson's already received three letters, including this one from Lorraine Campbell:

In Auckland, they have a scheme where there is free bus travel for pensioners between 9am and 3pm. A special card is sent out to home address pensioners only, and that has to be presented on boarding the services. Don't you feel this system could be implemented into the buses on the Coast and Brisbane and you would find people who have no other from of transport would be out spending their money in the cities. Surely this is worth thinking about, or even a reducation fare for a day out. Everyone would benefit.

Intriguingly, he's even replied to these letters!:

In All major cities in Australia, public transport is managed by the State Governments, rather than local councils. In Queensland, Translink is the responsible State agency and I shall contact Translink with your valid suggestion. Council recognises the need to provide low-cost transport options for the elderly and those with a disability. The Council Cab Service was established to enable older people and those with a disability to travel, for only $2 each way, from their home to their local shopping centre. This successful service has expanded and now operates across 48 suburbs throughout the city.

We think Lorraine has a good point. Although public transport should be free for all citizens - and all the time.

And this "Council Corner" is bullshit.

Even though Lorraine obviously has ESP - how else did she and the other letter writers know to write to "Council Corner"? - we think she should be directing her queries about Council services to her local Councillor or directly to Mr Dickson himself:

Mr Dale Dickson
Chief Executive Officer
Gold Coast City Council
PO Box 5042
Gold Coast MC 9729

She could even write to her state and/or federal member - after all, 2010 is a federal election year - along with other locally based newsletters/blogs and Australian owned media publications.

In addition, Lorraine could discuss her ideas with friends, family, National Seniors and any other community groups of which she may be a member.

She shouldn't consent to her concerns being used so cynically by the Murdoch press for their own commercial ends.

The Murdoch Press doesn't care about Australia, it doesn't care about Australians, it doesn't care about you and it certainly doesn't care about public transport.

Tell Media Watch when you see examples of Murdoch press bogusity such as this.

Murdoch is bad for democracy: Fraser

We can't show you his face because your computer would explode

The 'Australian's' Christian "Rupert wants to know when small "l" liberals are going to fuck off" Kerr makes everyone groan and roll their eyes

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser launched his political memoir at the National Press Club yesterday [9/3/10].

He discussed many things including immigration, refugees, trade, the two party system and the decline of representative democracy in Australia.

Did you hear about it?

Probably not, and that's because we have such suffocating media diversity in this country.

Fraser said the way to protect democracy is to have a range of media publications with proprietors that have different views.

He also said the government can do something about media diversity.

2010 is an election year.

Ask your federal candidates what they will do to enhance media diversity in this country.

Stopping all tax-payer funding to Rupert Murdoch and getting him to pay some tax might be a start. Any other ideas?

It isn't healthy for one organisation to control two sides of a debate

We've said it before - Rupert Murdoch's Australian operatives do not want us to have a Bill of Rights.

Engaging with any of his publications on this, or any other issue for that matter, is a waste of your energy.

By engaging, we mean:

giving them your hard earned cash to read their putrid propaganda, or to advertise in their pages;

using your intellect and time to write an opinion piece which lends them the credibility they don't deserve;

firing off letters to the editor, or;

participating in their on-line forums.

Last weekend 'The Australian', which is so openly biased against a national Human Rights Act, published two even handed reports on the topic of a Human Rights Act, which got some activists creaming their pants.

It's astonishing that otherwise intelligent people keep crawling back to be kicked in the guts by these dishonest, lying turds.

It is worse than useless to engage the Murdoch media. When you do that, you continue to allow them to own the issue and they will always play you for suckers.

2010 is an election year.

If you think Australia needs a Human Rights Act, write to candidates and let them know how you feel.

Peas in a pod of shot credibility

Last August, the Brisbane Institute, in association with The Australian Climate Science Coalition, hosted a lecture by Dr Jay Lehr, Science Director of the Heartland Institute titled:

Has Al Gore got it all wrong? Will the war on carbon dioxide kill real jobs?

And anyone with a modicum of common sense can tell you what South East Queensland's media monopoly views on the environment are.

This week they're hosting the third public forum in their "Our Future Your Say" series:

The 3rd of the Our Future Your Say free public forums organised by the Courier Mail in partnership with Griffith University and The Brisbane Institute.

Sunshine Coast residents have an opportunity to have their say about Queensland's population growth and consider these and other issues:

Will the Sunshine Coast become the new Gold Coast?
How can the region retain its unique charm and character?
What measures need to be taken to protect one of the most biodiverse regions of Australia?

These are important matters that need to be discussed in the lead up to the Government's population growth summit on March 30 and 31.

Come along and hear from

Professor Ross Guest, Professor of Economics, Griffith Business School
David Gibson, Opposition infrastructure spokesman and LNP member for Gympie
Ian Christensen, environmentalist
Joanne Wright, local community leader

ADMISSION IS FREE BUT PRIOR REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED.

TO REGISTER: Email your name and contact details to:

rsvp@brisinst.org.au BEFORE TUESDAY 9TH MARCH

We think people deserve to be held to account based on their record.

Boycott this cheap attempt to yet again control the debate.

If you are genuinely interested in sustainability in South East Queensland, there is an alternative forum where these issues will be discussed without the ideological spin.

The Murdoch creep continues at "your" ABC

Normally we find ABC Radio's 'Australia Talks' to be a little bit boring (this might partly be the fault of the format), and frustratingly simplistic. So we rarely listen, however, James Sinnamon tuned in to today's [3/3/10] show and has made the following observation:

This had to be one of the dullest 'Australia Talks' that I can remember. It was even more dull than I remember Richard Fidler's interview with Paul Kelly about his (misnamed) book "The March of Patriots" last year being.

Whose decision was it to make two of the three guests journalists who work for two Murdoch-owned newspapers?

Don't Atkins and Kelly already get more than enough opportunity to push Uncle Rupert's prescriptions of what is supposedly good for this country without them taking up more than half of one of only three programmes each week in which ordinary people can express their views before a National audience?

Whilst I thought I could just discern a slight difference in opinions of Dean Jaensch (from looking at what he has written online and not from listening to the program) from those of Kelly and Atkins, very little of what he writes seems likely to fire people's imagination

Why so little participation from callers?

Was that all that phoned in?

If so, wouldn't it have been more appropriate to have given them each individually more time than to give so much time to allow Kelly and Atkins (and presumably Jaensch) to waffle on about those same tired all themes, "uniting the party", style in dealing with the states, how they play the Senate, credibility as economic managers (seen through the prism of Rupert's World view), was Rudd's apology genuine? (of course it wasn't), etc.?

Guests:

Paul Kelly, Editor-at-Large, The Australian
Dennis Atkins, National Affairs editor, The Courier-Mail
Dean Jaensch, Professor of Political and International Studies, Flinders University

2010 is an election year.

Ask your local candidates what their position is on Murdoch's infiltration of our public broadcaster.

What's a bully?

According to the Macquarie Dictionary, a bully is:

1. a blustering, quarrelsome, overbearing person who brow-beats smaller or weaker people.

2. to be loudly arrogant and overbearing.

If anyone knows about bullying, it's the Murdoch media:

... The Courier-Mail, in conjunction with 97.3FM, this week begins a week-long series, Just Say No To Bullying . The campaign culminates on Friday when we encourage Queenslanders to wear orange in support of the cause. ...

The biggest organisation of bullies in the world is the Murdoch media.

Like all bullies, if you push back against them you'll see them run screaming.

Go on.

Try it.

Worth a look

If this site does anything to hold Murdoch operatives to account, it'll be worth following:

http://andrewboltliesdeceptionsonagw.wordpress.com/

Andrew Bolt has been misrepresenting, deceiving and lying about AGW as an issue for a long time now.

He has denigrated science and scientists with apparently no accountability.

He has refused to admit error or to correct misconceptions that he has created.

This blog is to set the record straight and to put on the record how disingenuous and politically-motivated this individual has been in relation to a subject that he very clearly has very little grasp or understanding.