Does Mark Scott want Australians to turn off their local ABC?

If you disrespect anybody that you run in to
How in the world do you think anybody's s'posed to respect you?

‘Respect Yourself’, The Staple Singers [1971]

Self-respect must be proving increasingly elusive to announcers at the national broadcaster who care about their professional reputations as well as the integrity of the ABC.

Treating their listeners like idiots by devoting more and more airtime to the promotion of Murdoch products, interviewing his properties, and constantly referencing the propaganda in his so called news outlets – without any kind of disclosure or questioning of the legitimacy of his thoroughly discredited organisation.

Last week, precious Coast FM airtime was used to promote Rupert Murdoch’s dinnertime suggestions.

This week, the ‘Gold Coast Weekend Bulletin’s’ Arts Editor Marina Saint Martin was interviewed on the afternoon show [30/6/10].

Are there no other art experts on the Gold Coast who could inform listeners about current exhibitions and local artists?

If Gold Coast residents wanted to know what art exhibitions Rupert Murdoch deems to be worthy of checking out, we would read the ‘Gold Coast Bulletin’.

Wasting precious airtime on the promotion of Rupert Murdoch’s business interests is transforming Coast FM's broadcasts into a monocultural, listless drone that increases the likelihood of listeners switching off and missing out on really interesting segments - such as the interview with Tara Simmons.

And how has it come about that taxpayer funded shows are to be broadcast on Pay TV for us to purchase?

Is the future for our taxpayer funded national broadcasters to be nothing more than vehicles to promote Rupert Murdoch’s publications and Pay TV?

If you care about the ABC and the future of journalism and cultural discourse in this country, perhaps you might want to contact your candidates in the upcoming federal election and ask them what they’re going to do about it.

Barbarians not just at the gate - they're bloody everywhere!

There are two political sides running Australia as one. They both need to suck up to Murdoch's press for favour. Here is some more proof of this:

... CHRISTINE WALLACE [journalist and Julia Gillard biographer]: Well, you see,
Janet is the problem for Barnaby [Joyce], because Janet Albrechtsen, Alan Jones,
Andrew Bolt, the absolutely rolled gold, right wing political commentators of
Australia, all love Julia and this is why you guys are...

So there you go Australia.

Rupert has decided.

It remains a puzzle in Australia that while almost everyone can agree that the Murdoch press is rubbish, they apparently hold so much power over our elected politicians.

Action: Vote for the first person or party to tell Rupert and his operatives to go get fucked!

The Murdoch press are NOT on your side

Rupert Murdoch and his properties don't represent the interests of ordinary Australians.

They stand for no-one except Rupert Murdoch.

Don't kid yourself that the 'Gold Coast Sun' actually cares about working people, just because they do a page 23 about a couple of Ashmore lollipop ladies in this week's edition [23/6/10]

Murdoch's publications are about reinforcing outdated stereotypes and normalising injustice.

Like this bizarrity in the July issue of Murdoch's Woolworths' 'Fresh' magazine:

... With nutrition and obesity reaching epidemic proportions and the work-life balance tipping in favour of employers, enjoying dinner together has never been more important. ...

Did you get that? No, you didn't because you are stupid. You must be stupid, otherwise you would refuse to accept this shit without question. But because you are, in fact, stupid, you accept that employers have the upper hand, and that's cool. It's the natural order of things, so you just go along to get along.

You pay taxes so Rupert Murdoch can tell you what to cook for dinner

As well as the ABC's 'delicious.' magazine, News Magazines publish Woolworth's 'Fresh' magazine

Here's how it works.

Your ABC has a commercial partnership with Harper Collins Publishers Australia to publish and distribute ABC Books.

Substantial airtime and internet space courtesy the national broadcaster is devoted to promoting these publications, such as this week's endorsement of Valli Little's 'Quick Smart Cook' book - along with 'delicious.' magazine - on Coast FM.

Airtime that could be spent informing and inspiring listeners on the Gold and Sunshine Coasts about local markets, community gardens, restaurants, providores and emerging food trends.

Such as the rise of Southport's vibrant "Little Korea" restaurant (and hairdressing) precinct.


Boycott these books and magazines.

Contact ABC and let them know what you think.

Demand the details of these deals (i.e. who's profiting) be disclosed.

Murdoch press fabricate another controversy

The Currumbin Beach pathway has clearly been a public thoroughfare for years. Currently, the Gold Coast City Council are undertaking dune revegetation adjacent to the path.

First it was the psycho pee wee, now the 'Gold Coast Bulletin' reckon [24/6/10]:

Pet dogs have been killed, syringes and beer bottles hurled over fences and houses robbed after a controversial pathway was extended along Currumbin beach.

Residents say they no longer feel safe in their unit homes after the beach walk, which is not part of the Coast's Oceanway project, was built within metres of their homes about 12 months ago.

Some beachfront properties do not have front fences and the city council has refused to pay half the cost to install barriers to keep the public out of private yards. ...

How can you tell when a Murdoch scribe is telling lies? Their fingers are typing!

Kevin Rudd kisses Rupert Murdoch's arse, again

'Brisbane Times' reports [21/6/10]:

...Today Rudd will focus on counting how his government kept recession at bay when he launches Shitstorm, a book by the Lenore Taylor of the Herald and David Uren of The Australian, which looks back at that mad and frightening period which greeted a new government and so tested it....

The Murdoch press are not about journalism. They operate as Murdoch's voice in the power structure. Without exception, everyone who works for Murdoch is tainted. They have no defence to charges of being complicit in this subversion of democracy by their role in removing the "Fourth Estate" from its vital position as a check on government and corporate power.

By being a huge unaccountable corporation and the, apparently, prime source of 'News' in Australia's journalism and news scene, the "Murdia" is patently disqualified from pretending to any place of importance in our democracy. It is just another multi-national corporation selling widgets for power, profit, influence, joy and fun. In short: it hates you.

By shamelessly kissing Murdoch's arse at every opportunity, by smugly treating all Australians as mugs, by lending his full support to the Murdia takeover of our public broadcaster (and apparently doing so with some relish and glee - cf. "7:30 report land"), your Rudd is expressing his pleasure with this corporation's undermining of our Australian democracy and his loving adoration for the power of its owner, Rupert Murdoch.

Yuck.

Murdoch's propagandists get book deals, they spread their hate and lies, Rudd sups with these devils and you go out and buy a giant 3-D telly because you are nothing more than a mindless slug to these people.

Rupert Murdoch HATES bats

It is no co-incidence this fear mongering about bats appeared on the front page of last weekend's 'Gold Coast Bulletin', as well as appearing on their on line version [19/6/10]

In Rupert Murdoch's world, the environment and human beings exist independently of, and in conflict with, each other:

Queensland biosecurity officials have locked down an area near the Gold Coast Turf Club fearing a potential outbreak of the fatal Hendra virus which could cripple the multimillion-dollar industry.

Government officials have banned trainers indefinitely from walking their horses in the popular forest area near the racing precinct because of a fruit bat colony which could carry and pass on the illness through bodily fluids.

The danger could last several weeks with the council and environment protection agencies forced to preserve the protected species rather than cull or remove the breeding ground for the virus.

It is believed up to 1500 fruit bats may live in trees next to the state-of-the-art Traintech education facility opposite the racecourse. ...

Murdoch's little foot soldiers pick and choose what to tell the citizenry according to their master's dictates, not what is in the community interest.

They would have known about this Bat Care Brisbane event:

'Bat Watch with Gilbert' Flying Fox Information and Display

Saturday 19 June from 4.30pm to 7.30pm - Cascade Gardens, Broadbeach Gold Coast Hwy, Broadbeach

Have you always wanted to know more about the creepy creatures that fill our skies at night. Come along and separate the facts from the fiction about these amazing native mammals! You get to take home a free flying-fox food plant, witness an evening fly-out then enjoy a free BBQ. RSVPs essential to Louise, Bat Conservation and Rescue. Funded by the Australian Government’s Caring for Our Country program so it’s free to enjoy.

This event was mentioned on the ABC's Coast FM last week in conjunction with a story about flying foxes starving throughout South East Queensland:

... Bat Conservation and Rescue Queensland president, Louise Saunders, says more than 850 people have reported injured animals so far this year, compared to a total of 1,000 reports in 2009.

She says fewer native flowers are opening in the cold weather and the animals are travelling further and taking bigger risks to feed. ...

The Hard-Core Zionists have a famous saying: "I can forgive you for killing my child, but I can never forgive you for forcing me to kill your children", and it is this mindset that dominates Murdoch's hatred of the natural environment.

Cause, Effect, and Vicious Merciless Retribution. Never mind that our unsustainable development is the cause of the problem, the solution is violent retribution against the effect - in this case the bats trying to find somewhere to live and something to eat.

Interestingly, these Murdoch pieces always successfully dog whistle up the same type of predicitable comments, along the lines of this one:

"it's ridiculous they are looking to save the bats, surely people are more important!!"
Jason

Cascade Gardens, Broadbeach

Do you really think Murdoch wants to save the whales?

Footage of the 'Sunday Times'' entrapment of the National Director of Fisheries for the Republic of Guinea, broadcast on 'Lateline'

Last night [17/6/10] the ABC's 'Lateline' ran a report based on an unethical "sting" conducted by the 'Sunday Times':

... Undercover reporters posed as representatives of a billionaire conservationist who was willing to, in effect, buy the votes of those countries to change from pro to anti whaling.

Europe correspondent Philip Williams spoke to one of the reporters involved,
Jonathan Calvert, who requested his face not be shown on television. ...

This is yet another example of ethically corrupt behaviour, universally common across the Murdoch empire. Curiously, the fact that this entrapment is unethical was not even mentioned in the 'Lateline' report.

With regard to clandestine devices and subterfuge, Britain's Press Complaints Commission's "Editors' Code of Practice" states:

i) The press must not seek to obtain or publish material acquired by using hidden cameras or clandestine listening devices; or by intercepting private or mobile telephone calls, messages or emails; or by the unauthorised removal of documents or photographs; or by accessing digitally-held private information without consent.

ii) Engaging in misrepresentation or subterfuge, including by agents or intermediaries, can generally be justified only in the public interest and then only when the material cannot be obtained by other means.

Attempting to suggest bribery and corruption by engaging in bribery and corruption proves nothing. It's like a journalist sneaking into your house and shooting you, and then publishing a headline: "Householder Involved In Shooting Crime". It's false logic.

The "public interest" must be proven by the person "engaging in misrepresentation or subterfuge", and in this case it wasn't. If there is corruption, then evidence of that corruption should be obtained. Creating new corruption just makes News Ltd. a bunch of crooks and proves nothing.

It seems as though all of Murdoch's properties get a turn to rotate around the ABC. Was it the 'Sunday Times'' turn last night?

Win a holiday to a military dictatorship

Fiji is a military dictatorship.

A military dictatorship needs a compliant media to run propaganda and keep the people uninformed. In Fiji, there are three papers: two are basically government controlled and the other, the Fiji Times, is owned by Rupert Murdoch.

In early April 2010 the military dictatorship decreed that all media would have to be locally owned and controlled within 3 months. It is safe to assume that (the American) Rupert Murdoch doesn't like that idea.

What a coincidence, then, that we see Murdoch's Gold Coast Bulletin promoting tourism to Fiji just when he might be trying to sweet talk the dictator into giving him the usual exceptional treatment he has come to expect from governments all over the world when getting around the rules that apply to everyone else.

Is it your ABC or Rupert Murdoch’s?

How are you finding your local ABC’s coverage of local news and issues of late?

Here on the Gold Coast, we wonder who is running our local ABC station - Coast FM - given nearly every day, precious airtime is devoted to parroting propaganda and PR from either the ‘Gold Coast Bulletin’, the ‘Courier-Mail’, or any other News Ltd. outlet.

For instance, the lead segment on the "Drive" program today [16/6/10] was about a nominee for the Pride of Australia™ Medal. – the ‘Courier-Mail’s cover story.

Pride of Australia™ is a commercial venture owned by News Ltd. (who own the vast majority of Australia's so called newspapers), yet the announcer failed to disclose this fact.

This is blatant promotion of a Murdoch corporate PR vehicle, and is surely against the ABC's editorial guidelines?

We also heard about the Dreamworld Bengal Tiger’s dental work [page 3 ‘Courier-Mail’] and Vu Vu horns [page 27 ‘Courier-Mail’].

Since the disappearance of popular and community-minded announcer Trevor Jackson at the end of last year, it’s been getting dumb and dumber at Coast FM.

A woeful state of affairs considering the Gold Coast is a one-paper town.

How hard would it be for a Coast FM reporter to file a weekly Council, Courthouse, police roundup, or actually do some simple community journalism?

Is there a journalist at the station following the current NSW Supreme Court Inquiry into the collapse of Gold Coast financial company Octaviar/MFS?

Now that’s an interesting story with local relevance to Gold Coast residents.

If you're getting as sick of the Murdoch Press’ constant infiltration of the ABC at all levels as we are, contact your Federal MP, and demand that they do something to wrestle back the ABC's independence and strengthen their local, non-Murdoch content.

Murdoch wants to take health care back to the 19th Century

... One night I was aroused from my slumbers by the screams of a new patient who was entered in my hall. The welcome she received from her keepers, Miss Smith and Miss Bailey, so frightened her that she supposed they were going to kill her. ...

This article in today's [15/6/10] 'Gold Coast Bulletin' is not about informing the community or attempting to solve a problem. It's all about perpetuating negative stereotypes, vilification, manipulating fear and the usual public hospital bashing:

Mental health patients are being let out of their ward at Gold Coast Hospital to take cigarette breaks alongside other patients, staff and the general public.

In 2009, Gold Coast Hospital removed its nominated smoking areas from hospital grounds in accordance with Queensland Health's smoking policy.

That has left just the footpath, which runs alongside busy Southport-Nerang Road, as the only place to smoke.

Gold Coast Hospital has confirmed patients from the mental health ward, including some involuntary patients, are being released from their wards to smoke.

Former president of the Gold Coast Medical Association and former director of the mental health unit at the Gold Coast Hospital Dr Philip Morris said patient safety could be at risk. ...

Typical 19th Century bullshit from the Murdoch empire.

If you care about truth, balance and fair reporting, contact your candidates in the upcoming election.

Tell them what you think about the disgraceful state of the majority of Australia's print media and ask them what they're going to do about it.

Ostracise and ridicule

The Rudd Government clearly have no plans to do anything about the shocking level of Murdoch control and influence of Australian media, let alone criticise it:

... BARRIE CASSIDY: You apparently told a meeting of Reuters clients this week that reform is harder these days because of the media. What did you mean by that?

LINDSAY TANNER: No, that's not quite what I said. I just said that the intensity of the media cycle now and particularly the far greater pervasiveness of electronic media means that it's harder to prosecute a reform case than it was maybe 20, 25 years ago. That doesn't mean you can't do it. It just means that it's tougher circumstances.

The newspaper industry has dumbed down because it's in a much more intense competitive environment.

And so you're getting a kind of reporting that just makes it tougher to prosecute complex, nuanced reform projects rather than simplistic Tony Abbott style one-liners.

That's just the reality that we have to deal with. It doesn't mean you don't pursue reform. It just means it's got a bit harder.

BARRIE CASSIDY: Is that really the problem or is it your Government's obsession with the media that's the problem?

LINDSAY TANNER: No well first Barrie I didn't say it was, quote, "the problem" as you've just implied. I answered a specific question about has it become a bit harder and I said yes.

Secondly the suggestion that there is an obsession with the media in our Government I think is not correct. The media is an ever present part of modern politics, no matter who the government is, no matter who the players are. It is just a key part of the process. ...

Even as they are obviously out of control, as reported by Rafael Epstein ['The Age 12/6/10]:

Victoria's police watchdog yesterday cleared Chief Commissioner Simon Overland of wrongdoing over the leaking of a secret crime investigation as details emerged of alleged attempts by Rupert Murdoch’s media empire to intimidate law enforcement agencies.

Office of Police Integrity director Michael Strong issued a statement saying he believed Mr Overland acted lawfully when he told his then media director about intelligence that came from covertly taped phone calls.

A series of controversial articles in the Murdoch-owned Australian newspaper this week claimed Mr Overland’s conversation undermined an investigation into the 2003 murder of prostitute Shane Chartres-Abbott.

But Mr Strong said Mr Overland acted within the law, ‘‘for a purpose connected with an investigation’’, in conveying covert information to a confidant.

His statement came as The Age obtained details of two incidents in which senior News Ltd executives appeared to threaten law enforcement agencies in Victoria and NSW.

Australian editor-in-chief Chris Mitchell wrote to the OPI and the federal police watchdog, the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (ACLEI), in March. He denounced their joint report critical of the paper’s coverage of anti-terrorism raids in Melbourne last year as ‘‘the greatest corruption of truth I have seen in an official document’’.

‘‘I assure you The Australian newspaper will use every journalistic and legal measure available to pursue what can only be described as an outrageous fabrication ... should our concerns not be addressed,’’ he wrote.

Last week the newspaper settled its court dispute with the OPI, and had settled with the ACLEI previously.

Meanwhile, law enforcement sources have told The Age that they were concerned about comments News Ltd chairman John Hartigan made to senior NSW police in March.

Several sources at the meeting said Mr Hartigan told officers they could choose to work with News Ltd or not, like Mr Overland. The sources interpreted this as a warning to police to co-operate with the group’s newspapers or they would receive negative coverage. ‘‘It really means the police [should] play ball or else we will carve you up ... we will get stuck into you as we have been with Overland,’’ one senior officer said.

Mr Hartigan spoke on March 17 at the Police Leadership Centre at the University of Western Sydney. Mr Hartigan’s spokesman said he ‘‘totally rejects that interpretation ...[and] he does not make threats to anybody, let alone senior officers’’. ...

In many traditional cultures, one of the most severe forms of punishment for egregious wrongdoing, is to ostracise and/or ridicule the wrongdoer.

So in the face Government inability or refusal to act, we propose a boycott of all Murdoch publications.

Don't give them your eyeballs, do not give them your money, don't interact with them, don't allow them to set the agenda every day and control the debate. Where possible, tell advertisers in the Murdoch Press why you can't do business with them.

In addition poke fun and ridicule at every opportunity.

Here's Russell Brand's comedic analysis of 'The Sun' to inspire you:

http://www.protectthehuman.com/videos/russell-brand-standup-at-amnesty-s-secret-policeman-s-ball-2006

Is Simon Overland Australia's cleanest cop?

We could all take a leaf out of the Victorian Police Chief's book:

... He accuses The Australian Newspaper of running a concerted and "disgraceful" campaign against him.

"The reason I criticised them is I thought their actions put the lives of my members at risk. And I still believe that," he said.

"I criticised them and I moved on. But they have been waging this relentless campaign ... that is directly aimed, at, I think, whacking me because I dared to have a go at them."

At a media doorstop later, Mr Overland ignored questions from a journalist from The Australian, repeatedly asking for the next question.

If you had to choose who to believe, would it be Simon Overland or Murdoch's hacks?

The Murdoch Press are not about journalism, they are about power and neo-liberal ideology.

For the sake of our democracy, contact your candidates in the upcoming federal election and ask them what they will do to restore some balance to media ownership and control in Australia.

Why does Murdoch HATE Elanora State High School?

Wouldn't it be good if the 'Gold Coast Bulletin' had a competitor?

Then we might have a chance of knowing why they have it in for Elanora State High School:

Palm Beach police have today brought in the horses as part of a crackdown on truancy in the area.

Mounted officers on loan from Brisbane spent much of the day patrolling Schusters Park at Tallebudgera [which is adjacent to Elanora State High School] on the hunt for 'waggers', but did not find any.

Senior Sergeant Chris Ahearn said police mounted the operation every few months in response to reports from residents regarding truancy and petty crime in the large park.

"The reason for calling on the mounted police is that they are able to access areas not commonly accessible by police vehicles,'' he said.

''There is a vast expanse of parkland in the area of Schusters Park, so we have decided to use a few different approaches."

Another newspaper on the Gold Coast could be a future possibility.

2010 is an election year.

Contact your candidates and ask them what they will do about Australia's pitiful media diversity if they are elected.

It's Official. Government gives ABC to Murdoch

'Daily Telegraph' scribe Chris Masters on assignment in Afghanistan for 'Four Corners', being interviewed on 'Lateline' [8/6/10]

Chris Masters made his name as a quality investigative journalist on the taxpayer's payroll during his time with your ABC. He eventually sold out to Murdoch's slimey dollar machine and propaganda factory with the usual lip-service about 'fierce independence' and all the other rot previously proven to be worth less than a pinch of shit.

Now that he has infiltrated the darkest corners of the Murdoch machine, such as the "Daily Terror", we are supposed to believe that he has reverted into some kind of "embedded" but "independent", "journalist" on "assignment" to Four Corners. Can you "un-metamorphosise"?

Balls-to-The-Wall jingoistic bullshit language aside, this was not journalism, it was not investigative and it had no place on the ABC without disclosing Chris Masters' current status with Murdoch's fatally tainted News Corporation.

So it seems final: Your government has obviously given Your ABC to Murdoch - for free!

Murdoch HATES Pee Wees - Part 2

Male and female pee wees, Alex Griffith Park, Currumbin [5/6/10]. See them being "psycho", "mad" and "deranged"?

Email to the Department of Environment and Resource Management:

Dear Sir/Madam,

I refer to recent media coverage of a wildlife issue at Currumbin.

Today the 'Gold Coast Bulletin' reports that the pee wee has been removed from the area (its mate was left behind), and taken to Beaudesert as part of the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme.

I wondered if the Department of Environment and Resource Management were aware of this situation, if the relocation of this bird has been approved, and if this is usual protocol in the handling of wildlife issues?

Regards,

This pee wee business is a concerted, orchestrated, nature-hating campaign by the Murdoch Press going back at least to March of this year when the 'Pine Rivers Press' shrieked:

An aggressive peewee bird described as ``evil’’ is terrorising a Strathpine
street, leaving bloodied victims in its wake. ...

Why would any school participate in a 'Courier-Mail' spelling bee?

Murdoch has clearly articulated his opinion of the teaching profession:

... Speaking at a session titled 'Advice to the US President on Competitiveness', Mr Murdoch blamed the teachers' union in America, which he said was very rich and the number one donor to the Democratic party.

He told the audience of international business leaders and politicians that it would take courage and strength for President Barack Obama to fight them....

His ideological opposition to public education, equity, critical thinking for anyone other than the wealthy, as well as the teaching profession, is manifest in the derogatory reporting of education issues in his publications.

That's why schools should boycott this:

The 'Courier-Mail's' Spelling Bee is an opportunity for your school to be part of a high-profile state-wide contest and to display your students' talents and mastery of spelling. Organised with the sponsorship of Education Queensland, Capilano and Collins, this competition is a major first for our state - designed to make spelling interactive and fun and to give you an additional resource to help engage your student in a new and exciting way.

Are Education Queensland serious about fostering a love of the written word in Queensland students?

Using taxpayer dollars to sponsor a cynical News Ltd. exercise will not achieve this.