tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post5232357897131218460..comments2023-12-06T00:23:28.790+11:00Comments on Press gallery reform: Politics, the media and youAndrew Elderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-13640655616575648702012-06-05T08:14:39.328+10:002012-06-05T08:14:39.328+10:00Great piece, Andrew, and reflects a growing view (...Great piece, Andrew, and reflects a growing view (I hope) in the public that they don't have to watch the political-media sideshow. They can start talking among themselves and imagining a different future. Your blog is part of that.JCPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16616465865456408615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-88116103615939697532012-06-04T12:34:29.738+10:002012-06-04T12:34:29.738+10:00Hey anonymous & Andrew Elder, that's what ...Hey anonymous & Andrew Elder, that's what the startup thenationalmonitor.com will be doing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-68659567447267186832012-06-03T20:49:06.742+10:002012-06-03T20:49:06.742+10:00In fairness to her father, you can understand why ...In fairness to her father, you can understand why she wasn't taken home.Fionanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-3373621519962678992012-06-02T11:34:00.039+10:002012-06-02T11:34:00.039+10:00What little I've read of Rosen, I've liked...What little I've read of Rosen, I've liked. I agree with the summary you've described and journalists who insist that it has to be boring lack imagination.Andrew Elderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-79398262281968395432012-06-02T07:14:47.575+10:002012-06-02T07:14:47.575+10:00It's illustrative that as Fairfax journalists ...It's illustrative that as Fairfax journalists go on strike, the net result appears to have been a reduction in opinion pieces. We are no less informed for their absence.kymbosnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-35897602164623370012012-06-02T02:11:12.472+10:002012-06-02T02:11:12.472+10:00Miranda Devine is opposed to everything except nep...Miranda Devine is opposed to everything except nepotism.Lachlan Ridgenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-67032884202343165172012-06-02T02:05:58.553+10:002012-06-02T02:05:58.553+10:00Advice is free, and it's worth every cent.Advice is free, and it's worth every cent.Lachlan Ridgenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-9164925880397454182012-06-01T19:18:12.310+10:002012-06-01T19:18:12.310+10:00Don't be too hard on the bloke who fixes the p...Don't be too hard on the bloke who fixes the photocopier ... in my workplace he is a very valuable member of staff.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-67964622467699609342012-06-01T19:12:45.098+10:002012-06-01T19:12:45.098+10:00That shows what happens when the managers run the ...That shows what happens when the managers run the paper and show what they regard as news.Andrew Elderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-72730147530603963482012-06-01T19:11:53.326+10:002012-06-01T19:11:53.326+10:00No that's Miranda Devine, the Take Your Daught...No that's Miranda Devine, the Take Your Daughter To Work Day kid who never went home.Andrew Elderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-39265910973293555312012-06-01T16:25:05.313+10:002012-06-01T16:25:05.313+10:00"I wonder what they pay Michelle Grattan?&quo..."I wonder what they pay Michelle Grattan?"<br /><br />They pay her? I thought she was some work experience kid whose dad fixes the photocopier.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-72228883678416225632012-06-01T13:04:24.820+10:002012-06-01T13:04:24.820+10:00Where is the fool who thinks predictable-question-...Where is the fool who thinks predictable-question-predictale-answer is "good reporting", and can we sack them without everyone going on strike?<br /><br />Politicians appearing in the media with their predictable answers gives us no additional information. Similarly, allowing people like Reith and Costello opinion pieces serves no useful purpose.<br /><br />But as anonymous implies, it's all much easier to get an ex-pollie or a shill from one of the funded lobby groups to spout their crap. People believe it and the media doesn't have to do any work, thereby saving money.<br /><br />I wonder what they pay Michelle Grattan?Iannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-28511568206374385202012-06-01T11:07:57.195+10:002012-06-01T11:07:57.195+10:00It is unbelievable how pathetic it has all become....It is unbelievable how pathetic it has all become. The media are making it worse by bizarrely feeding it as well. Why, I do not know. Don't they understand that the vast majority of Australians couldn't give a shit about inconsequential politics for politics sake? The best way to kill a conversation in this country is to talk about what's happening in politics, unless its election time. The press pack seem unable to actually investigate anything. All they have to do is do a few Google searches, think a little, construct a supported argument, and write 1000 words or so on a policy. We have higher expectations of year 12 students. And they wonder why newspapers are dying. <br /><br />Example 1: Does anyone know who wrote this pile of crap over at Fairfax?<br /><br />http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/ministers-gays-on-boats-poster-upsets-abbott-20120601-1zlac.html<br /><br />Sorry for making you all stupider for reading that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-82074358453866583842012-06-01T10:11:37.066+10:002012-06-01T10:11:37.066+10:00Your comments on the media cycle are interesting i...Your comments on the media cycle are interesting in the light of evidence given to the Leveson Inquiry in Britain by veteran Tory Ken Clarke. He offered the view that politics is whole lot less interesting to the man the street than people in Whitehall and the political journalists and their editors think. He offered the view that among former prime ministers Gordon Brown should never have been allowed to read a newspaper, so obsessed with image he had become, and Margaret Thatcher would not have read a newspaper from one week to the next. It is an interesting comparison as I am not aware of any great achievement by Brown (he was probably too frightened to do anything) and while I hold no brief for Thatcher she just got on with what she believed was right and answered for it at the ballot box. A few Australian politicians would do well to follow her lead instead of worrying about tomorrow's front pageAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-60052273034711719102012-06-01T09:49:25.703+10:002012-06-01T09:49:25.703+10:00"Chris Pyne is the Shadow Minister for Educat..."Chris Pyne is the Shadow Minister for Education and the Member for Sturt. There is no reason why he should appear in the media unless he is discussing his portfolio or his electorate."<br /><br />But then he'd never appear in the media ... oh, I see what you're saying.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-17686016009544940812012-06-01T09:18:56.320+10:002012-06-01T09:18:56.320+10:00It is not just the politicians who need to be scut...It is not just the politicians who need to be scutinized about what they are saying against logic and facts, but also the paid industry commentators. Last night on SBS a mining industry representative bemoaned the fact the PM had told the industry that the minerals were owned by all Australians and not just them as something they already knew, but said it was great that she had told them they were doing a good job, something I would have thought they also already knew. A good question would have been why does the mining industry feel it needs to be patted on the head and not told the harsh reality of life. This sort of question would have got him out of his comfort zone and made him think rather than deliver his prepared pap piece to camera.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-60625675384434188182012-06-01T07:58:18.624+10:002012-06-01T07:58:18.624+10:00A really interesting read, Andrew. I think you hav...A really interesting read, Andrew. I think you have canvassed fresh perspectives on media-politics through 'softly spoken' insights amidst all the noise.Thank you.JulieAnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-47925088040745406682012-06-01T04:44:56.490+10:002012-06-01T04:44:56.490+10:00A bit of content would make their product worth bu...A bit of content would make their product worth buying. As the number of opinion pieces in papers climb, what can you say, opinion is cheap to produce, but every one has one, they are not worth paying for. <br /><br />You can read as many opinions as you like in the comment section of many blogs for free, further, the range of views expressed (in the blogs not ran by the media) is much wider. <br /><br />As things are, it really isn't worth putting your dollar on the counter, the whole thing is now in a death spiral. Have you noticed, News agents are becoming betting shops, service stations are reducing the floor space devoted to newspapers and such. It's truly is over.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-48470687170971661142012-06-01T00:42:39.138+10:002012-06-01T00:42:39.138+10:00This strikes me as very similar to Jay Rosen's...This strikes me as very similar to Jay Rosen's arguments about the failures of media reporting of politics today, and his ideas about where to find solutions. As I understand it his main suggestion to get away from "racehorse" journalism is to set media not as an unbiased regurgitator of what politicians are saying/doing, but to structurally place the media organisations as representatives of the public. The media should be finding out what issues (not politics!) are important to the public and following up on what the context for those issues are and THEN drawing in the political response and assessing the political response in terms of the public interest in the issue - does the political response make sense, does it address the issue, is one proposed solution better or worse than another to achieve a good outcome as far as the public are concerned, what are the strengths/weaknesses of a proposed solution costs/benefits etc.<br /><br />I'm probably not summarizing his position accurately, and I realize Jay Rosen is seen as a bit "faddish" depending on who you talk to, but I've been impressed at pretty much every interview I've seen involving him.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-62791805860261913512012-05-31T23:21:35.473+10:002012-05-31T23:21:35.473+10:00Andrew:
"There is an argument that context-f...Andrew:<br /><br />"There is an argument that context-free argy-bargy is "good radio/television". This seems to be a self-referential and hard-to-define quality among people who have worked in media a long time."<br /><br />Well, that was the first bit that I grabbed - but there were many others equally or more grabbable.<br /><br />Instead of doing my usual adulatory acclaim of your work, I shall try to do an in-depth analysis - though it won't be submitted immediately!<br /><br />From where I sit, this is close to being the best piece that you have ever written: many thanks, plaudits, etc etc etc.Fionanoreply@blogger.com