LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: The Coalition is staunchly resisting a Government plan to pump more Australian cash into the International Monetary Fund.

The Government says money put into the fund is always returned with interest and that it's in the nation's long-term benefit to back the world's financial manager in uncertain times.

It was just one of many brawls in Canberra today, and as political editor Chris Uhlmann reports, as the end of the year approaches Parliament does tend to get a bit ratty.

CHRIS UHLMANN, REPORTER: With his bias to the right, Tony Abbott almost hit the mark, but slightly overcooked his attack. He isn't here for the bowls; his one aim is to skittle Julia Gillard.

TONY ABBOTT, OPPOSITION LEADER: This is one of the tens of thousands of community clubs right around Australia that would be in jeopardy if mandatory pre-commitment goes ahead.

CHRIS UHLMANN: This week the Coalition released its policy on problem gambling, but stops well short of the Government move to force people to nominate the amount they're prepared to lose before they have a flutter.

All that's business as usual. But with the year nearing its end, Parliament's getting, well, a bit silly.

IAN MACDONALD, LIBERAL BACKBENCHER: GetUp! is the Hitler Youth wing of the Greens political movement, and I stand by that.

CHRISTINE MILNE, GREENS DEPUTY LEADER: I find that extremely offensive and I ask him to withdraw.

CHRIS UHLMANN: Odd things are happening everywhere really. In the hallways the media's chasing the faintest sniff of a leadership yarn.

In the Senate yesterday Barnaby Joyce wanted to make a point that the Greens should be considered part of the Government because that party routinely votes against the Coalition. That's the short explanation. Here's the long one.

BARNABY JOYCE, NATIONALS SENATE LEADER: In seriatim, this is how we voted: no, yes, no, no - that's one, but then neither the Government didn't support either. Yes, no, yes, no, yes, no, yes, no, no, yes, no, yes, yes, no, no, yes, yes, no, yes no, yes, no.

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2011/s3355647.htm

 

Now, is this a programme or a dog's breakfast? Spew it is... with no coherence between the bits of carrots...

Got a news tip?

If you have inside knowledge of a topic in the news, contact the ABC News Online Investigative Unit.

From Judith Sloane at unleashed

blah blah blha...

In this new media age and in these straitened fiscal times, the case for the continuation of the ABC in its current form is very weak.  The fact that many members of the public enjoy the output of the ABC and trust the veracity of its news and current affairs reportage are really neither here nor there.  Many people would enjoy free wine; this does not constitute a case for taxpayer funding of wine.

blah blah blah...

-----------------------

What a silly statement from an intelligent person who used to be on the board of the ABC! Considering Sloane has oodles of degrees — including a master of science in economics, I am flabbergasted... First, times are more often than not "fiscally straightened"... Second, in this so-called "new media age" there is strong indication that there is more chance of becoming more entrenched in "The Age of Deceit"... Third, the same charade about the ABC funding could be argued with the funding of roads, of the army and other public service such as hospitals... Or the NBN, to place a spanner in the works... But information is of the utmost importance in any society... At least most of the information from the ABC is "measured"... Without the ABC, the media at large would have a field day at misinforming us even more for more profit... In regard to the good person's degrees, as I have argued many times before, let me say again that no political or economic studies should be done under the guise of science. Politics and economics are ART FORMS and subjective to the decisions taken by the scholars and practitioner. Science is based on the study of what is out-there with repeatable experiments...

Thus back to the topic of the ABC being dumbed down... Rather than arguing for a dumbed down, then a vanished ABC, one should fight to raise its standards... The standards of commercial free to air TV and of say Fox News in the US is quite appaling in my view and one should be aware that for example, in this country, most news are not fair and balanced.

And slowly the ABC is falling into the trap of making news an entertaining event, with specific time allocation to "finance" in which the summaries are never complete, and "sport" like a religion, while most of sport is a "private business venture"...

It is impossible for any news item or any program to present all the "facts", thus summaries have to be made and thus in doing so, bias can come in... It takes journalists with knowledge and integrity to be able to sieve through the bullshit and the truth. It has been my personal observation that most TV channels and newspapers are strongly biased in favour of the "coalition" mostly because they derive revenue from "free market forces" (a mantra of the Liberals/ultra-conservatives) via advertising.

I believe the ABC has been "ordered" to play it "down the middle" thus dumbing down on controversial subject such as global warming — where a tide of bullshit has to be presented as importantly as the real science. In other private media, where the "commetariaterers" hold the high of the street, the real science has a non-existent platform while the bullshitters, via their cultivated entertaining values, get the share of exposure.

welcome to the club of opinionators...

It's the start of the silly season and the last program of Media Watch for the year...

Fantastic, always start with the "it's and its" spelling mistake in the media... As usual, it's worthy of a wry Jonathan crooked smile. It's a perennial in the garden of media doozies. I try to do my best to avoid the trap, but in the heat of battle I might let one of those slip through, thus I plead guilty even if I don't know what for...

No mention of the ABC's omission of the biggest news of the year... The Berkeley Report on global warming in which the sceptic scientists came to the same conclusion as the other scientists on the subject — apart from the cause of warming. But this was a big step — ... what am I saying, THIS WAS A GIANT STEP!
....

Comes the big story about the police/media relationship in Victoria in regard to a terrorism court case in which the police asked that details of a raid not be published in advance by a newspaper.  If that story had not made the headlines for the last week in most media outlets, I would have said good one Media Watch... But this was a cold slow rehash of what he-said-she-said-we-said basic court report, with nothing new attached — or if there was, I missed the moment by falling asleep...

I was woken up by a bit of finger pointing at one of the programs at the ABC which according to your remonstration seems to have an obsession with exploring families of convicted murderers trying to prove that their loved ones are in prison under false pretences... Sure, the piano music is a bit much, but apparently this ABC program is focused on making stories about Australian people, their traumas and their despair, in all kind of situations — including those people who fall from an aeroplane and survive... But, hang on a minute? Aren't you mixing a couple of different stories — one in which an uncle is keen to see his nephew stay in jail for life — to make an overcooked pot-roast that ends up with "in my opinion"...

"In my opinion????"...

Jonathan!!! As a serious journalist, you know that THIS is the province of opinionators, such as Jones and Bolt... And myself included if I choose to say it... Journalists "don't have opinions" unless they are let loose on the Drum (ABC)...

I know it was the last show for the year, and say you were tired, overworked, but aren't we all, thus you let this doozie slip under the door, too keen to go on holidays.

Have a good one.

Dr Martin Hirst of Deakin University told the inquiry Australian newspapers were dominated by centre-right columnists and little was heard from other sectors of society.

He also believes the focus on ratings has had an adverse effect on the quality of broadcast and online journalism.

"I think it's what we could describe as a race to the bottom in many, many areas of the news media," he said.

La Trobe University politics professor Robert Manne called for people to be given a mandatory right of reply in the press in certain cases.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-08/fears-of-murdoch-domination-expressed-at-media-inquiry/3653160?WT.svl=news2

A Drum Unleashed by Thomas Tudehope

Dear Aunty,

Enough is enough.

It's time.

Time to dump the Twitter feed from Q&A.

It adds nothing to the show.

It is a distraction from an oft-meaningful dialogue and demeans the considered answers of prominent guests, including the Prime Minister.

Since the show's inception in 2008, Q&A has become a cornerstone of public debate and discourse on current affairs. Weekly guests range from politicians to sporting stars and even the odd washed-up staffer or journalist.

Debates are wide ranging and the format encourages guests to express themselves away from the usual scripted sound bites. For the most part, the dialogue is courteous, measured and engaging.

Yet the introduction of tweets on-screen in early 2010 has managed to dramatically change the dynamic of the show.

---------------------

Horrid thoughts to believe that Q&A has become a cornerstone of public debate!... For me, it's mostly a blancmange of expressed unthought out ideas that can never get off the ground nor can be fully explored because of time limit and of the adversarial format. Q&A is the summit of confusing discussion without the flair of the humour of the debates such as "is money better than sex" used in theatre sport by sparring comedians... The tweets or twits are the only entertaining part of the show. And most of them are quite low blows... Quippy not witty...

No enlightenment comes out of the whole format... I prefer watching repeats of docos such as "sardine life in the North Sea"...

 

Opinion expressed on the SMH

TODAY Tonight is a cancerous growth inside Australian broadcasting. The Channel Seven ''current affairs'' show, which regularly draws an audience of more than 1 million on weeknights at 6.30, is an amoral production house where the race to the bottom has been won with stories that begin as sensationalist and move towards the sordid. The notion that it's so bad it's funny is no longer applicable. It's so bad that it's a disgrace.

One of the unfortunate side-effects of the great current affairs satire Frontline was we saw just enough of the fictional television tabloid's antics to leave us knowingly amused; the reporters would do nearly anything for a yarn, while the host was a self-important boob. Since then we've shaken our heads and sighed with bemusement when Today Tonight and its adversary, Channel Nine's A Current Affair, periodically got caught out, as if the shows were the mischievous scamps of the television industry.

But year on year the two rival camps have competed to lower their standards, so that ironic bemusement at what has transpired proves to be no longer acceptable. In the past year, Today Tonight has made a decisive break, combining an obsession about speed cameras and electricity bills with a xenophobic streak that has treated Muslims and refugees as divisive pawns. Imagine what kind of television show you'd have to produce to make A Current Affair look vaguely decent?

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/more-mob-rage-after-the-break-20111109-1n60u.html#ixzz1dFV3Wu7d

Thanks Auntie for still having a few decent homemade programs, though I have some strong opinion about others... Like, blimey, tell Jonathan to straighten his bow tie...


Gus toon from more than six years ago...

If you miss out on this photo project, you'll kick yourself!

You’re in your car, snap. You’re leaving a Memorial Day service, snap. You’re dancing to gypsy jazz while reapplying purple lipstick, snap.

You’re at Lake Eyre, snap. You’re in Maths class, snap. You’re playing cards, snap, snap!

The 11.11.11 project asks you to take a photo of whatever you’re doing at 11 minutes past 11 on the 11th November 2011…then contribute your pic to ABC Open.

http://open.abc.net.au/openregions/qld-southern-35EM1ah/posts/set-your-alarm-68uo3sz?WT.svl=news5

 

Should the ABC invest time and money on doing such judeo-xtian calendar stunts? As mentioned before there is nothing of value here. the number 11.11.11.11.11.11.11.11 if you count the seconds and part thereoff, is no more than real day 1,642, 584, 221,986 at corrected time of 79 degrees and 36 minutes, plus possibly 6 seconds, depending on you position.

 

Hugh Laurie releases album

Posted November 23, 2011 22:41:00

British comedian Hugh Laurie has released a blues album titled Let Them Talk on which he plays several instruments and also sings.

Leigh Sales
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-23/hugh-laurie-releases-album/3690166?WT.svl=news5

I know I know... Blues albums don't get enough exposure in general... But what is the ABC doing promoting a thingster that is a private business operation from a not so struggling unshaven actor? I want equal time! I want to promote my political cartoons on the ABC! I want! I want!...

the abc should be taken to acma...

Global warming rate less than feared

This is the wrongly written headline used by the ABC to talk about a new report that may or may not have a point.

This headline STATES categorically what is only a weak conjecture. Unforgivable...

 

The ABC also did not mention anything about the Berkeley report as well, in which skeptic scientists have conceded that the globe is warming up....

The ABC is thus biased against the science of global warming, which for all intent and porposes is quite conservative in its assessment. Yet most serious scientists know that the planet is in trouble from our use of EXTRA carbon...

Whoever write these headlines should be sacked from the ABC for starters.

This is a repeat from a comment "the ABC should be taken to acma..."

Hi Gus,

I totally agree.

In another example of "fraudulent journalism", ABC TV/Radio reports for the past 36 hours have endlessly touted the line that "free & fair elections" are being held in Egypt .... in one report, this was immediately followed by a report over concerns that the elections were being marred by "widespread vote-rigging". How would the ABC know if Egypt's election was "free & fair"?

In my view, the constant use of this phrase suggests that the ABC is "touting" a view being promoted to & through it from another source.

This is not journalism, it's simply propaganda.

Cheers,

John. 

THE host of ABC television's Gardening Australia program has been told his services will no longer be required next year.

Stephen Ryan, who fronted the show for three years, says the program's executive producer, Tim Mitchell, visited him at his home to impart the bad news.

He said before leaving Mr Mitchell also handed him a prepared ABC press release to sign - ''if I approved of the contents and in my own time'' - stating that he was ''retiring'' from the program to spend more time at his Mount Macedon nursery which needed his attention.

But nothing could be further from the truth, according to Mr Ryan, who took over from Peter Cundall in November 2008. He said he believed he had been sacked, given his contract was not being renewed, and he definitely was not retiring.

''Tim was very ill at ease and said it was one of the worst things he'd had to do. The conversation lasted a couple of minutes and then he left. I thought he was coming to talk about the show and plans for next year so it was a bolt out of the blue and very upsetting.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/television-gardening-show-host-weeded-out-by-the-abc-20111130-1o72o.html#ixzz1fE8HLaNz

It isn't clear why Australia needs to have a soft propaganda message broadcast to the region. But I'm happy to concede that reasonable people might disagree on that point. Why would the government put that program out to tender when it already has an agency to do the work? To my mind the ABC should be performing that function. That isn't to say that the government shouldn't put the whole of the ABC out to tender – but that is a far more controversial proposition.

To sum up; there is no good reason to increase media regulation in Australia. There is no good reason for government to own media in Australia. To the extent government does own the media, that media should be used to provide soft propaganda services to the region. There is no good reason why the whole of the ABC couldn't be put out to tender rather than bits and pieces.

----------------------

Hey, Sinclair "public affairs" face!... Have you seen what's on offer on commercial TV?... The last reasonable current affairs program on the commercial box bit the dust like a duck being shot by a Sherman tank, despite having George Negus anchoring the highly respectable thingy... The only previous reasonable current affairs program on commercial TV was Sunday with Jim Waley... One cannot call "Sixty-Minutes" (48 minutes on a good day if the wind is favourable) a "great" current affairs show... "Sixty-Minutes" is crass and gross at most times... The "Project", though not too bad for a little show on channel Ten is turning news into "entertainment". Blah...

Thus there is a strong need for strong "independent" publicly owned media outlets, TV and Radio...

A radio show like Robyn Williams' "The Science Show" would have long been killed-off on commercial radio (actually it would have never got off the ground)... Yet "The Science Show" has been going-on strong on ABC for nearly 40 years... Good on you Willie! Many publicly created TV shows would have been canned by commercial interests. Programs such as "4Cs" (Four Corners), now celebrating 50 years would never had their glory days. "aCa" on Nine is a ghost program from its first outing with Mike Willesee... All of these people from Mike to George — journalists to the core of their bones — were born and bred by the ABC, the public broadcaster. Today Tonight is a putrid illusion of that show once on the ABC called "This Day Tonight"...

One of the new (16 years old now) highly innovative shows on the ABC has been "Australian Story", a show that amongst other soft-sweet and "inspirational" struggle stories, also runs powerful investigative stories in a quiet voice — a discreet but powerful novel way — to expose wrongs (or rights). But this annoys the shit out of a Jonathan Holmes and his team of ill-advised midgets at Media Watch. Media Watch regularly wrongly attacks and tries to destroy this great little show (Australian Story) possibly because of long-embedded jealousies within the ABC. As one TV commentator (Nick Leys at The Australian) put it at the beginning of the week in his regular column: Australian Story got it right, apologise Jonathan... But as Leys also comments (sorry folks, the link to this Murdoch paper article will cost you money) "there is a Four Corner clique at the ABC that looks down its nose at the program's efforts..." And guess what? I believe, Jonathan Holmes was once involved with the Four Corners program...

So in Davidson's conclusion, leave the entire media in the hands of commercial interests? That's a &^%$#@ moronic idea, Mr Davidson! And on the "soft propaganda" no need thereof, see the Germans, see the Chinese and other national entities that sell Mercs or a cheap loan...

at this level, your opinion is like that of a &^%$#@ diplomed moron, Mr Davidson.

 

 

An ABC radio presenter has been taken off the air after it was revealed she was the voice behind a controversial anti gay marriage television commercial produced for Katter's Australian Party.

A spokeswoman for the ABC said Suzanne McGill, a casual weekend presenter for regional Local Radio in Western Australia, "did not seek nor obtain permission for external voiceover work as required in accordance with ABC policies".

"ABC editorial and workplace policies apply to all staff, regardless of employment status," she said.

 

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/abc-presenter-stood-down-for-voicing-katter-ad-20120313-1uxji.html#ixzz1oykNhUoD

ABC staff can do extraneous jobs... For example, some front personalities of news, current affairs or Media Watch can write opiniated articles in the press, as long as THEY ARE ACCURATE... Look at Alan Kolher who has his own economic blog and journal and who pontificate on ABC news as if a guru of Bux. The ABC honchos need to give imprimatur to the deed of extraneous activities, which is okay by me... All to make sure there is no conflict of interests Ahah...

From: John Richardson

Sent: Tuesday, 13 March 2012 8:19 PM

To: Media Watch

Cc: The Hon Julia Gillard MP (Deputy Prime Minister); The Hon Dr Mike Kelly AM, MP (Parliamentary Secretary for Defence); Senator Brown; Tony Abbott MP; Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy (Minister for Broadband, Communications & the Digital Economy); Senator Nick Xenophon (senator.xenophon@aph.gov.au)
Subject: a pox on our abc .....

I couldn’t much care what anyone thinks of the awful loudmouth Katter, nor the sickly smooth Qld Liberal National leader, Newman, or the peoples’ Anna Bligh for that matter (‘ABC Radio presenter, the voice of Katter hate ad, stood down’): they are all professional snake oil salespeople & none of them could lie straight in bed on any issue. But I must strenuously take issue with ABC’s arrogant & totally unreasonable action in standing down Suzanne McGill who, at the end of the day, is simply selling her voice to make a living (Do we look to sanction actors for statements they make in movies? Should we look to sanction models who wear Bonds underwear, now that the company is moving jobs to China? Do I throw my radio away because I don’t like Alan Jones?).

In attempting to justify its actions by claiming that McGill is obliged to follow its “editorial and workplace policies”, even though she is employed on a casual basis, the ABC simply demonstrates how out-of-touch with reality it is to think that it is reasonable to try & restrict the employment activities of a working class Australian, employed by them on a casual basis, whilst, at the same time, denying her the security & hope that comes with secure employment.

All power to Suzanne McGill & a pox on the ABC & any other organisation that would stoop to use such heavy-handed tactics to punish & victimise the weakest & least powerful player in this sordid affair.

John Richardson

"Sorry, this video cannot be played. You may need to install the latest version of Adobe Flash"...

The ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) has some nerve... Up to a week ago, their thingsters worked perfectly welll... For whatever reason, recently the ABC's information technology department of idiots has switched some of its itemised news video stream to a NEW format that older versions of whatever cannot see... Meanwhile, the  "LATEST" version of Adobe Flash does not sit at all on older computers that still work perfectly well. So when the tecos of the ABC tell you "YOU MAY NEED"  the latest blah blah, the ABC means "get a new computer, fuckwit"... Well, F$%#%@K the ABC...

 

Through their effort in digital multi-channelling over the last five years both the ABC and SBS have been instrumental in persuading Australians to switch to digital TV. Around 90 per cent of all households are now digital, enabling the Department of Communications to complete analogue transmission switch-off next year - 2013. Accordingly both the ABC and SBS have a strong case to incorporate their saved analogue transmission costs (2010-11 $95million in the ABC's case) as part of their annual operational base funding appropriation. Therein lies survival for both broadcasters in the short term.

While the commercial print and broadcast media companies fight for their own survival through the digital revolution, and in some cases from drowning in their acquisition debts, the public broadcasters' future is by no means secure.

While all in the Australian media industry hope the digital revolution produces more opportunities for content creation, not less, public broadcasting supporters, like their commercial counterparts, will have to fight hard as policy and regulation are fundamentally rewritten.

Let our content creation mantra be: THINK GLOBAL…  CREATE LOCAL!

And, as a sub-heading... PLEASE DON'T STUFF THIS UP!

-----------

Quentin Dempster is an ABC journalist and ABC staff-elected director 'in exile'. He is a former chairman of the Walkley Advisory Board. This article is published in next month's Australian Press Freedom Report 2012. View his full profile here.

 

However, she was disappointed over what she says was the producers' decision to use fewer of her nominated advocates than Mr Minchin's.

In particular, she says the claims of right-wing US blogger and anti- global warming campaigner Marc Morano (who denies any sea-level rise) were demolished by Rear Admiral David Titley, the chief oceanographer of the US Navy, but Admiral Titley's segment did not make it to air.

The producer Simon Nasht defended the balance of the program, and said it was ''not a discussion [just] about the science, it's about why people believe what they believe''.

Mr Minchin said he remained ''unconvinced that the human emissions of carbon dioxide are driving dangerous global warming'' despite his odyssey with Ms Rose.

 

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/he-said-she-said-on-global-warming-20120425-1xlnc.html#ixzz1t6xxUpAN

Simon Nash is an idiot and should be sacked... The idea of "beliefs" is of course manipulated by the concept of "beliefs"... Thus what he said is totally idiotic in this context and I wonder why he is employed by the ABC to push crap... He should be sacked.

 

The ABC has apologised to the former husband of magazine publisher Ita Buttrose for the way he was portrayed in the award-winning mini-series Paper Giants: The Birth Of Cleo.

Alasdair Macdonald sued the ABC for defamation, alleging the series depicted him as a selfish and weak man who was so threatened by the success of his wife that he deserted his family.

The NSW Supreme Court ordered mediation, so the parties agreed not to go to trial.

An apology from the ABC and production house Southern Star was today read out in court.

Terms of a financial settlement, reached out of court, remain confidential.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-30/abc-sorry-for-buttrose-husband-portrayal/3980262

I knew about the court case and that the ABC wuz in real trouble... I watched a bit of that show and thought it was crap. Sorry good actors... But this was my opinion, as well as that on "at Home with Julia"... Why would the ABC not do its homework is baffling... They have a crackers team of lawyers, but often the ABC gets dumbed by bravado and "balance" and ritewingers from within... See Jonathan Holmes for example, still too gloriously proud of his own bullshit, to apologise for a gigantic booboo he made on the last of last year's Media watch... Idiots. 

 

 

 

An ABC employee who tried to earn virtual currency by installing Bitcoin "mining" software on one of the broadcaster's most popular sites has kept his job.
The employee, who had "high-level IT access privileges", was disciplined after placing the unauthorised code on the ABC Grandstand Sports website.
Visitors looking for sports scores or watching videos of a popular match "may have been exposed to the Bitcoin software", the ABC said. The software uses idle computer processing power from computers on a peer-to-peer network, to generate Bitcoins, which can be exchanged for cash.
"The placement of the code was detected by internal ABC checks within 30 minutes and was removed immediately," the ABC wrote recently in response to questions put on notice by Senator Eric Abetz during Senate Estimates in February.

 

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/security-it/abc-tech-hacked-grandstand-to-earn-virtual-cash-20120521-1z0js.html#ixzz1vUFfObbG

 

http://www.abc.net.au/iview/?series=3476972#/series/3476972

all these two-minute episodes are worth watching but the one on the state of origin (episode 51) takes the cake...

TELL me why we don't like Wednesdays. That's something long-term viewers of the ABC might well be wondering, given the fall away of audiences on what was once the broadcaster's most popular night.

The decline in viewers for Andrew Denton's Randling only focuses attention on what is a broader issue. A cluster of other shows have performed disappointingly on Wednesdays recently. Not that the ABC cares about the ratings, of course, but if it did it might have reason to be concerned.

Precisely how concerned is revealed by a Green Guide analysis of OzTam figures for Wednesday nights in the key viewing period of mid-April to late May over the past six years. It shows that the ABC's prime-time audience has fallen dramatically, from a 16.1 per cent share of Wednesday prime-time in 2007 (when there was only one ABC TV channel) to just 8.7 per cent for ABC1 and 12 per cent overall for the suite of ABC channels, in 2012.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/the-definition-of-decline-20120523-1z3qg.html#ixzz1vlN2tOJQ

From Victoria Rollison at Independent Australia

 

 

So, it was a strange coincidence to wake up last Monday to an announcement that Fairfax was restructuring. Then on Wednesday, News Ltd unveiled their own version of restructuring – using revenue from their television business to prop up their newspapers — or ‘LNP how to vote cards’, as I like to call them. For a fleeting moment I thought both media giants had come to the same conclusion I had — that their current business practices weren’t working. Maybe they had realised that their strategy of appealing to the lowest common denominator by ignoring the success of the Labor government, undermining Julia Gillard, covering scandal without analysis and generally fear mongering in order to sell newspapers, was not working. But, alas, this was just my delusional optimism showing through. Fairfax and News Ltd aren’t concerned with their editorial quality — they’re concerned with their profits.

On Tuesday, one of my favourite bloggers, Greg Jericho, wrote a post on his incredibly popular blog, Grog’s Gamut, about how he no longer trusts what he reads in mainstream media. His example of the reason for this loss of trust was a beat up by The Australian’s Dennis Shanahan about Julia Gillard at the G20 Summit. Greg makes a very good point. The loss of trust in mainstream media is exactly the reason why I think the industry has jumped the shark. The only difference between my reasoning and Greg’s is that I never trusted News Ltd in the first place. But, as with close personal relationships, it’s those we love who hurt us the most. My loss of trust in the ABC and Fairfax has been far more devastating, because it not only leaves me mistrustful of all Australian mainstream press, but also reduces my breakfast options. (I eat news and analysis for breakfast.) Thankfully independent bloggers are filling the void.

 

My loss of trust in the ABC and Fairfax can be attributed to their treatment of a very small number of issues. Those that most enrage me are:

1. Portrayal of Gillard’s Government as ‘unsuccessful’.
2. Reporting Climate Change science as a debate, instead of a scientific consensus.
3. Encouraging the incorrect perception that we are being ‘flooded’ with ‘boat people’ and ignoring the fact that it is not illegal to seek asylum.

Since analysis of these three issues could take up 1000 posts on 100 blogs, I’m going to stick with number one for this post. Number two has been comprehensively outlined in this post by Andrew Kos onIndependent Australia. I’ll cover number three in coming weeks.

I understand it might not seem sensational for a journalist to say:

‘In actual fact, Gillard’s Government is performing very well and have managed to deliver most of their progressive policies, despite the challenges of minority government. The Carbon Tax, the Mining Tax, and the National Broadband Network are just three examples of policy success for Gillard.’

But this is the truth of the situation — so why don’t journalists say it?

-----------------------------

Gus: as I have mentioned before, the Merde-och press is anti labor and anti-Julia to the hilt... At Fairfax, even people like Mike Carlton will pan Julia, without showing the decency of recognising her many good points, despite some failings... The commercial media is in love with Tony Abbott, though despite its tremendous efforts, this media is having trouble to raise him above Julia. So more often than not they choose to put him in the same basket to taint Julia with Abbott's crap... while praising him...

 

The ABC is a sadder case... Since Old Rattus interfered with the ABC board and policies of the ABC (see toons to this effect on this site) a new unit I call "the inquisition" has been created at the ABC. This unit employs FAR MORE priests (not journos but lawyers and PR personnel) of Liberal (conservative) tendency than there are journos and producers working say on four corners...

This inquisition is designed to make sure that the news is (or programmes are) "balanced"... As every one knows, TRUTH CANNOT BE BALANCED with a lie, but this is the way this unit works...

If an ABC programme discusses global warming, it has to have an equal amount of time devoted to the denialists... As we know, the denialists being overrun by spruikers have thus more chance of winning the debate against the boring stats from serious scientists... As we also know — well I do not know about everyone else, be this household knows — TV is more of an emotional medium than an intellectual one... Thus TV pushes serious debates where it should not go "the reactionary emotions" rather than knowledge... (This is why I hate shows like Q&A).

 

The ABC inquisition is run by a person called Paul Chadwick and is far more powerful than all the journalists at the ABC combined... Thus the journos end up saying blancmange and should they allow one minute extra to the boring scientist, they will be whacked on the head and driven over hot coals...  So to stay on the safe side the journos at the ABC allow a bit more to the denialists and they get a medal...

 

This of course does not apply obviously to Media Watch — a program that has lost its ways under Jonathan Holmes... Its last episode for example on the media turmoil did not bring anything new to the debate — even if one works in the "industry" — and most punters out there would have not understood a word of what Holmes meant with his wink-wink-say-no-more crooked smile... 

 

Our ABC...? Their ABC...

See toon at top and all stories below it...

 

The appearance of Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, on the BBC's flagship current affairs show last night was meant to be something of a coup for the Corporation. Casting the Sex Pistols frontman and famed anarchist in the 'unusual guest' slot of the five-man panel, it was hoped Lydon would provide a refreshing take on the week's hot topics.

But as the singer's contributions became increasingly bizarre, stifling debate and triggering long awkward pauses, viewers were left with a single overriding question: why, exactly, had the BBC put John Lydon on the show?

 

Read more: http://www.theweek.co.uk/people-news/47834/john-lydons-spiteful-question-time-debut-backfires-bbc#ixzz1zt6s1uTA

 

Very much like our own Q&A unenlightening "debates"... as Lavoisier would have said "plus ça change, plus c'est la meme shit..."

 

On the last Q&A, I believe Grahame Morris was one of the other Liberal (conservative) idiot on the panel. Though described as one of the most respected political commentators by his ultraritewingnutty friends, on many issues, such as climate change, he lies below the imbecilic level...

From Tim Dunlop at the Drum...

Of all the arguments about media that regularly engulf this self-obsessed industry, is there any more tiresome than insisting that we have to close down the ABC, or privatise it, or stifle it in some other way?

The latest foray into this dismal reiteration of media lemon-sucking comes from John Roskam of the IPA. Writing in the Financial Review last week, Mr Roskam argued:

Any discussion about the media in Australia must take account of the fact that of the three most significant players, two are privately owned, and one is government owned. While the organisations have different market shares and operate across a range of the four different platforms of print, radio, television, and online, taken together they are the three dominant media voices in Australia.

...The ABC is cutting up and eating Fairfax and News's lunch. It's not Gina Rinehart and Rupert Murdoch that journalists should be worried about. It's Mark Scott, the boss of the ABC, they should fear.

Such arguments rest on a very shallow understanding of 'news'. They fall into the trap of reducing everything to a matter of commerce, and of understanding all relationships in society as market relationships.

They presume there is a 'market' for news, and that that market is made up of 'consumers'.

Once you accept this sleight of hand, it is then a short skip to the conclusion that the ABC is illegitimately infringing on the use of a commodity (news) by operating in the market with the unfair advantage of not having to turn a profit, and with the further advantage of a (more or less) guaranteed income stream courtesy of the taxpayer.

But this gets the argument exactly backwards.

News, especially news about politics, is not a commodity. Yes, it can be commodified and sold at a profit (or a loss) but that doesn't mean that in essence 'news' is a commercial product.

News is a national resource belonging to all of us. It is part of our sovereign wealth, and is vital to the proper functioning of our democracy. The ability to collect and disseminate news — especially information about the the way our governments and businesses operate — is a precondition of civic health.

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4125840.html?WT.svl=theDrum

 

Gus: due to bias in favour of the anti-global warming army, the commercial network do the hot shoe shuffle under the carpet on the topic, while the ABC is required by its masters to present the erroneous version of the loopy conservatives and creationists versus the proper sciences in "equal amount"... It's a bit like having a discussion about the tooth fairy and an expert dentist on why teeth fall out... Sure both are invoving money but...

Don't get me wrong... The ABC is important but I wish sometimes on such subject as global warming the conversation got a bit more serious that an "equal debate" on Q&A between a young girl and an old cunning idiot... If the stupid Lord Monckton comes to Australia once more and the ABC news mentions his name in whatever form, the EP should be sacked...

 

How to get smart: News literacy programs train readers to look beyond infotainment

By Kathleen Parker, Wednesday, July 18, 9:23 AM

Few instances are more refreshing than the sound of a politician leaving office.

This isn’t because we want to see them go, necessarily (though this, too, can be delicious), but because they tend to speak truthfully upon their departure.

One such delectable nugget tumbled recently from the lips of retiring Democratic Rep. Gary L. Ackerman of New York. Reflecting on his 30 years in Washington, Ackerman was asked to comment on the relative lack of comity on Capitol Hill. Did it ever exist?

Not really, he said, but at least Democrats and Republicans used to be friends. Today, crossing the aisle is tantamount to treason. The problem isn’t only Washington but society as a whole.

“I think the people have gotten dumber.”

Let’s pause for a moment to savor that rare morsel. Even Ackerman acknowledged that “I don’t know that I would’ve said that out loud pre-my announcement that I was going to be leaving.”

Extrapolating, might we conclude that extreme partisanship is a function of . . . dumbness? If so, then whose fault is that? Education’s? Surely, at least in part. But the problem is broader than a single institution. Dumbness permeates every aspect of our lives, including, dangerously, our media.

Ackerman put it well: “We now give broadcast licenses to philosophies instead of people. People get confused and think there is no difference between news and entertainment. People who project themselves as journalists on television don’t know the first thing about journalism. They are just there stirring up a hockey game.”

I may have to lie down for a few minutes to regain my composure. Oh, if only more Congress folk would retire so that we might wallow in such forthrightness.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/kathleen-parker-how-to-get-smart-news-literacy-programs-train-readers-to-look-beyond-infotainment/2012/07/17/gJQAY1m2rW_print.html

 

 

But with the airwaves polluted by the likes of Alan Jones and Andrew Bolt — spruikers who are clever at selling snake oil — but ignorant of reality, our job is made harder by imbalance in the media...  See toon and article at top... I would say "their ABC" is working at redressing its problems, but mostly going about it the wrong way...

Looking over a period of a year (June 2011 – June 2012), I have analysed how many times a representative from a think tank has guested on ABC’s The Drum. Out of the nine think tanks appearing in that period, the results showed an overwhelming representation of the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA). It took a staggering 42 per cent of the media exposure. The next highest was the Centre for Independent Studies at 18 per cent; followed by Per Capita and the Centre for Policy Development at 16 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively.

 

http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/politics/abc-drums-up-appearances-for-the-ipa/

 

 

FROM June 2011 to June 2012 there were 313 guest spots taken by news media, social media and ABC staff on the ABC TV program, The Drum. Journalists, reporters, presenters, bloggers, commentators and one sole cartoonist made up the influential cohort. A full list can be found further down.

From a total of 800 guest spots over the year, those in the news media business took 39 per cent. The think tank industry, which I previously analysed, accounted for 11%, and political party aligned guests made up 29%. The disaggregated details of the latter will be posted soon.

 

But focusing on news media guests, the clear winner when ABC staff were removed from the data was News Limited. It trumped rival colleagues in traditional news media and social media, taking 40 per cent of the total spots allotted. Their main competitor, Fairfax, trailed a distant second at 29 per cent.

If ABC staff adhere to their Editorial Policy as expected, then you can only assume they sit there self-censoring and deliberately omitting information for fear of perceived bias, being careful to downplay everything, and lazily applying false equivalencies to appear neutral and subsequently objective. Their full potential in a format like The Drum is severely limited. And if they don’t have the clever quips like ABC’s Chief Comedian Annabel Crabb, then you really are in beige territory.

http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/business/media-2/news-limited-sets-the-beat-of-the-drum/

 

 

 

From Ash Kelso...

After watching last night’s lame effort, I don’t think it’s going too far to say that the ABC’s Q&A is now a tired formula — and that the producers are basically flogging a dead horse. Now, I’m aware of the irony of complaining about a show that is essentially about complaining, but my real complaint is that the show didn’t have to develop this way.

The formula of the show is plain to anyone watching.

Each week, they wheel out largely the same bunch of politicians, chain them to the good ol’ proverbial whipping post, and let angsty idealists from the audience take turns at giving them six of the best with the same old questions each week — about how the failure to legislate same-sex marriage is causing climate change because it’s such a hot issue.

Really, the show is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

On the one side, we have strong party discipline that won’t allow politicians to think, answer, or vote, according to their own consciences.  As an example of this, Joe Hockey’s unfortunate remarks about same-sex marriage, while sharing the panel with Penny Wong seem like a shining example of party discipline forcing a man, who is essentially a jolly teddy bear, to say extremely ugly things.

http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/business/media-2/telling-the-same-questions-expecting-different-answers/

----------------------------

Glad to see I am not alone anymore in finding Q&A as a crap TV... Last night gnarly nasty effort by that lying ritewingnut George Brandis — who would be our next Attorney General if we let him — was vile. Super vile... As I've mentioned many times here, this show, Q&A, is as enlightened as a tunnel in the middle of the night, where the canary-lamp has died... It's about stirring emotional anger, not about giving "information"...

Q&A is crap... It's like a stupid "holier-than-thou" Jerry Springer Show... At least Jerry Springer knew it was "entertaining" crap... Q&A is a sad circus with nasty clowns... 

see toon at top...

 

However, the point is, these emailed allegations by a callow youth, which were passed on to the authorities and the ABC by Peter Slipper, must – by definition – be far more credible than IA’s several hundred pages of original hard copy primary source documentation about corruption by HSU and FWA officials ― since the emails were aired in full on 7.30, yet the Jacksonville material has never been seen on the programme even once.

People may wish to pause and have a think about that.

The only conclusion we can reach, therefore ― without reaching the almost unimaginable conclusion that Australia’s national broadcaster, the ABC, is a highly compromised organisation that, for opaque reasons, reports allegations against certain people, but not others – is that the allegations against Ashbymust be very highly verifiable. That the Facebook messages passed on to Peter Slipper from Ashby’s accuser are far more conclusive then the original hard copy bank statements, credit card statements, cheque butts, cheque requisitions, letters, emails and internet records Peter Wicks and IA received in our investigations into Jacksonville case (a case which is still ongoing, by the way).

One can only presume that the ABC “Legal Department” was very convinced by Ashby’s young accuser. A former Labor Party candidate, along with a former vice chair of the Australian Republican Movement, are obviously far less believable.

So, if Ashby’s accuser is so much more credible than Peter and myself, and Ashby’s accuser’s claims so much more legally defensible than the truckloads of primary documentary evidence we have provided ― then can Ashby credibly attempt to adopt the role of a sexual victim?

On the face of it, the assertion seems absurd ― but only the courts will tell for sure.

http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/politics/ashbygate-1-how-ashby-met-slipper/

The ABC is ruled by its own internal inquisition that decides "what is truth or not"... One cannot touch the sacred cow of opinionation at the abc... as long as it's popular and wrong. The inquisition was set up by a certain John W Rattus in order to limit the ABC's ability to lift the carpet on His Dodginess nor do proper investigate journalism, unless it is to damage the Labor Party or prop up the Liberals (Conservatives)... So the ABC has been floating 50/50 between truth and porkies, selectively to suit the Liberal way of telling crap... 

 

 

 

 

Vince O’Grady writes about his various skirmishes with the ABC concerning the veracity of their reporting, before asking readers to detail their own experiences

...

They then denied their bias. They denied it, even though I proved to them that what they said could not have been true, with regards to the claims about people:

never having been asked by Centrelink;forgetting the reason they were on a DSP;with bad backs or musculo-skeletal injuries going to see a neurosurgeon (when really they see a rheumatologist); andhaving no idea, nor the doctor, about the process of getting a DSP.

Since then, I have watched the ABC carefully, noting its frequently loose use of the truth.

The second incident I will mention (leaving out many in-between) was the 30 April  2012  interview between Chris Uhlmann and Craig Emerson, after which I wrote the following to the ABC:

I would like to comment on the behaviour of Chris Uhlmann whilst interviewing Dr  Craig Emerson last evening.

I thought him extremely rude, with his tone, his questions and his haranguing manner.

I think that he should be sacked for showing what a poor journalist he is. Not only      because of his bad manners, but also for his slant of his questioning. His questions showed an unprofessional approach to the subjects raised by Heather Ewatt. The minister answered the question and he asked it again.

Whilst Dr Emerson was answering the question he interrupted with “The issue is trust, the  issue is trust!” No question, just an interruption.

http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/business/media-2/a-balanced-and-objective-abc-your-call/

-----------------------------------

Yes Vince... You are entirely correct ... as they say on "RockWiz"... If you follow my blogs, you would have noted a few digs at the news, at Uhlmann and other "journos" such as Fran Kelly... and let's not forget Jonathan Holmes who let all the doosies you mention in your great article go unnoticed... while attacking perfectly made programmes for whatever bee he's got under his Media Watch... Read all the comments above and also all the other one peppered throughout this site... Noteworthy:

http://www.yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/node/13535

http://www.yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/node/13965

http://www.yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/node/20420

http://www.yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/node/20055

http://www.yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/node/9987

http://www.yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/node/18043

http://www.yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/node/17850

http://www.yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/node/13572

and this one:

http://www.yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/node/13265

...and this one from a capitalist non-journalist who should have been sacked from the ABC long time ago as he has no understanding of the value of social programmes except in the dollars and cents they cost... Under his theory nothing would ever be achieved — as to a great extend, the value of such programmes is not in the generation of moneys or provenance of moneys but in the way in which it helps many people be "happier"... and deal better with the rotten cards life has given them... http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-05/kohler-lose-the-fiscal-plot/4244330?WT.svl=theDrum

 

ABC chairman Jim Spigelman discusses the future of the ABC.

Updated 7 hours 33 minutes ago

ABC chairman Jim Spigelman discusses the future of the ABC, saying he believes an Abbott government would deliver major cuts to the ABC budget which would force the corporation to cut services.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-05/abc-chairman-jim-spigelman-discusses-the-future-of/4245466

 

ABC Radio National has announced plans to cut a number of programs from its 2013 schedule in an attempt to rein in its budget.

A draft schedule emailed to staff this afternoon shows network management intend to axe radio play program Airplay, along with book reading programs The Book Reading and Sunday Story.

"We understand that this is a break with a very long-standing tradition, and will directly affect a number of staff," Radio National manager Michael Mason wrote in the email to staff.

"In the context of the broader RN offer, maintaining an innovative and creative output for our audience, and considering financial constraints, we believe that the time has come to move away from this output.

"Radio plays and book readings have, for many years, faced declining audience numbers, while remaining an expensive activity for the network."

The email did not detail the total number of employees who face losing their jobs under the proposals but mentioned "potential redundancies" in some areas.

Mr Mason said tough decisions needed to be made "to get back to a sustainable on-budget position".

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-25/radio-national-plans-program-cuts-to-save-money/4279846

 

See toon and story at top...

 

Radio National changes ‘rip the guts’ from features, docos

Matthew Knott 
Award-winning staff will depart along with some programs at Radio National next year. Insiders speak out about the direction of the storied ABC network.

Some of ABC Radio National’s most experienced and highly regarded radio makers have been placed on a redundancy hit list as the station seeks to cut $1 million from its bottom line next year.

RN staff and the union representing them are dismayed that station management has decided to target individuals for forced redundancy rather than go through a voluntary process.

http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/10/04/radio-national-changes-rip-the-guts-from-features-docos/

Gus: The ABC is in turmoil... Not so much because it should, but because it values cheap entertainment more than journalism... If you know the way things work at the ABC presently, you would be horrified to know that news and current affairs for example — apart from a few good ventures — are being turned into the goon show...  while the "promotion" department is turned into "the goodies"...

The decorum is falling out of the bottom to support too many communication platforms, all designed for the youth and the dumb — though the youth of today don't care about much anyway and the dumb are still dumb nonetheless... Meanwhile those, including educated smart oldies, who seek solid information, get blancmange and repeats, tasting like reflux...

 

The head of the ABC, Mark Scott, says it would be a mistake to make the national broadcaster accountable to a complaints body that supervises news media on all platforms.

ABC chairman James Spigelman has criticised a recommendation by the Finkelstein report to create a new complaints body with responsibility for all news media, including the ABC.

Mr Scott has told a Senate estimates hearing that the proposal would undermine the ABC board's authority.

"One size fits all, it sounds good but in practice it can be a little bit simplistic," he said.

"The standards and requirements of the ABC board are different.

"There's no need to impose that standard because those safeguards and accountabilities are built in already into our governing structure in a way they don't exist, the way they are not built in, with commercial media."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-16/complaints-body-not-needed-for-abc3a-scott/4316762

------------------------

Good one Mark Scott... The inquisition in the bosom of the ABC isn't worth a rabbit's fart... It is designed to protect the stars such as Jonathan Holmes... Not much else... It is designed to make sure the ABC is infiltrated by crap for "balance in points of views"... When global warming hits these shore (it already has but we're too busy looking at our navel) the ABC will still be promoting a "balanced" point of view... which of course is crap once translated into reality.

 

Dear Mark Scott,

About this “balance” thing…

I thought the ABC was about presenting good and accurate information. Your view seems to be that if you have someone telling the truth, it must be balanced by a lie; a fact balanced by an opinion; history balanced by rewritten history; science balanced by ignorance or religion; objective data balanced by vested interest; conservative opinion balanced by neoconservative opinion.

The IPA is infesting every ABC outlet with its Libertarian Free Market ideology in the service of secret Business business. What are they providing “balance” for? Have there been Marxist economists daily on the ABC I have somehow missed? Even Keynesian economists? Er…no. Professor Sloan is on every week instead. Who is she “balancing”?

What about the appearance of Peter Reith every week? A full essay on The Drum plus other live appearances. Who is he balancing? Gerard Henderson, Piers Ackermann, Nikki Savva? Has there been a rash of appearances by Trotskyists, Socialist Alliance, Left Wing unionists who have escaped my notice?

Do you really not see that the occasional appearance of, say, a Green MP, or someone from The Australia Institute, doesn’t actually match in weight the regular appearance of those mentioned above, so regular they might as well be on staff, and certainly gain the apparent credibility of being so.

On a number of occasions, you have run factual pieces or reports on climate change science and its findings. Are these “balanced” by the climate change denier opinion pieces you run, do you think, from those like the IPA who are both ideologically driven and represent vested interests?

read more: http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/business/media-2/open-letter-to-abc-managing-director-mark-scott/

 

See toon at top and read all articles from top...

 

That is a neat trick... You too can advertise on the ABC website without the ABC knowing about it.... Piece of cake. All you have to do is post a popular video on YouTube, click on the "advertising" function, pay for some advertising that could link with your video and bingo...

...

 

 

Meanwhile, I have noticed that a great show like Catalyst—ABCTV is slowly dumbing down... I am prepared to believe that it had been ordered by management to make things more "accessible" — meaning that it has to capture the audience of four-year olds and the brains of the CEO.

Last night effort by Dr Jonica Newby was a hard slog for me — I like Jonica — but it has to be said, she had to spell things out for the dummies out there who are still doubtful about global warming...

She had to do a few unnecessary stunts and went to various places, I believe mainly to try to inject some emotions with which young kids in the burbs may react to. Sorry folks, most kids in the burbs watch "the Shire" or "the Kardashians", etc. or go to the pub with souped-up identity cards... The adults whose brain has been captured by Alan Jones won't shift: "your Catalyst programme was a communist plot." 

Catalyst is not "Simon's Wonder World"...

And Jonica did not go into the why global warming was happening but she presented a simple, (nearly infantile — like pre-munched food for baby going onto solids) strong arguments as to what was happening and what had happened.

The snow line has risen 100 metres.

The sea level has been rising 1.5 mm per year since 1900.

The average temperature of Australia has risen by 1 degree since 1900

The sea temperature has risen significantly around Australia

The humidity has shifted: more humid in the north, drier in the south — especially the south-west of Western Australia. 

The record cannot be disputed. The record is as scientific as one can get. The rest of the world follows somewhat in this pattern, though there are various pockets of variation as one would expect in a non-homogenous environment such as a soap bubble.

Now I am waiting for Catalyst to explain the origin of this MASSIVE climate shift.

Is the Catalyst team game enough to tackle the irrefutable anthropogenic origin of climate change — or is the management at the ABC going to ask this fine program to mitigate with porkies from the denialists?... Come on guys... This is science... this is not alphabet soup.

 

http://blogs.abc.net.au/catalyst/2012/11/references-taking-australias-temperture.html

 

Meanwhile the BBC, despite its little scandals, is also telling us a few things — in the same manner... Only idiots would not notice what we're doing to the planet... but yes there are many idiots who think our scratching the surface is insignificant:

-------------------

 

We are the planet's greatest diggers and miners. For tens of thousands of years humans have chipped away beneath the soils of this vast rocky planet, plundering its hard surface for tools, building materials and sparkling jewels. The question is what’s driven our hunger to churn up more and more of our planet's rocks and sediments and spread it around the surface, and does it matter?

We’re not the only species to recognise the value in strong, inert materials – chimps use stone tools and Neanderthals mined flint in Europe – but we’re the only creatures to have delved further to reach the metals and other minerals within. Whole civilizations have been based on this – some metals became so important that they defined cultural periods, the Iron Age and the Bronze Age, for example. Empires extended across the seas in search of precious metals, gems and fuels. The Romans invaded Britain for its metals, using hydraulic mining to harvest gold from deep within the rocks. Spain’s wealth 400 years ago is largely attributable to silver scraped from the hills of Potosi in Bolivia.

Some of this unearthed treasure, such as iron, was created billions of years ago inside a star; others, such as coal, were more recently formed from living forests that were buried in bogs and compressed by sediments some 300 million years ago. Some of these mined materials, like iron, are common in the Earth’s crust, some are rare, but none of these are replaceable or renewable within a thousands-of-years timeframe.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20121115-the-cost-of-making-the-earth-move

Anyone who has a chook-yard would know that not much can grow there, despite the rich chook poo... It's simply because chooks scratch the surface non-stop during the day. It's the nature of chooks. In the wild, chooks would move around a larger territory and due to natural predators such as the cunning fox, there would be less chooks. Result: a more balanced environment in which some seeds will be left alone by the laws of haphazard and chaos theories... Concentrate the chooks in a pen and nothing grows... Not a seed is left to grow. Even the little stones get eaten to, turning the place into a desert sand pit. This is humanity on the move — scratching the surface till we bleed.

Er... Now I am dumbing down as well, talking about chook-yards...... 

See toon and stories from top...

 

 

Tonight on the 7:30 report, Whatizmane stood in front of the punny headline "Water Torture" to describe the yet again Queensland flood... This is like trying to make a fart joke out of something that is seriously wrong in human behaviour, while applying it to nature... By the way, I don't think 7:30 will mention shhhhh "the reality of global warming"... as long as bugalug is presenting the program... Meanwhile, some proper climate tally needs to be made of events in the last four years in regard to record bushfires, heat wave records and record floods of the century happening every two years. 

Meanwhile, the insurance industry is now "worried" about this latest floods... If I was in that industry I'd be worried about the next ones as well. And the next fires... and the next "global warming event" though it does not exist according to Tony Abbott's mind which I have a feeling he keeps close to his budgies... 

 

Update Insurance claims from the latest Queensland floods have already topped $43 million, as river levels continue to rise in large parts of the state.

As early Monday afternoon, about 5050 claims had been lodged relating to losses from the major rain event now affecting Queensland and New South Wales, said Campbell Fuller, general manager for communications at the the Insurance Council of Australia.

The total claimed losses are likely to be reach $50 million by mid week, he said.
"Rivers are still rising across south-eastern Queensland," he said, adding that flood waters were yet to peak at Ipswich and much of Bundaberg remained underwater.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/carbon-economy/early-insurance-claims-from-qld-floods-top-43m-20130128-2dfxs.html#ixzz2JG463lES

http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/life/satire/the-mainstream-baromedia/

 

This news manipulative caper of course includes their ABC (not yours anymore)... On the occasion of the PM announcing the elections. the ABC online used the worse stock photo of Julia Gillard it could find, while most of the tone of the press conference was upbeat. Meanwhile the picture of Tony Detitus was one that could have befitted the crowning of Napoleon. So there.

 

Although the stench of corruption that lingers over Labor will cost the party seats at the next election, what happened last week will not determine the fate of the Government. Peter Reith says that die was already cast.

When I filed last week I was not aware that the Obeid matter would be at the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) inquiry, that Craig Thomson would be arrested, or that Prime Minister Gillard would make another poor decision when she announced the 2013 election.

However, I was right to predict that Thomson and Obeid would spend 2013 reminding Labor voters why they should vote Liberal and that we could expect more "ill-judged political behaviour" from Gillard. Although my mini predictions came to pass earlier than expected it was really no surprise because these issues are all constant in the chaos known as the Gillard Government.

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4500114.html?WT.svl=theDrum

 

First, Obeid has been on the nose for a while (longlonglong time), and my Labor mates have tried to push him out, but the truth is, despite whatever "coincidences" of evidence against Obeid, nothing had stuck so far — because if Obeid is indicted for using a "trust fund", 90 per cent of the Liberal contingent will be guilty as well... So it rests in the vague lands of who did what, when and the words of someone against another, while most people don't remember...

In regard to Craig Thomsom, yet again, Craig is not guilty of anything and his arrest was possibly a stunt performed by the NSW police under recommendations from the Liberal (conservative) opposition attorney-in-waiting, George brandis...

The so-called "ill-judged" announcement of the elections by Julia Gillard has robbed the opposition of some of its ammos while giving it blanks — like the one stupidly used by Julie Bishop this morning when she claimed the government was in caretaker mode... Crap... CRAP... fallen in the trap.

The opposition members are frothing at the mouth like rabid dogs, unable to wait till election day and Tony's mob of pirates is actually truly worried that Julia will pull it off... So they add to the sour sauce, daily

Meanwhile look at this silly note from the ABC, worried it's breaching its own "balancing act"

 

*Editor's Note: While the ABC maintains due impartiality and balance in its coverage of politics throughout the year, the formal campaign begins in August when the writs are issued. That is when we will begin monitoring and recording "share of voice" and determining free time for the relevant parties.

 

...

Which brings us back to the proposition we began with about “criticism from left and right = Balance QED”.

In spite of all that I have outlined above, the ABC still gets hammered by shock jock columnists and politicians of the stripe of Eric Abetz. In their eyes, though the ABC can never be far right enough. If the totality of ABC programming consisted of someone from a Right Wing think tank reading press releases from Menzies House all day, they would complain that the sound wasn’t turned up loud enough, or the set was the wrong shade of blue. They get outraged when the ABC dares to mention climate change for example (the stacked Board having insisted that the ABC run, in prime time, the appalling “Great Global Warming Swindle”), or might be perceived as doing something positive about refugees or same-sex marriage. No matter how many right-wing commentators spout their ideology, no matter how the news is massaged, it will never be enough for Eric and friends, in fact they won’t notice.

read more: http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/business/media-2/steering-the-abc-titanic/

Here is for example the picture used by the ABC online when Julia Gillard announced the election:

On the same site, the ABC news:

From media Watch...:

An unfortunate error

While we’re on the subject of speed and accuracy, ABC online committed a horrible howler last Monday, and took far too long to put it right.


Premier Ted Baillieu and the Prime Minister Juliar Gillard at the Heyfield incident control centre.

— ABC Online, 28th January, 2013

It took ABC online almost 24 hours to correct what it called "an error". 

We've been assured it wasn't deliberate. But of more than 40 keys on the average keyboard, it was extraordinarily unfortunate, that someone happened to type an r at the end of Julia.

 

The response of the newspapers, particularly those run by the Murdoch family, has been to denigrate the ABC in every way possible for all of those 81 years.

When Fran Kelly, an experienced political radio journalist called together her Friday brains trust of senior political commentators this week to discuss the coming election, I nearly choked on my tea when I heard that  Coalition parties were seeking to attend government briefings by public servants before the coming election “because the government is in caretaker mode” and “what was Julia Gillard going to do about it?”

The right answer, of course, is she will do “exactly nothing.”

The Gillard government is not in caretaker mode. The Coalition parties and journalists have clearly not studied the Australian Constitution.

The over-eager Coalition has no right at all to involve itself in governing the country until the writs for an election are issued. Caretaker mode does not take effect just because the election date had been declared.

http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/politics/caretaker-mode-and-the-abc/

Yes when I heard Julie Bishop claim the government was in caretaker mode on the Fran Kelly show, obviously Frannie did not know the constitution and/or was too eager for her hero Abbott to be pedestalled by that illiterate lawyer from the west...

So, I said "that's a lot of crap" aloud and I did not expect Fran Kelly to challenge Ms Bishop on this crap, which Frannie did not... Fran let that horrid woman babble on crap like a spinning top with a bad case of hopping cough... The opposition is really ugly and it will get uglier as these self-declared pirates ("turning the boats around in international waters") will try all the lies in the book of porkies by John Howard, the books of arcane lies by Crawley, those from Machiavelli's handbook and the book of crap from the shoe-scrapper bloke with Abbott as his mierdolic sidekick...

 

Ms Bishop says if she were to become foreign minister, Mr Rudd would be considered for any role with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade."If Kevin wants to apply for a job I'll judge it against the others who are applying for that same position," she told Sky News on Sunday.

"But certainly he has talents and ability and experience in foreign policy that shouldn't be wasted and I think that former prime ministers usually have a contribution to make.

"But I'll certainly be looking for a range of people to fill our posts overseas because they are after all, Australia's voice, ambassadors to the world."Ms Bishop revealed on Sunday she and Mr Rudd had forged a friendship after travelling overseas together as parliamentary colleagues.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/bishop-open-to-rudd-appointment-20130210-2e696.html#ixzz2KTCMTa6Q

Very chummy.... Too chummy... Not only La Bishop does not know the law of the land, she behave like a generous nefarious flower...

An asteroid the size of an Olympic swimming pool has raced past Earth at a distance of 27,000 kilometres - the closest ever fly-by for such a large object.

The asteroid, named 2012 DA14, is 45 metres wide. Its closest approach to Earth was at 6.25am (AEDT), directly over the eastern Indian ocean. Images from a telescope at the Gingin Observatory in Western Australia showed the asteroid looking like a white streak, moving across against a backdrop of black sky.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-02-16/asteroid-whizzes-past-earth/4522704?WT.svl=news1

 

Well well the ABC is at it again... "the closest ever fly-by for such a large object.".... Since when?... Since last year? Since the dinosaurs carked it? Since the last blue moon?... Someone forgot to add "in living memory?" or "since the invention of the telescope?"... Or since Aunty was in the dunny?

Meanwhile in Russia, another smaller asteroid did not miss... In my home town of Yourp, there was a meteorite the size of a real Mini (before they got upsized by BMW)... It would have made a big bang when it hit the place possibly a million years ago... I already have mentioned and placed pictures of Gosse's Bluff in central Australia, where a huge thingster (possibly a comet) hit nearly square on, some 250 million years ago... In WA, there is Wolf Creek Crater, a smaller but still impressive impact of something that hit the earth about 6 million years ago... And recently some geologists have found another impact crater-like formation near the SA and Qld border.... (Of course the ABC is now reporting the news two years later...) Yes space is not empty of stuff and I remember nights when seeing more than fifty shooting stars were not uncommon in the southern skies...

Australia's biggest carbon emitters are being accused of passing on the entire cost of the carbon tax while pocketing government compensation.

Analysis by consultants Carbon and Energy Markets suggests that brown coal power plants in Victoria's Latrobe Valley could get billions of dollars in compensation over the next few years.

----------------------------

If one was not astute, or was a bit dumb like me on most days, one could assume from this — especially considering the headline (Consumers 'paying twice' as carbon emitters compensated AM By Simon Lauder, Sabra Lane and staff) — that the deed has happened and we're dummies for having been robbed twice...

BUT IT HAS NOT HAPPENED YET AND IT'S LIKELY IT WON'T HAPPEN EITHER... 

And reading the report, there are a few ommissions — including the scaling down of the dirty power stations that eventually will have to happen as renewable energy supply increase.

 

 

If you were on the fence as to the bias of the media, I’d suggest these three illustrations, out of a plethora of others I could have selected, could give you a reason to re-evaluate your position.

There is no excuse for not showing the Whole of Julia Gillard’s Speech at Woodford. There is no excuse for not advertising the Prime Minister’s correct title and there is absolutely no excuse for a grossly abusive caption placed on the ABC website by persons unknown.

The most blatant abuse of the public is the complete silence from Mark Scott in recognising the slur, having an enquiry and sacking the people who perpetrated it.

Being fairly new to the medium of writing and being published, I can assure you that I have had (and rightly so) had my fair share of criticism from my editor. Some of it because of genuine mistakes and sometimes because my right brain gets in front of my left and I transpose letters (two finger typist).

However, that is why he is there: to check and correct such mistakes. There is no excuse for such blatant “errors” — none.

Especially not from the ABC.

If this is the standard we expect from the so called mainstream media before the 2013 election, then it is going to be a very long year.

http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/business/media-2/is-mainstream-media-biased/

 

Chris Uhlmann is a former heavy (a security man who had no idea which end of a gun to use) who thinks he's a journalist but has a very right-wing opinion.... and writes c... for the drum... I won't pass the link...

He looked extremely frail when he entered a room to meet waiting press, supported by two men.

Mr Rodwell was not ready to answer questions about is time as a hostage of Islamic group Abu Sayyaf.

But he expressed thanks to the Australian Government and the Philippine police for their work on his case.

And he said he had been buoyed by the compassion of those around him.

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-03-25/hostage-rodwell-overwhelmed-after-release/4593794

 

How petty of me to point an ABC spelling mistake when Mr Rodwell has obviously been very shaken by his detention by Muslim extremists in the Philippines... Yes, I am that petty to the point that when I make a spelling mistake I go and flagellate myself for ten minutes in the blue corner... But this aside, apparently some money may have been paid for his release... So there are some spruikers out there dumping heaps on the government. They would rather see the bloke die than government pay money to terrorists... 

I believe, the case of Julian Assange could be sorted out in the same fashion. I'm sure the ASIO boffins in charge of Ben Zygier have thought of it... Ask the Swedes who are full f their own importance and the Poms who are short of cash to name their price... Ah-ah, but the Yankeedom boffins may veto the transaction and ask PayPal, Visa and MasterCard to put a stop to it...

Whot? you hav nut spottd the speling mistak yut? Yoo disapoint meee...

After winning public affairs program and news program Logie as well as some well deserved gongs for drama, including Redfern Now, the ABC news website carries on about Keddie's Gold Logie Award:

"I think what this really does mean is that it’s such a wonderful opportunity to say thank you to the audience who has watched me play a number of characters over the years, and it's my opportunity to say 'thank you' for being so supportive, even when the characters I have played over the years have not always been entirely likeable.

"Channel Ten is extremely proud of Offspring and could not be more supportive of us," she said.

"They don't interfere, they trust us and I wish nothing but the best for the network."

Keddie was the favourite to win the coveted award after a betting plunge during the past week.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-08/asher-keddie-walks-away-with-logie-gold/4614982

Could the ABC leave the odds and betting out of its "news" reports?... Betting is a private enterprise that leeches on people and produces nothing... Why mention it? Yes, I know, we live in a one horse town...

 

From Kevin Morgan ABC Drum...

It does a massive disservice to the debate about Australia's broadband future that the rollout of the National Broadband Network (NBN) has been reduced to one dimension: the differing capabilities of two technologies.

Indeed, it seems the only issue in play is the differing speeds promised by the Labor Government's fibre to every home policy (FTTH) and those offered under the Coalition's fibre to the node (FTTN) proposal that takes fibre to the street corner and then hooks up to the existing copper cable.

But broadband policy is not one dimensional. It's a complex trade-off between technological capability, cost, competition policy and consumer needs and demand. The question is, when these issues are balanced, which of the two proposals ticks more boxes in terms of sound public policy?

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4625436.html

 

Well in terms of sound public policy, Labor's NBN ticks all the boxes....

 

I may have miscounted by so far I can see that in the name of balance, proportionally the ABC Drum has two articles in support to Malcolm's abomination of a broadband versus one in favour of Labor's NBN...

I suppose we've got to cop it sweet from the National broadcaster whose CEO is a John Howard "appointee"...

One has also got to realise that in the name of efficiency and downsizing, in the past the ABC replaced some of its Betacams with SX format which proved a bit of handful as it's a bastard of a compressed format that tends to contrast the images too much... So recently, the ABC has decided to go with Panasonic cameras with mega-gigabytes cards or such...

Very good so far, quality is comparable to Betacam (still the standard of professional video in my book) except most journalists  are now unable to dub their own "tapes" (cards) for viewing and require an operator to fiddle with an editing machine (at three time the cost) that converts the cards into a readable low resolution format...  But this process can take hours of rendering.

In the past, the conversion of the tapes which used to be done to Video or DVD was done in real time. Now the new system can take an extra few hours of downtime to convert to DVD... Kidding? Nupe... The whole shebang of course was done to "save money" with cheaper cameras and ... on some occasion by reducing the number of crews to one journalist/cameraman/sound recordist... It can be daunting for some old hacks...

Saves money? Nupe...  More often than not the journalists are not the best technos to operate the machinery... They get away with an average image (auto focus) that can appear as "verité" but the sound is a different kettle of fish... The recording ends up with wind noises, farts, white noise ambience, hollow reverberation, unclear speeches when too far from the subject and so on... So if you wonder why the quality of sound on news items is a bit fuzzy and you think you've become a bit hard of hearing, now you know.... Not only at the ABC mind you...

 

So I can see why the ABC would appear to be supporting Abbott's concoction... Quality is not primary value... But Kevin Morgan is silly to think that one could connect "later on". One never does... Or at ten times the cost. When the NBN is connected to houses, I believe the technicians can connect say more than ten houses per day...

Having to come back ten times to connect ten houses at different times is crazy.

Furthermore in the next five years, computers could be working at light speed... What would be the point of being connected to copper?... Silly me.

The ABC has more twaddle supporting the coalition atrocity of a broadband... It used to be two to one articles on the Drum now it's three to one. Idiots:

 

Broadband shouldn't be one size fits all

 

With the Coalition's alternative national broadband plan, Australia is finally focusing on a real issue - that there cannot be a 'one size fits all' approach and that competition has a role, writes Joshua Gans.

This week I will be speaking at a conference in Kansas City. Interestingly, the session I am participating in will be chaired by the mayor, Sly James. This is not usual for an economics conference, but when you see that also speaking at that session is Google's chief economist, Hal Varian, it makes sense. This is because Kansas City was the first winner of Google's contest to pick a city to install a fibre-to-the-home broadband network. And Mayor James is very pleased to be associated with Google.

A couple of years ago, localities all across the US were falling over themselves to get first in line for Google's investment. Topeka, Kansas even renamed itself "Google". One thing was for sure: thanks to competition, Google would face no local regulations in the way of rolling out Google Fibre.

 

Blah blah blah...

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4624722.html
-------------------------------To which a clever fellow commented:

Damien :

12 Apr 2013 5:16:36pm

The best way for the internet to work is actually a one size fits all approach. Computers and the internet can only work to their full potential because of agreed standards, if those standards are variable then the capabilities of the services being offered will have to be low enough to capture everyone. Even if you have fibre, if the majority are using an inferier service, no one will offer you anything better, if everyone has fibre, then everyone can benefit.

----------------------------------

But as we all know the modus operandi of the coalition is the rich should have the exclusive best, acquired by money or favours, while the plebs should have the average or below sewer level... It has been the same since Menzies cunningly combined a few ultra-conservative parties under the false name of "Liberal Party" which of course is a misnomer as the party has no liberal intent — except create the law of the jungle atmosphere for the plebs while enjoying the sun in the tree tops— and is ultra-conservative to its boots... The "upstairs-downstairs" syndrome is super-obvious in the Liberal Party broadband atrocious idea of a network...

 

 

The ABC says it is disappointed with its British counterpart for selling its drama and comedy television shows to Foxtel.

The BBC has signed a commercial deal with Foxtel which will air the content exclusively on a dedicated channel from July next year.

The pay-TV network will have first rights on all BBC-made productions ahead of Australian free-to-air networks.

A spokesman for the ABC, which has partnered with the BBC for 50 years, says the public broadcaster was only told about the deal yesterday.

"In the past the ABC has been able to point to our audience share, distinctive reach and the unique relationship between the two organisations, which has lasted 50 years," the spokesman said.

"The ABC is disappointed that this decision was taken without any consultation.

"The decision has no impact on the ABC's ability to acquire content from other British production houses and television networks like ITV and Channel 4."

Bruce Meagher, director of corporate communications for Foxtel, says he does not believe the ABC should feel entitled to the content.

"There is nothing that says that the BBC's taxpayers owe Australian taxpayers anything," he said.

"The BBC model outside the UK is to operate as a commercial enterprise and that's entirely appropriate."

The BBC says the deal will allow it to expand its reach in Australia by offering a new channel on top of the four existing services available through Foxtel.

The ABC does keep a few shows, including Doctor Who, QI and children's show Peppa Pig.

Whovians. Fear not. The ABC retains Australian rights for Dr Who across all of time and space.

— Mark Scott (@abcmarkscott) 

 

 

Once upon a time, our national broadcaster, the ABC, would have kept outside this Murdochian Circle. Have had reporters who created news themselves, not just parroted the news agenda of a highly tarnished international news syndicate ― News Ltd. Had programs that set the political agenda not copied someone else’s. Conducted interviews with questions they had researched, not simply repeating political spin from the right. Once, it would have provided a circuit breaker ― an alternative.

Now, not only does it not provide an alternative, but it has been locked into the Murdoch circle ― behaving in exactly the same way as other lesser media outlets.

But it is even worse than that.

The ABC, retaining the air of authority, of credibility, of objectivity ‒ built up carefully over decades by good people ‒ is providing legitimacy, in turn, to News Ltd. The procession of News Ltd journalists, columnists, the reviewing of the papers, the breathless presentation of Murdoch Memes, all replace the original good journalism of the ABC with propaganda.

And similar processes seem to have happened in America and Britain.

http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/business/media-2/rupert-murdochs-journalistic-cancer/

 

Some programs at the ABC have escaped this murdochratisation, but I hear it's a hard slog to maintain "independence"... Even programs like Catalyst appear to have suffered from having to be "balanced" on issues such as global warming: 50 per cent crap and 50 per cent science.... In general the news bulletins at the ABC are totally swallowed by the murdoch disease... and puns.

I believe Mark Scott, the Managing Director of the ABC, is more concerned about the technologies and the various platforms of broadcasting, than of proper content accuracy, though he might dispute this with his support for the "inquisition"... The inquisition at the ABC, despite having lost a few of its ultra right wing teeth, is still alive and well, and cracking the whip to minimise investigative journalism...

 

And that, surely, is the point. These days, a journalist’s Twitter stream IS part of his work – or, in marketing terms, of his personal brand. Fairfax staff, clearly, have more latitude than those who work for the ABC. But the Washington Post, for example, tells its reporters this :


When posting content online, ask yourself: Would this posting make a reader question my ability to do my job objectively and professionally ...? If so, don’t post it.

— Washington Post, Social Media Policy

Well, too late for that advice now. But should a few indiscreet tweets disqualify a candidate who is otherwise well-equipped to do an important job? Everyone will have their own view about that. This is the ABC’s...


There is a basic principle of freedom of thought and expression here. A successful career in a range of senior journalistic roles that includes a social media presence and voice, should not preclude an individual from being considered for employment at the ABC. 

— Bruce Belsham, Head Current Affairs, ABC News, 8th June, 2013

The problem for the ABC is that this is a very particular job. Personally, I don’t doubt that Russell Skelton would do it well. But what matters is not what I think, but what the Coalition will say the first time the Fact Checking Unit finds one of them has told a porky. How much better if those tweets had never been posted.

 

http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s3778594.htm

 

Who knows, the new fact-checker might fact-check Jonathan Holmes as well... He may not like that one bit...

I get irate... A show on the ABC has this joker trying to tell you about something scientific and millions of washing machines in the UK... all about super-sized earth... As if we're dumb...  At one stage, the guy tells us that a crane has to lift 1200 tonnes and its maximum lifting capacity is 1200 tonnes and wink wink as if things were at the limit of whatever... and we could expect disaster...

 

As a failed engineer, Gus knows a bit more about crane-lift than the average bear... It's simple. There is such a thing as SWL or what is called Safe Working Load. Having designed cranes and lifting gear in the past, the SWL is usually five times under the breaking strain of the entire gear.

 

That means that a crane designed to lift 1200 tonnes crane can actually lift 6000 tonnes before breaking up. Passed that point things can start to break, but even this does not mean things will break... A 1200 tonnes lifting crane can actually safely lift 3600 tonnes. But it's illegal. 

 

The ABC and a former young Territorian of the year have been ordered to pay a total of $133,000 in damages for defaming a central Australian indigenous leader.

The Northern Territory Supreme Court found that Tennant Creek Aboriginal leader Rosalie Kunoth-Monks was defamed in a broadcast of the ABC Radio current affairs program AM.

At a sitting in Alice Springs today, the court found the program broadcast comments from the 2012 young Territorian of the year, Rebecca Healy, that defamed Ms Kunoth-Monks.

It ruled AM had broadcast allegations that Ms Kunoth-Monks had demeaned her local community by accusing it of being racist during a 2012 Australia day protest in Canberra.

During that protest, then-prime minister Julia Gillard was evacuated from a Canberra restaurant.

Ms Kunoth-Monks says the court decision helps clear her name.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-13/rosalie-kunoth-monks-defamation-damages-order-nt-supreme-court/5089614

 

ABC managing director Mark Scott says he's very concerned about the release of such private information.

"I think everyone would expect that payroll information should be confidential. It shouldn't leak," he told ABC Radio in Melbourne on Wednesday.

"I'm very concerned about that and an investigation has been launched this morning into how that information could have got out."

The documents show 7.30 presenter Leigh Sales is paid less than Jones, earning $280,400 a year, while Insiders presenter Barrie Cassidy earns $243,478. Presenter Waleed Aly is paid $187,500 and former political editor Chris Uhlmann earns $255,400 a year, according to the documents.

Scott said a Senate estimates hearing had already decided it wasn't in the public interest to release the ABC's payroll information.

"This hurts the ABC and it hurts the ABC's ability to attract and maintain talent," he said. He added that most private sector executives would believe the ABC's salary rates are far less than those in commercial television and radio.

ABC Melbourne radio presenter Jon Faine was reported to earn $285,249 in the leaked documents. On his morning breakfast show he confirmed he did make that amount a few years ago, but revealed he recently signed a new contract for $300,000 a year.

"I'm not embarrassed. I'm annoyed," he said of the salary information being released.

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/nov/20/abc-to-investigate-leak-of-document-detailing-staff-salaries

 

It has to be said that the ABC pays far less than half of the commercial rate for top gunners. A person like Tony Jones could ear up to a million bux presenting a rating show on commercial TV... As well, his workload is quite large considering the subjects he's tackling and the need for balance and ACCURACY which the commercial TV don't care much about... They're after a foot in the door of someone whether guilty or not...

 

Why should taxpayers foot the bill for a news service that repeats the same lies as the commercial media? Alan Austin looks at the ABC's meek surrender to News Corp ideology.

THE FOLLOWING WAS SUBMITTED as a formal complaint to the ABC on 10 December 2013:

ABC News is using employees of News Corp Australia as sources of information and analysis. This makes the risk of repeating distortions, omissions and falsehoods unacceptably high.

Hence it violates the ABC’s duty 'to ensure that the gathering and presentation of news and information is accurate according to the recognised standards of objective journalism'.

Specifically, on Monday 18th November 2013 on News Radio Marius Benson interviewed Dennis Shanahan from The Australian on Sri Lanka, the debt ceiling and the by-election for Kevin Rudd’s seat.

It was disturbing to hear the ABC use the services of any News Corp political ‘journalist’, but especially one with Mr Shanahan’s record of falsification of ‘news’.

News Corp is part of an international organisation which has a proven history over the last decade or so of activities against the law and against the common good in virtually all countries in which it operates. These include serial fabrications.

In the USA, research has shown that distortion and falsification of news is so endemic within News Corp that its consumers are not only more ignorant than consumers of other news services but more ignorant than those who watch no news at all.

In the United Kingdom, more than 100 people have been arrested recently on charges relating to News Corp illegally sourcing information. Of these, 26 have been formally charged.

In Australia, many senior employees have violated laws with the approval and support of management.

In 2011, Andrew Bolt was found guilty in the Federal Court of fabricating more than 19 deliberate falsehoods regarding Aboriginal Australians. In two articles.

In 2002, the same employee was found guilty in the Victorian Supreme Court of concocting falsehoods against magistrate Jelena Popovic.

In a later appeal hearing, Justice Eugene Gillard said: 'Mr Bolt’s conduct in the circumstances was, at worst, dishonest and misleading and, at best, grossly careless. It reflects upon him as a journalist'.

Despite these adverse findings and others, Mr Bolt remains employed.

Other senior News Corp journalists and executives also fabricate routinely. In 2010 Justice Stephen Kaye in the Victorian Supreme Court condemned senior executives for their lies in court.

In his judgment on the wrongful dismissal of Bruce Guthrie, Justice Kaye said he “had reservations about a number of features” of the evidence of (then) News Limited chief executive John Hartigan.

“In my view Hartigan was an unreliable witness in respect of the negotiations that proceeded the formation of the contract.”

The judge was even more scathing of the lies of Herald and Weekly Times chief Peter Blunden: “I also consider that the explanations given by Mr Blunden in evidence … do not survive scrutiny.”

An excessive number of News Corp writers have been found by the Australian Press Council (APC), by Mediawatch and other investigations to have fabricated ‘news’ for political advantage or to have committed other breaches of ethical journalism.

Refer APC adjudications 1420, 1430, 1441, 1447, 1476, 1480, 1483, 1484, 1486, 1492, 1496, 1498, 1503, 1506, 1509, 1511, 1513, 1515, 1517, 1519, 1523, 1525, 1527, 1529, 1530, 1531, 1536, 1537, 1539, 1540, 1547, 1549, 1550, 1554, 1555, 1556, 1558, 1561, 1562, 1568, 1572 and others.

The ‘journalist’ interviewed by Marius Benson in the specific example, above, fabricated the front page story in The Australian on 29 February 2012. His six fresh news ‘revelations’ were all completely false.

As long as the ABC uses news and current affairs reporters employed by News Corp then the reliability of the ABC’s reports will continue to be just as low.

So far in 2013, the ABC has upheld more than forty complaints about inaccuracies in its reports. It may be instructive to research how many of these false reports originated from News Corp personnel or publications. All? Most? More than half?

Hence the ABC’s duty would appear to be to avoid completely reports from News Corp or other organisations which willingly employ known fabricators.

Alternatively, perhaps an advisory for listeners in advance: “Warning. The following report is from an employee of News Corp and hence is highly likely to be factually inaccurate.”

This would serve the interests of listeners who prefer valid information to distortions.

It would also serve the interests of the ABC when some are calling for its privatisation. Clearly, there is no justification for a news service paid for by taxpayers when it broadcasts the same misinformation as does News Corp – and by the very same people.

Please note this complaint relates to using reporters from News Corp’s state, national and foreign affairs news departments where the culture of omission, distortion and fabrication is entrenched. It does not apply to the sports, arts or travel departments which have remained free of false reporting.

This complaint does not relate to using journalists from other media organisations which do not have a proven record of criminality and falsification of news.

I am familiar with the case made by [New Matilda journalist] Ben Eltham regarding the employment of [News Corp journalist] Alan Kohler and theresponse by [ABC director of news] Kate Torney. The missing element in Ms Torney’s analysis seems to be that News Corp, unlike Fairfax, Crikeyor other media organisations, has now moved outside the field of legitimate news media organisations and now routinely generates deliberate falsehoods. It clearly expects its senior personnel to lie – in court, as well as in their publications – and rewards them for so doing.

This was shown fairly conclusively in the recent Leveson Inquiry in the UK.

Please note finally that this does not relate to the matter of political bias or balance. It relates solely to the reliability of the factual information presented.

[End of formal complaint]

An automatic reply was received immediately on 10 December, advising reference number C66136-13 with a link to the complaints page.

This advises:

'The ABC seeks to deal with complaints as quickly as possible, and aims to respond to all complaints within 30 days of receipt. However, due to the complexity of some complaints and the availability of staff, some complaints may take longer to finalise.'

That was 80 days ago.

Since then, further articles have appeared in Independent Australia exposing the fabrications of Dennis Shanahan — one by Matthew N Donovan and another by this writer.

ABC News Radio has continued to broadcast the analysis of Murdoch ‘journalists’. On Thursday this week, Marius Benson aired several factually problematic assertions by The Australian’s Patricia Karvelas in his ‘Daily political chat’.

These included about Tony Abbott, that

"... politically, he doesn’t want to break any election promises. He’s made that extremely clear."

Readers of Independent Australia, of course, know what News Corp readers will never be told — that Abbott has already broken more than 25 promises.

A follow-up inquiry was sent to the ABC on 14 February which received another automated email response – reference C7699-14. But nothing further.

If and when a response is received, IA will advise.

Read also Daily Telegraph lashed by Press Council over Slipper reporting. You can follow Alan Austin on Twitter @alantheamazing.

http://www.independentaustralia.net/business/business-display/abc-provides-platform-for-murdoch-manipulators-to-mislead,6233

----------------------------------

Meanwhile today, the ABC website has been on the blink for one and a half hour so far... Service Unavailable. Normal service will resume as soon as possible.

 

 

From Alan Kohler

...

The effect on the budget of Rudd, and his Treasurer Wayne Swan, was so horrendous that the 2013 election had to be the most mendacious in history.

Their spending binge, on top of the disastrous permanent tax cuts that John Howard and Peter Costello introduced in their final two terms, meant that no one could have been elected in 2013 if they told the truth about what would be required to repair the budget.

So the time bombs laid by previous governments of both colours guaranteed that the 2013 election would be based on broken promises. And the Coalition made matters worse by promising increased spending.

Could they have simply refrained from making the promises? Left it at sins of omission, rather than commission? Sure, but where's the fun in that?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-15/kohler-budget-time-bombs-meant-lies-were-inevitable/5452348

 

---------------------------------------------

 

Alan Kohler still works at the ABC as THE ONLY "economist" commentator every night... He sold his business which was strongly related to the Liberal views of "free market", which is ONLY ONE point of view of economic and social value. It is my view (and that of many people) that Kohler should be either removed from the ABC "news" or a different viewpoint be ALSO presented on economic matters on the ABC "news". 

FOR ALAN KOHLER TO END WITH : WHERE'S THE FUN IN THAT?  shows that he is an in-compassionate insensitive bastard. There is NO FUN in Abbott and his stooges making FAKE promises that most decent people will believe. It's a tragedy for most people who, unlike Kohler, don't have millions of disposable income. 

And please don't mention the "time bombs" from the previous government. They are figment of your Liberal (CONservative) imagination. Please don't tell us about:

Australia's system of democracy has settled into one that relies for its smooth operation on the utmost cynicism by its participants - politicians and voters.

Voters can be cynical, but more often than not, they are trusting enough. They can be shifted from one pile to another by stupid slogans that they will trust, sometimes only for "a change"... Had they been really cynical about cynical politicians, they would never have elected Abbott the Liar in a million years...

Stop being a stooge for the Liberal (CONservative) party, Alan... Do the right thing. Piss off the ABC airwaves.

 

The Roast team takes a typically acerbic look at the nation's politicians to say farewell after three years on the air. The Coalition, Labor, Greens, Nick Xenophon and the Palmer United party all face a range of barbs before Mark Humphries signs off with 'goodbye arseholes'. The ABC announced this week it would be pulling the plug on the nightly satire program...

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2014/nov/07/final-abc-roast-farewell-canberra-politicians-video

Of course The Roast was the only real political comedy show with some bite, on the ABC (2). Mad As Hell has some teeth too, but The Roast was far more responsive to daily news and current capers.

 

We will miss you all:

Tom Glasson — Alex Lee — Mark Humphries — Clarke Richards — Jazz Twemlow — Nick Richardson.

 

You all deserve an Order of Australia for being too good against the arseholes in government. The ABC shoots itself in the foot once more...

 

OPEN LETTER TO MARK SCOTT FROM FIONA BARNETT

Mark Scott

Managing Director of the ABC

GPO Box 9994

Sydney NSW 2001

scott.mark@abc.net.au

Fax: 8333 5344

5 November 2015

Dear Mr Scott,

I refer to the email I received from ABC Media Watch on 4/11/2015. Sally Virgoe emailed me in response to one of the many complaints Media Watch received after Episode 40 aired on 2/11/2015. In her email, Ms Virgoe asks:

…where we quote from Neon Nettle and that quote links your experiences to the Ninth Circle Satanic Child Sacrifice Cult… Can you clarify if you believe your experiences are part of the Cult, or not?... we will put a note on our transcript if need be but your clarification is required.

Ms Virgoe already knew the answer to this question before she initially contacted me. In her first email to me, dated 29/10/2015, Ms Virgoe admitted she had already read my 2014 disclaimer concerning the Neon Nettle article:

You’ve stated on Independent Australia that a distorted version of your testimony went viral, with a link through to the story that contains the account above. This is that story http://www.neonnettle.com/news/1081-nicole-kidman-s-dad-dies-amid-aussie-paedophile-ring-scandal

This proves that Media Watch intentionally published a factual error. Media Watch wrongly associated me with a "child sacrifice cult" referred to as the "Ninth Circle". At no stage have I identified the "Ninth Circle" as being responsible for my child abuse.

A further concern is Media Watch’s inclusion of a 23/10/2015 press release provided by Operation Attest. In this, the Federal Police say they thoroughly investigated my claims and found no evidence to support them. This press release content contradicts the correspondence Operation Attest provided me and which I gave to all media outlets that attended my Sydney Press Conference, and which SNAP provided Media Watch on 29/10/2015. In their correspondence to me, Operation Attest told me that they prematurely closed my case because all of the perpetrators I named were dead. Two former prime ministers that I named to Operation Attest are very much alive. Why did Media Watch not investigate and report on the obvious discrepancy between the Federal Police documents?

Holy Moly a must read! where's the Justice? "Abuse survivor Fiona Barnett: The ‘Candy Girl’ https://t.co/C74lqtxSt8 @IndependentAus#auspol

— Lady Muk Raking (@IIreckon) October 24, 2015

ABC Media Watch concluded:

'…when we asked her to back up some of her claims, she was unwilling or unable to do so.'

I responded to every email Media Watch sent me. The second email (dated 30/10/2015) from Sally Virgoe was aggressive, inappropriate, and offensive. This email effectively asked me to prove that I was a victim of child abuse. It asked me to provide my personal medical and other files and to do so within 24 hours. I declined to provide my personal medical files. In my final response to Media Watch, I stated that this level of inquiry into my complex case was outside the scope of ABC Media Watch.

ABC Media Watch omitted all evidence provided to them in support of my claims.Media Watch excluded the official response to their inquiries from SNAP. They excluded the favourable character references they obtained from journalists who did conduct in-depth interviews with me and investigations of my story and evidence.

Media Watch told SNAP they could not locate the ABC TV footage of my 22/10/2015 Sydney Press Conference. Consequently, I provided Media Watchwith viewing access to Channel 9’s TV footage. Please explain how Media Watch intended to critique my Press Coverage when they did not have access to the footage? Reliable sources inform me that my story did not even appear on theMedia Watch brief for Episode 40.

Experienced and respected journalists have expressed to me their disgust withMedia Watch’s coverage of my Press Conference.

One journalist wrote to me the following:

Media Watch did the very thing that it accused the rest of the media of doing – not researching your allegations. Instead because your claims are outrageous they tried to discredit you on that basis alone. But given the outrageous accusations that have proven to be true in recent years eg, Rolf Harris, Jimmy Savile, pedophiles in the highest levels of UK government etc, it’s naïve and ignorant to rule things out purely on that basis.

Episode 40 of Media Watch did not focus on critiquing the media’s coverage of my Sydney Press Conference. Instead, it embarked upon a character assassination of me. Media Watch determined to discredit the witness testimony of a victim of the most severe category of child abuse.

As I stated in the Sydney Press Conference that SNAP asked me to attend, my going public about my experiences of Australia’s VIP pedophile network was never about me. I agreed to do that Press Conference because no other Australian child abuse victim previously had the capacity to do so. My primary motivation for fulfilling that request was to provide a voice for those victims who are too fragile, disabled – or dead – to speak for themselves.

When Media Watch sarcastically mocked and vilified me, they were in fact attacking the many thousands of Australian victims of crime whose lives have been destroyed by predators of the basest kind. Those victims see Media Watch’s antics as a blatant attempt to silence them. They liken the ABC to the BBC who notoriously supported rampant VIP paedophiles, including Jimmy Saville.

#BBC branded Savile whistleblowers traitors and 'squeezed them out'http://t.co/WCNYYORueF via @MailOnline because they knew & covered it up

— Tracey Hall (@traceycv) July 29, 2015

In my vast experience, the only people who devote time and effort to criticising and discrediting child abuse victims are those with a vested interest in silencing child abuse victims. ABC Media Watch’s handling of my witness testimony effectively serves to deter other victims from coming forward and reporting their own experiences. Was this ABC Media Watch’s intention?

Media Watch sensationalised my witness testimony concerning VIP child sex trafficking, rape and murder. 

Mr Scott, it is going to take much more than a note on Media Watch’s transcript to reverse the damage Episode 40 has done to me and to the public’s perception of child abuse witness testimony. I insist that my entire statement be read on Media Watch’s Episode 41 next week — with a full apology; otherwise I will be forced to take further action due to the damage Episode 40 has done to my reputation.

Sincerely,

Fiona Rae Barnett

read more: https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/unethical-abc-media-watch-attacks-child-abuse-victim-and-whistleblower,8358

---------------------

 

As one who's been privy to similar stories (with evidence) as that of Fiona Barnett, but cannot reveal here unless the parties agree too, without being shot by the police beforehand (a few attempts have been reported), Gus can suggest that Media Watch is being fed bullshit by "informants" who are agents of some illustrious celebs and political perpetrators trying to push the official line that the under-age sexual abuse by pollies and dignitaries of Fiona Barnett did not happen. If one read the articles in this line of comments (and over this site), one would soon realise that Media Watch is NEVER 100 per cent accurate. When Media Watch gets a bee under its bonnet, it pushes a barrow of shit and gets things completely wrong. 0 per cent accuracy.

One should ask why? Media Watch is not part of the News and Current Affairs department at the ABC. Media Watch IS NOT NEWS. Media Watch is about sprouting opinions, sometimes right, more often wrong and very often petty. In cases such as Fiona's, "it is possible that" Media Watch gets behind the scene unchecked "information" from lawyers (not ABCs), Solicitors, politicians, barristers and other "informants" who can present a VERY credible case of bullshit. Media Watch, hungry for sensationalism, swallows this — hook, line, sinker and a copy of "Fishing Floats for Beginners"...

I know.

See toon at top... and articles below it.

 

The final shreds of the ABC's reputation have just fluttered away in the wind, writes managing editorDavid Donovan.

Ho hum. Yesterday, I got back to work after a rare week off and now, I have to say, I am feeling a trifle depressed.

Not depressed because of work, which I love, but because, while I was away, the final nails in the coffin of the ABC's credibility were hammered in. Or at least, that's the way it seems to me.

I love the public broadcaster – like everyone who comes from the bush does – so the gutting and ripping into the heart of this invaluable Australian institution really does break my own.

First, we had supposed political reporter Sabra Lane on ABC 7.30 speaking to unlamented former Prime Minister Tony Abbott for seven minutes about his private art collection and passionate love for Winston Churchill. Seven – bloody – minutes. Seven minutes, when they could have taking about something that actually mattered. I mean, if Abbott was still PM, or even a frontbencher, the topic may – just may! – have had some slight, tiny little, miniscule scintilla of relevance or value — but he ain't! And surely never will be again. So why, ABC, why!?

ICYMI: Tony Abbott says he no longer thinks of Parliament's art as 'avant garde crap' https://t.co/ipk6carytz pic.twitter.com/tgUrkf9F3B

— abc730 (@abc730) January 7, 2016

Dear, oh dear, oh dear.

And then, late last week, we saw former ABC Technology editor Nick Ross quit the public broadcaster, whereafter he promptly went onto Twitter and Reddit to explain that he had been censored by ABC management to prevent him from fairly reporting on the NBN. That he had been gagged for years from explaining to the public the simple fact – well understood by anyone with a modem – that, as communications minister and then as prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull has destroyed the NBN with his retrograde, coppercentric (or should we say coprophile?) policies.

Nick Ross has only answered one question. It's about the ABC and it's a doozy. pic.twitter.com/kI9EF5GNT2

— brad esposito (@braddybb) January 15, 2016

The clincher for me came when Nick Ross mentioned that ABC management had told

'... some ABC journos not to chase up the initial Peter Slipper story.'

We wondered at the time why the ABC had provided such poor coverage after the Rares' judgement in 2012. Presenter Steve Cannane famously said on The Drum that it was because everyone at the ABC was on holidays at the time, but I think we now know the truth.

It is also notable that, although the ABC turned up and filmed the Ashbygate book launch in Caloundra in December, it did not make any ABC TV news bulletin, though it did appear in broadcasts by numerous other media outlets.

(Of course, don't mention any concerns about the NBN or Ashbygate around onanistic undergraduate clickbait "journalists" — they will just call you "broken".)

New ranking of my favorite brokens: 3. Ashbygaters 2. Schapelle truthers 1. NBN crusaders

— Mark Di Stefano (@MarkDiStef) January 15, 2016

@MarkDiStef Hi Mark, just read your article. lol! But who said this "Nick was told repeatedly, ‘don’t be an advocate be a reporter" total BS

— Nick Ross (@NickRossTech) January 18, 2016

The truth is that the ABC has become cowed into being L-NP apologists because they are so deathly worried about having their funding cut further and losing their jobs. At least, that is the script ABC management have been allegedly repeatedly telling its reporters in an apparent effort to swing the public broadcaster to the right (or, as the ABC calls it, to "seek balance").

It is a weak argument, because the Liberal Party will always work to undermine the ABC on behalf of the IPA, Rupert Murdoch and its other corporate media sponsors, irrespective of how conservative the ABC may deign to become.

ABC delayed Alberici's pro-NBN article until after the election - Delimiterhttp://t.co/KXIvvN4ssm via @delimiterau

— Ex Lord Mark of E (@edwardatport) May 23, 2014

The ABC could be drier than the Gobi Desert and more ;reactionary than theSpectator, but it wouldn't make a jot of difference, because the Coalition would still be looking to cut the ABC's funding and close it down.

It's the ideology, stupid!

And, far more important in their minds, best practice for the Liberal Party's big business bum chums.

Nevertheless, this flimsy argument has worked throughout much of the broadcaster, as we can see by such things as court-certified racist Andrew Bolt being employed to do a documentary on Indigenous Recognition.

The ABC plunges to a new low https://t.co/CctCFaoqD4. "The ABC does not need to resort to using an unrepentant liar" So, Murdoch has won!

— Shirley Green (@ShirleyGreen11) January 18, 2016

What the ...

And now that Turnbull has appointed a former News Corp lawyer to replace former Liberal Party staffer Mark Scott to head the organisation, one can only see this trend continuing and – heaven forbid! – becoming even worse.

Dark days for the ABC.

read more: https://independentaustralia.net/business/business-display/malcolm-turnbull-nick-ross-and-the-sad-story-of-a-broken-abc,8590

 

See toon at top and read articles below it...

Paul Chadwick

Paul Chadwick is the Guardian’s fourth readers’ editor and took up the role in June 2016. A journalist and lawyer, he was director editorial policies at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, where he was responsible for reforming the broadcaster’s self-regulatory framework. He is a former director of Guardian Australia.

 

-----------------

Paul Chadwick and his team of "lawyers" at the ABC, reduced the ability of the ABC journalists to be independently investigative. As far as I could see, from his "reforming" actions at the ABC, Paul Chadwick is a right-wing ideal pusher and of 50/50 blancmange. This is why his exposure of the Social media "fake news" is biased in favour of traditional "fake news" as promoted by the likes of the Murdoch media, the Soros media, The Guardian, that have a different agenda (propaganda) to push. Here the Guardian is having this article BECAUSE THE GUARDIAN IS UNDER THREAT FROM SOCIAL MEDIA. Nothing much else.

 

Some of the social media in Australia are far more pertinent than the articles peddled by the Guardian, say, on Syria for example — all in favour of the US empire in the Guardian. 

OffGuardian exposes the tricks:

https://off-guardian.org/2018/02/11/comment-set-free-the-epic-failure-of...

https://off-guardian.org/2018/02/10/comment-set-frre-on-the-guardian-vie...

https://off-guardian.org/2018/02/11/44583/

 

Other "social" media in Australia to consider is : Independent Australia and many others "on the left" which the mostly rightwing MMMM (mediocre mass media de shit) including The Guardian want us to ignore. 

 

Read from top.

see also:

http://www.yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/node/12749

Dear Mr Barry,

In your ABC Media Watch segment last night (12/2/18) entitled ‘The Barnaby Affair’, you incorrectly claimed that last week, "The Daily Telegraph went where no one else had dared to go and revealed the worst-kept secret in national politics: that the Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the National Party was expecting a baby with his former media adviser, Vikki Campion."

Further in the piece you described the story as “scoop” and that “Sharri Markson … broke the story”.

All these claims are false and require immediate correction.

In fact, the Daily Telegraph and Sharri Markson did not break the story of Barnaby Joyce’s affair with a staffer.

The story of the affair was broken by Serkan Ozturk in his publication True Crime News Weekly on 24 October 2017: https://truecrimenewsweekly.com/2017/10/24/exclusive-marriage-hypocrite-deputy-pm-barnaby-joyce-cheats-on-wife-with-long-sexual-affair-with-staffer-while-lecturing-public-on-gays-ruining-marriage/

The opening line from Ozturk’s 24/10/17 article: "EXCLUSIVE: Embattled Deputy Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce, has been conducting a clandestine sexual affair with a female staffer for up to 10 months this year while at the same time grandiosely lecturing the Australian public about how gay people wanting to get married threatens the institution of marriage."

It then goes into more detail.

True Crime News Weekly then reiterated these and revealed even more disturbing claims in a subsequent article the following day: https://truecrimenewsweekly.com/2017/10/25/shocking-australias-deputy-pm-barnaby-joyce-alleged-to-have-stalked-molested-teen-girl-and-young-woman/  

Some of the other claims also now appear to be becoming confirmed by the mainstream media — “confirm” being the correct terminology for what Sharri Marson and the Daily Telegraph did last week, not “scoop”, “reveal” or “brreak”.

The claim that Barnaby had gotten his staffer pregnant was also not first revealed by Markson or News Corp.

This was first mentioned in the media by our publication in an article published on 19 November 2017, after we had sent our Sydney bureau chief Ross Jones to Tamworth to investigate a plethora of sensational allegations we had been receiving, including those first reported by True Crime News Weekly.

You can read this article here: https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/exclusive-barnaby-joyce-peeling-back-the-rumours,10942

The only thing the Daily Telegraph revealed was the name of the staffer, something Independent Australia knew but had kept out of the public domain for ethical reasons. The story was not really about her and we saw no public interest in her privacy being breached. Obviously, News Corp held no such compunctions.

We would appreciate a correction in your publication and an apology for this very poor reporting on the part of ABC Media Watch. You got it wrong and you should own up to it.

 

Read more:

https://independentaustralia.net/business/business-display/editorial-exc...

News that Ita Buttrose will take the reins as the new chair of the ABC has brought months of uncertainty at the public broadcaster to an end.

It also caps what author and board advisor Marc Stigter calls an "extraordinary" and "unprecedented" level of turmoil at the top.

Stigter has some advice — in the form of five simple verbs — for the board going forward.

These verbs, he told RN's Richard Aedy, will help the board futureproof itself, so history doesn't repeat.

 

Read more crap:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-28/ita-buttrose-advice-for-futurepro...

------------

This is complete bullshit from a "board advisor" who has not understood how the ABC'S charter works. What has happened and should not have happened are GOVERNMENT EDITORIAL INTERFERENCE and Budget cuts... The rest beyond this is fiddle faddle and quite stupid like Chis Kenny's article in The Australian today (1 3 19)...

see:

 

Right choice to fix insular Aunty

 

CHRIS KENNY

Ita Buttrose gifts the ABC some attributes it’s been lacking. She’s a born leader, powerful advocate and experienced journalist.