media

As he embarks on an election year, there is a question about whether Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s media communications strategy, which has served him well for a long time, is fit for the current political environment.

The strategy is predicated on the proposition that Morrison is the government’s prime political asset, to be protected as necessary and exploited where possible. Doubtless this is a legacy of his “miracle” win in 2019. 

To this end, it has four central elements.

The first is to maximise his visibility when there is good news or an “announceable” to unveil. These appearances are tightly controlled and usually supported by some theatrical prop: an officer in uniform; Morrison himself in a hard hat or some other form of dress-up – a chef’s apron, a medical researcher’s lab coat, a high-vis vest while sitting in the cab of a big truck. The media get plenty of footage but little chance to ask questions.

The second is to minimise his visibility when there is bad news. Handling this is delegated to a cabinet minister or a government official such as the chief medical officer. Where possible, blame for the bad news is also shifted to someone else.

Read more: Morrison's political judgement goes missing on rapid antigen test debacle

The third is to maximise his direct exposure to friendly media. These include Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp outlets, matey radio jocks such as Ray Hadley on Sydney’s 2GB, and conversational television programs like Channel Seven’s Sunrise.

The fourth is to minimise his direct exposure to critical media. These include the Nine newspapers – The Age, Sydney Morning Herald and Australian Financial Review – Guardian Australia and the ABC.

The foundation on which this strategy rests is plausibility: that enough voters will believe Morrison to be trustworthy and competent.

However, mere plausibility is an unstable surface to build on. In recent months, Morrison’s has been seriously eroded.

On the question of trustworthiness, French President Emmanuel Macron said Morrison had lied to him about the cancelled submarine contract, and this was followed immediately by a cascade of further allegations that Morrison was a liar, most notably by Malcolm Turnbull, who said he had a reputation for dishonesty.

On the question of competence, Morrison now finds himself jammed between his political need to consign COVID to the past, and the reality of the Omicron wave. It is not going well.

As cases exploded across the country over Christmas and New Year, he persisted with his push for eased restrictions. His line was faithfully delivered for him by The Australian newspaper. On successive days – December 30 and 31 – it ran page-one banner headlines such as: “PM’s plea: set the people free”.

For a few days he went quiet. Then, on January 3, he stuck his head above the parapet to tell viewers of Seven’s Sunrise program that the government would not be supplying free rapid antigen test kits to everyone because “we just can’t go round and make everything free”.

Read more:

https://theconversation.com/as-covid-rips-through-australia-is-scott-morrisons-media-strategy-starting-to-fail-as-well-174332

(note this article is nearly a month old)

Meanwhile, beware of the fat man...

Please also note: The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian Financial Review will support ScoMo at the "eleventh hour"... to fall in line with the Murdoch media... This has been a pattern in a few previous elections... I would be surprised to see a headline or an editorial at The Sydney Morning Herald and such saying "We don't support ScoMo"... No. The small "l" liberal media will go for "balanced" bullshit... even to the point of sugesting "go with the devil you know...". Rack off...

FREE JULIAN ASSANGE NOW ANYWAY...!!!!!!!!!!!!