See this post for the background to the GG’s over the top defence of Shanahan, Newspoll, and their omniscience in all matters psephological. Responses to Chris Mitchell’s threat to “go” Peter Brent and the subsequent editorial from Simon Jackman, Aussie Bob, Oz Politics, Rank and Vile, Howard Out, Tug Boat Potemkin, Public Opinion, John Quiggin, The Orstrahyn, please insert caffeine and Poll Bludger.
What’s going on here is twofold, I think. First, we’ve got the bastion of the established punditariat, used to the cosy circle between journos, editors, pollies and pollsters, seeing the barbarians storm the gate. That’s never happened before in an election year.
Secondly, the reaction hasn’t been pretty. Fortunately for the cause of the freedom of speech so cherished by Mr Shanahan, Peter Brent didn’t get a very effective monstering from the Australian’s leader writer. But talk about rhetorical overkill. They appear to be following the same approach beloved by their beloved government – go out all guns blazing against one person who is representative of a widely held position, and hope this is enough to chill criticism and debate. Frankly, this smacks of preciousness, arrogance and a desire to intimidate, and it’s despicable behaviour for a supposedly responsible newspaper.
I’m inclined to agree with Simon Jackman:
He already copped a bit of a serve here, which perhaps only goes to show the growing power of non-traditional media like blogs and Crikey. Frankly, I’m surprised that the mainstream media are paying that much attention. Its all good, in the medium-term, long-term. In addition to learning a lot of statistics and political science, I also learned in graduate school that “opinion in good men is but knowledge in the making…� (Milton, Areopagitica).
I’m sure Crikey will be having something to say about this gem from the Government Gazette, which really does sum up their whole proprietorial attitude towards politics and public debate:
Unlike Crikey, we understand Newspoll because we own it.
Update: See comments from here down on my earlier post for discussion of the disappearance of a post on this issue from Tim Dunlop at Blogocracy.
First! Like being kicked to death by a duck.
Posts have disappeared and reappeared at Blogocracy before, I seem to recall. Hold the ’spiracy for now …
RE: The take down of Tim’s posting.
It’s interesting to compare and contrast how the ABC has handled criticism of bias over the last decade, and the resulting changes that have been forced onto the ABC to satisfy those perceptions, with how The Australian is reacting.
There may well be a non-conspiratorial explanation, Amanda, sure. But since it’s a News Ltd blog, I can understand people raising the question.
Pure Gold. A commenter at Poll Bludger sinks their Preferred PM theory out of Government Gazette’s own mouth.
Oh sure. It wouldn’t surprise me aat all actually. He’s bagged on the GG heaps before of course but they do seem to be taking this issue to heart, poor pets.
I await news from Tim.
I posted a comment on Tim’s next post about an hour ago asking what happened. It’s still in moderation.
I don’t want to jump to any conspiracy conclusions, but it’s an awfully (in)convenient time for a post on that particular issue to go MIA.
d
That latest Gazeditorial is gold!! They’re taking their bat, ball and newspoll and going home.
Ok, Ill say it:
The GG: biggest glass jaw in Australian Media.
I wonder when Greg Sheridan is going to start reading what a lot of us, including me, have said about him in the blogosphere
According to the GG’s linked editorial
“According to The Australian’s political editor, Dennis Shanahan, no Opposition since World War II has won government without two key indicators 12 months out from the election. These are that the Opposition Leader has a lead over the incumbent of at least five points on the question of who would make a better Prime Minister and the party has a nine point lead on a two party preferred basis.”
This is because the preferred PM poll is “a leading indicator” (the GG’s words) of voting intentions: the punters say right now that they will vote Labor, but they are warming again to Howard, so by the time the election rolls around they will vote for the coalition.
Hence Shanahan’s great excitement that Howard trails Rudd only 42-43 as preferred PM in the latest Newspoll.
Well, let’s look at what happened the last time an Opposition was this far ahead in the opinion polls, this close to an election, which was late ‘95 – early ‘96, prior to the 1996 election.
The Coalition won that in a landslide. The Labor Party was massacred. You’d think then, that close to the election Howard would have been way ahead in the preferred PM polls.
There was a newspoll held on Feb 28-29 1996, a mere 2-3 days before the election on March 2 1996. Here are the results for preferred PM
Keating 45%
Howard 40%
Undecided 15%.
How do you like them apples?
An excellent scenario to enjoy.
And if I may: who let ‘em in? In retrospect, this was always going to happen. MSM ‘Journos’ are not infallible, and The Australian has been revealed by a crumbling Howard Government to be the Government Gazette (fabulously effective term, that, congrats) it is, as it lurches for a win – any win; today! now! we must have a win, of any sort!. Of them all, this mob were the most vulnerable.
Then they started playing with propellants; one of them – Price, the good bloke not strictly bound himself – leaked, and the incendiary acid has eaten around the place and all the way up the masthead. These three days have been a slow explosive burn for that paper, unable to see the sense of expectancy created by the postponing of its poll results, and they’re still burning.
Stuck inside, they just don’t see how foolish they all look, right now. It is a sickly weak thing they are persisting with. What will they do tomorrow?
They may wise up and give it all a miss, and move on. But it’s too late. Three days!! It’s a burnt masthead, and that will show for a long time.
In fact, if this sort of thing keeps happening, they should pray for a Rudd victory, because that’s the only thing which will, fully, scrub the outfit clean, as viewed by the one thing they’re hurting in their rush to self-gratify: the reader.
From the Tim Dunlop piece that Darryl posted in the comments on the other post.
And this from the editorial.
Pull the other one Mitchell.
Hmm. Seven comments have appeared out of moderation on the latest Blogocracy post and mine wasn’t among them. It was certainly off-topic, but I’m surprised that there’s no acknowledgment that the post has vanished. That seems out of character.
d
THe Editorial: History a better guide than bias is an extraordinary rant. More like a PhD thesis actually.
Seems like “they” are very worried about losing control of the political message to the blogosphere. Is David going to kill Goliath?
Well, lashing out and attacking people is a normal response for these dudes, but they only do it when they are worried or feel they have too.
Its is obviously unpleasant for them, but Charles Richardson & Peter Brent should take it as a compliment.
Are favourable poll results for Howard as preferred PM one of the “rabbits” he says he hasn’t got?
To go along with:
* Revised terror alert for Indonesia that isn’t
* Aboriginal intervention by policy/army (and land grab)
* Increased border (and doctor immigration) security checks
* Banging on about “staying the course in Iraq to ensure democracy, avoid defeat and protect Australia”
Oh, and everyone’s stopped talking about climate change (one Howard’s major weak points) for a bit too . . .
It may be that the limits of what can be said about News Limited on a News Limited blog have been reached. That there would be such limits is not surprising, and I think I said when Tim launched Blogocracy that there were bound to be tensions in juggling the perspective of an independent blogger and writing for a major news outlet. At the end of the day, they pay Tim (whether as an employee or as a contractor – I don’t know) and that has to have some impact on things. I believe him to be an honourable person, though, and I’m sure if the post has disappeared because of its content (and let’s face it, that’s far more probable than a tech glitch), I’m certain that it wasn’t his call. How he responds to it, though – that does raise some serious questions not just in terms of his personal interests – but also in terms of how viable the position he occupies is.
Tim would be the Blogosphere person I would trust the most to act in the most transparent and “honourable” way.
Just been over to Aussie Bobs site to read the posting regarding Dennis Shanahan and it disapeared before my eyes. Anyone know what is going on?
I’m sure that’s true, Amanda, but again there are constraints from the position from which he writes – if we pull down a post for any reason, people are entitled to question it, and we’d give an explanation. But essentially we’re independent actors – bound to be sure by the collective process of decision making and our policy and also accountability to the LP community, but there’s no layer of corporate interest or editorial supervision in non-MSM blogs. I think that does raise some serious questions, and perhaps they’re being faced for the first time.
No, it’s still there, Orchid:
http://www.roadtosurfdom.com/2007/07/12/shanahan-spits-the-dummy/
If you mean Road to Surfdom, then AB’s piece is still there!
I’m having no problem with it, orchid.
Amanda, Ich bin einverstande!
Yes, strangely, I couldn’t get this comment up on Shansy’s blog yesterday.
“Cripes, half a percent jump in Janette’s scone recipe rating in New Idea.
HOLD THE FRONT PAGE!�
Not quite the same issue, Lefty E. Nobody expects the “blogs” at The Australian to act transparently. But Tim was promised – as noted in this comment at Surfdom – full editorial control:
http://www.roadtosurfdom.com/2007/07/12/shanahan-spits-the-dummy/#comment-319531
Yes it raises serious questions — and those questions were raised and discussed when Tim first went over there. So its nothing new, and maybe (maybe) this is the first crunch moment. It doesn’t appear to me he has any constraints on him up to now. If it is interference … well, let’s wait and see how it plays out. I was not worried about Tim disappointing me when he went over there and I’m not worried now.
I would like some clarification too, as much as anyone.
This desperation from News Ltd is another clear sign of panic in the ranks, panic spreading all the way from the White House to Wall Street, from No. 10 to the PM’s Kirribilli Lodge. It’s a doomsday scenario: the collapse of conservatism across the Western political spectrum.
Today Howard couldn’t even remember the name of a Tasmanian Liberal candidate he was supposedly endorsing:
Obviously our PM has other things on his mind. In future, he might want to try this:
See? Much easier, isn’t it?
I used to comment regularly at Tim’s Surfdom blog but gave it away when he joined News Ltd and then spiked a harmless post from Daryl Mason. As I remember, Tim said he could be more effective blogging from inside the News Ltd tent. Wonder what he’s thinking today?
Amanda, basically I agree with you.
I don’t think the Oz is sensitive to the posts on what passes for their lectures-cum-blogs. (It’s obvious only Matt Price reads the responses to him regularly, if at all).
Rather, the Oz is plainly very peeved that crikey.com is overtaking it on the ‘insiders’ lane. And crikey regularly publishes Peter Brent’s distilled wisdom, most notably on Tuesday as its number one item, with a mocking heading and blurb (I presume by Christian Kerr or Charles Richardson).
Also worth noting how the discussion today has morphed from outrage at the Oz editorial to concern for poor Tim.
The two issues are obviously related, gandhi.
Hivemind!
Right – I didnt realise there was a relationship with News Ltd there. Hmmm, interesting.
Mind you, thats because I dont actually go to other blogs, not since Flutey’s retirement anyway. Must check out this ere blogocracy deal.
Btw, is anyone else having a spanking good time in diese uberstoush mit Der Newsmammon?
I know I am!!
Alons alons enfants de Ozblogistan
le jour de gloire
est arrivee!!
And all that is part of a much bigger global battle between bloggers and the mainstream media and political elites, who have had a monopoly on interpreting the news to the electorate for many decades.
Blogs don’t really represent a threat to true journalists: we still need REAL news stories to “feed off” (as the Oz editorial puts it). But we do provide an interpretation of those news stories which represents a threat to the editorial teams, the rabid columnists, and the politicians whose favour they curry.
Murdoch is well aware of this threat, and I think that’s why he allowed his son to bring Tim Dunlop into News HQ.
Thanks for pointing that out to me, Mark.
““Cripes, half a percent jump in Janette’s scone recipe rating in New Idea.
HOLD THE FRONT PAGE!â€?”
I read that comment yesterday but when I went back a short while later I swear the comment count was 3 less than my earlier visit.
Another post by a regular contributor to Blogocracy also seemed to disappear.
I sent an email to the Fairfax newsdesk about this story earlier today and am now getting hits from them as they dig through the dirt.
It will be interesting to see what they make of it, but it does raise the question:
Whos is “feeding off” whom, eh????
I don’t think Murdoch’s son has anything to do with the management of News in Australia, gandhi.
I can’t recall who said this yesterday, but the significant thing about this episode (and I agree, as I said in the post, that it does represent a fightback from those whose presumed access to controlling the news agenda has been questioned) is that the distributed knowledge that can be assembled by the blogosphere (for instance, Possum’s superb demolition of the GG thesis on preferred PM with regression equations) provides better informed analysis than the usual sources relied on by journos and pundits (who’ve become increasingly lazy and partisan over the last decade). This analysis is often employed to make an intervention that is by no means nonpartisan or “unbiassed” but it’s accountable and also very often of far superior quality intellectually and in terms of argumentative force than what the pundits provide. As I said yesterday, and they really have let a few cats out of the bag, they’re far more concerned with gatekeeping and being political players than with analysing and informing.
The astonishing thing as well from all this is what’s revealed by O’Shannessy’s strange comments on Newspoll. Or perhaps he’s being disingenuous. Either way it’s a bad look.
And Guido also reproduces the text of the pulled Blogocracy post:
http://rankandvile.dailyflute.com/?p=418
That’s another thing that those with old media attitudes don’t realise – once something is on the net, through google cache or feed readers, it’s there and can’t be quashed.
A good question!
Hmmm, thanks for the intel Polly.
And thats what I’m talking about! The creeping spectre of censorship.
First they came for our flippant gags… then, yada yada
/ultraleft rouge herring generator
My query about Tim’s missing post was posted to
http://blogs.news.com.au/news/blogocracy/index.php/news/comments/terrorism_and_iraq/
at 1.45pm.
Who will be the first to get a comment posted?
I suspect ‘The Australian’s’ sensitivity on this issue is just as much a reflection of their fear of encroachment on their domain as it is a defence of their supposed journalistic objectivity.
The growing quality of independent and informed commentary in the blogosphere, particularly on sites such as this, threatens their sense of privilege to make ex-cathedra pronouncements on issues which they deem to be of public importance.
As to objectivity, journalists can be highly sensitive to letting the public see how they make their sausages. And that’s what has happened with Shanahan’s transparent and blatant attempts to spin the Newspoll findings the Coalition’s way.
The immediacy and interactivity of the internet, combined with the access it gives readers to original sources, has pulled asunder the curtain which once separated media consumers from the news production process.
Like Luddites smashing textile machines, the writers of The Australian’s thundering editorial are expressing their resentment at a new medium that theatens to undermine their former monopoly position.
That they would attack the rival voices as dilletantes and dabblers only reinforces the sense of threat they feel.
Oops .. 12.45 pm I should say ….
Spoke too soon .. it is now up. Tim .. where are you?
There are a stack of comments on that post asking about the missing one now, Aidan.
And well said, Mr Denmore.
Doesn’t that just mean they haven’t been told yet?
Isn’t that the definition of a Tory?
As for the blatant editorial control – just goes to show what an embarrassment the lifting of cross media regulation is going to be.
That aside, its an editorial – so its an opinion piece, not journalism and I’m inclined to agree with them on the Preferred PM rating. All we have to do to understand that is revisit Latham or even the prior opinion of Keating.
It is important to keep in mind, most people are not political pundits. They will not know who their local member is or what they’ve done and I believe most decide their vote on the personality of the two main party leaders.
ROTFL.
The only “media power” demonstrated by this episode is the Australian’s ability to provoke a furor of earnest analysis by printing speculative poppycock. Exaggerating Howard’s comeback is a function of the media’s economic interest in Always Having Something Important to Say. Nothing to do with some scary, insidious quasi-conspiracy.
Has anyone seen the Daily Telegraph’s cover today? A giant photo of Howard slumping over, with a massive headline “Sydney walks away from Howard: The Prime Minister’s Powerbase starts to Crumble”. This is more of a beat-up than The Australian thing, and it comes from perhaps the most solidly pro-Howard News media source in Australia.
There are several reasons why the poll beat-up has no political consequence:
1. There is no chance of a leadership challenge, regardless of what the occasional psycho MP says.
2. Liberal bigwigs are too smart to be swayed by hocus pocus analysis of 2% movements.
3. If they aren’t, more fool them.
4. The Liberal’s ‘Labor Menace’ scare campaign gains mileage by emphasising the prospect of Labor victory, hence the PM’s “We Face Annilihation”.
5. Noone cares about polls for more than 3 days anyway.
Despite exaggerating, The Australian did have some legitimate points: Howard cannot be written off, he is likely to make up some ground, and he has done so in the past.
All the extensive analytical critique provided by bloggers only helps the Australian get webhits and shift papers – and confirms its hegemonic legitimacy as the political discourse generator. I reckon they’re in hysterics at News. They even throw out obvious bait like “we understand it because we own it”, knowing full well a bazillion bloggers will frantically quote it as evidence of Murdoch World Domination, thereby contributing to such a domination.
The poll exaggeration is simply an example of the human brain’s tendency to overpredict and to imagine patterns where there aren’t any. This is also exhibited by bloggers who have read so much hermeneutics of suspicion they start to suffer paranoid delusion.
David, I’ll repeat what I said yesterday. This has nothing to do with influencing public opinion, and not much to do with selling papers. It’s about power.
http://larvatusprodeo.net/2007/07/11/government-gazette-fights-back/#comment-383819
The continued salience of that power – and the ability to operate within a feedback loop with the pollies – depends on credibility, and some sort of mystagogical notion that they can interpret the polls correctly. That’s what’s at stake. That’s why there’s so much anxious gatekeeping going on.
And they may well be in hysterics at the GG, but not the kind you mean. The wounded and bullying tone of what’s been written over the past few days is very plain.
Huh, Vee?
Keating swung back to a lead on preferred PM before the 96 election. It did bugger all for Labor’s vote! See all the links to the various psephological sites in the two posts.
Get your hand off it, ghandi. Keep your personal issues about your alleged mis-treatment at RTS to yourself. Nobody else, including Daryl Mason, gives f**k about that ancient and very trivial history.
Learn to pick your battles, and walk away from the ones that don’t matter.
Another story that you’re unlikely to see prominently in the GG or any other Murdoch rag.
Sorry, try this.
Re: Road to Surfdom post. Got it know. Went there three times before and it wouldn’t come up. Must be my computer. Thought it was a bit weird with Blogocracys post being pulled as well. Thanks for checking for me.
Heh, Hilker. The younger, more militant Mahatma Gandhi would have approved.
Same issue covered by Crikey here . Is it my imagination, or has Crikey improved dramatically in recent weeks? Any reason, Crikey insiders?
Mitchell in his editorial at The Australian comes across as a scared and nervous man. He clearly wants to undermine any credibility that is being directed towards the political blogstream here, but he’s just pushed the insurgency out into the mainstream.
My take and summary of all this is up on ‘The Orstrahyun’ :
http://www.theorstrahyun.blogspot.com/
The mainstream media will put a heavy focus on blogs, new media, YouTube, during this year’s election, and Mitchell’s editorial will be a starting point for many journos who will be dipping their toes in to have a look around.
They are going to find a world very different to the one Mitchell describes, I believe. And the political blogstream here will grow by leaps and bounds.
Good to see the editor in chief of The Australian feeling so threatened and nervous about the impact of Australian blogs. We must be doing something right.
Posts over at Tim’s blogocracy have ground to a halt.
I seem to have been banned from posting on The Australian blogs, possibly because of my incurable habit of pointing out to Mr.Shanahan the considerable degree of bias present in his work, and The Oz’s staff in general. I’ve had about a dozen goes today, and no luck. Nothing like a free society, is there!
David, your points raised beginning with this:
.. would carry some weight if The Australian published to a readership which treated politics with a deeper analysis. Other papers are not going to run on the basis of a GG puff piece, so it’s not publishing to them.
It comes down to its readership. These are “punters”: people who skim across the political game. You would be aware of the axiom that a pollie has to tell the same thing, endlessly, to reach these peoples’ centre of action. These readers are interested in other things, and take quickgut impressions with the skim and continue on.
That analysis you are referring to, and much else, exists in non-MSM blogs. It would be interesting to know some stats on how many people read blogs in Australia: certainly, most people I know from many walks of life, including professionals and clients whose businesses are pop-riveted to politics, don’t read blogs and if they are aware of them have a very minor passing regard for them, and one which may not be altogether positive.
The GG these last three days was attempting, not to provoke in-depth analysis (something it would rather have avoided), but to puff up Howard’s electoral life.
One reason why this is quite a unique moment in MSM is that, because the GG has its own blogs, it had to run the avalanche of negativity against it’s ridiculous puff, for the very same reason that Blogocracy is being put in the blog-reader’s sights today. The GG could not spike all those negative comments: there’d be an outcry.
So here it is on the one hand aimed at its politically toe-deep readership, and on the other, being held to account by a relatively tiny response through its blogs.
And what does it do? It floods the major toe-deep readership with what, to the latter, appears as self-defence – a weakness, given a) it purports to “inform” and b) it admits to wanting to persuade – and sooky self-righteousness. This is not only incredibly poor form, it indicates a loss of way, loss of integrity, loss of command, loss of focus.
It’s only a moment in MSM challenges, and will pass, returning to the normal thing it does, yet it is interesting for what it is, and is well worth assessment. The GG has been wounded, however, and is clearly hurting. That pain has been passed onto its readership through its further attempts at self-righteousness, today, and the take out the readers get is one that is not good.
A perceptive comment, Robert. After all freedom of speech is all very well so long as it doesn’t impinge too much on the authority and power of those who have set themselves up as masters of the agenda.
Cheers, adrian. I should have added that The Australian is doing anything but laughing, right now.
Incidentally, this is not a new phenomenon. Somewhere, lost in the MSM abyss, there is a story explaining how as little as two call-back respondents on, say, the John Laws program, can within days have legislation through the NSW parliament.
One thing begets another.
To take advantage of this moment, it is important beyond immediate view that people like Trev above express on record that their attempts to be published at a MSM blog is being (give it time to be sure) censored. Get enough of those, and considerable weight grows – in time – for the MSM blogs to come clean about what they’re there for.
If the MSM blogs exist to allow readership comment in all its glory, they’ll have to publish unwanted material, and find themselves sharpening up their “journalism” as a matter of course, OR, if they’re there to provide free survey feedback, we’ll know.
Speak up!
I couldn’t help passing the Possum econometrics analysis to an old lecturer of mine. This is what he said:
“Interesting article. I’m not sure I agree with the conclusions, but the correlations which come out in the regressions are interesting. I think that other control variables probably explain people’s votes and leaving these out probably biases the regressions in terms of “causal” interpretations. However, the point about PPM being a lagging, not leading, indicator is a good one.”
Mr Denmore (12 July 2007 at 12:56 pm) puts it well, but not quite well enough:
“The immediacy and interactivity of the internet, combined with the access it gives readers to original sources, has pulled asunder the curtain which once separated media consumers from the news production process.
Like Luddites smashing textile machines, the writers of The Australian’s thundering editorial are expressing their resentment at a new medium that theatens to undermine their former monopoly position.”
The only point I would change about that statement is that News Limited never have had a “monopoly” on news reporting and the immediacy and interactivity of the internet certainly does in no way create an environment of “pure competition”.
Rather, there’s two key points on which Ed from The Australian exposes himself to misunderstanding.
The first does not apply exclusively to him.
Ed says in attack: “Our critics howl only when the heat is being applied to Labor”, while saying in defence, “The Australian is not beholden to any one side of politics and recent election outcomes vindicate our treatment of our polls.”
I have no doubt about The Australian’s ability to “dot the i’s and cross the t’s” in regards to attention to detail and achieving outcomes, but this still doesn’t make them infallible.
Proof of this is the fact that it takes a defense such as Ed’s to finally get him to say the following:
“Rather than being a mouthpiece for the Government, as some online news sites would suggest, we have been harsh critics of Mr Howard. But most of our criticism has been from the Right, chiding the Government for being overly generous with middle class welfare and reform shy.”
Unlike others here, a much bigger achievement for me than getting Ed to defend against the “Government Gazette” rhetoric being used on the blogs (by effectively accusing all online dissenters as collectively adding to a “Labor Gazette”) is getting him to acknowledge his criticisms of Government are “anchored to the Right”.
Just consider all that use of the word “Left” in Ed’s columns without there being equal mention of its opposite definition.
Ed wants to assure you that his publication is able to “dot the i’s and cross the t’s” without ever finding itself anchored to a party line.
I’m of the opposite view. I’m here to “discredit the journalistic myth” that declaring your party line disables you of being able to “dot the i’s and cross the t’s”.
The idea that being anchored to labourite thinking is synonymous with being anchored to the Left is a nonsense. Just as it is also a nonsense that the far reaches of the Left and the Right have nothing in common.
What’s actually wrong with anchoring your politics on a certain position as long as it doesn’t become a closed system of thinking?
The “very little practical experience of politics”, to use Ed’s words, that I have been engaged in to develop independent thinking is not based on being anchored to the Left or Right, but standing firm in my 2006 support of Kim Beazley when “almost” the entire Mainstream Media took the same position.
Ed claims with his second questionable point that:
“They (the bloggers) should not kid themselves they are engaged in proper journalism and real reporting.”
I don’t doubt there’s truth in this statement, but Ed must be careful not to equate that truth with discouraging creators of new media from developing a mix of inquiry that “questions, challenges and engages”, even if (i) you can’t define it exclusively as journalism and (ii) whatever you do call it, it has the implication of changing what journalists do.
…From Justin
Kymbo, your old lecturer is spot on.
Those regressions weren’t about explaining what “is�, but clearly showing what “isn’t�.
Explaining what “is� is a far harder and more complex activity altogether.
Mr Denmore is right. As I posted earlier, this dummy spit by The Australian is a pimple-burst in its ongoing battle with crikey.com for inside influence.
Oh dear oh dear oh dear oh dear oh deary deary me.
Despite the GG’s fearless, fiercely independent
government mouthpiecesenior political correspondent this week assuring us all that the polls are on the turn and, as a result, our Beloved Leader is practically a shoo-in for another period of wise and firm leadership, along comes Paul Bongiorno on tonight’s Ten News to ruin the party.The precise phrase he uttered in relation to the Cabinet room’s response to Tuesday’s poll figures was:
No doubt we can confidently expect Shanahan’s breathlessly independent account of Cabinet insiders’ concerns tomorrow morning.
On another note, there appears to have been some sort of weird technical glitch affecting his blog. Only 16 posts yesterday, 17 today.
There’s a lot of technical glitches going around at News, Christine.
Wot? But surely Cabinet believes the Gazette’s all-seeing commentators on TEH SIGNS of the 2nd coming of the bounce?
After all, they’re political pros!
Puzzled, of Northcote.
Oh my. It appears that Enemy Combatant over at Surfdom http://www.roadtosurfdom.com/2007/07/12/shanahan-spits-the-dummy/#comment-319471 has given a certain respected Canberra political correspondent the unfortunate appellation “Shill� Shanahan: Ace Stenographer
It would be a real shame if that ever caught on.
Actually I can see that as the title of the movie of Dennis’ life starring Rob Schneider of Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo fame.
I saw this over at poll bludger.
Anyone with further info?
8th grade Says:
July 12th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
just heard from a source that tim dunlop has resigned from news ltd. due to them pulling his blog today.
Well, rumour has it that Tim has just resigned from News Ltd after today’s fiasco with his blog. If true, maybe we will see him based at Road to Surfdom again.
What makes the reporters of the ‘Australian’ so special? We’re out here, w/ the REAL people…we listen to their gripes, we hear their words, we get a sense of how they really feel. When talking to us, they don’t feel like they’re being listened to by some Government lacky & troll on the other end of the phone as some do when doing surveys.
There’s more fear in the community than some realise. Particularly now ‘Workchoices’ & the new ‘Terror Laws’ have hit the scene.
As most on these blogs realise, if you wanna get a sense of how people feel, sit & have lunch or dinner w/ them, have a glass of wine…get ‘em relaxed. Polls too often get it wrong because they don’t recognise that many feel compelled to say the most politically correct, most ideologically acceptable thing in front of their partners, families, those who might rely on them.
But, in that booth you’re on your own as a voter…you’re free to shove the angst & cage away…for one moment in your life you can rebel. Give ‘em the finger. Go w/ what you think is right, not what the mainstream media tell you…not what is the latest ‘in’ convo started up by the ad-driven morning shows…you vote related to what’s important for you, current for you…not what some show tells you, not what that person always leaning over your shoulder, that eye in the sky, that surveillance camera, that parent who fails to think outside of ‘the box’ keeps on about.
That’s why polls eventually derail…hit the wall…get lost in a maze…because they reflect the ‘controlled’, ‘fearful’ individual…not the ‘free voter’.
Screw ‘The Australian’…they’re just a bunch of people guessing just like everyone else…they know no more & no less than YOU…& your mates…& associates…on the Blogs…’cause like them, we report what we hear, what we’ve learnt, the facts we’ve researched…& then readers can come up w/ their own conclusions…insights…decisions.
It’s called Free Speech & Democracy in action. If that’s the enemy of News Ltd…then more fools them.
If Tim resigned because News pulled his post, then good on him, I say.
Would also add to the own goalishness of the Mitchell/Shanahan shenananigans.
I like “Shillâ€? Shanahan: Ace Stenographer but I also enjoy the brevity and accuracy of the Shamahan tag I’ve noticed people using, particularly in light of his recent claim that he merely seeks out “just the facts, ma’am” like Joe Friday. What Shamahan is pleased to call his integrity was bought and paid for so cheaply and so long ago, that calling him a whore does a disservice to The Oldest Profession.
Shanahanigans?
From The Government Gazette
dummyspiteditorial.By the GG’s own measure, therefore, Shamaham’s spin was the opposite of “good journalism” because it sought to subtract from “society’s pool of knowledge”.
Splendid stuff, Online News Commentariat!
This movie has already been made: The Mouse that Roared.
John Quiggin on “The Oz’ Meltdown”:
http://johnquiggin.com/index.php/archives/2007/07/12/meltdown-at-the-oz-part-ii/
Adding a thought to this possible development: if Tim has resigned, it would throw open the unusual story where a poor error of editorial judgement doused in inflammatory need to write a puff piece for Howard wrapped up in a vomitable sausage sizzle story was torn down by its own blogs.
Tim’s resignation adds a poignancy to it, though the story lives in its own right, but should his resignation have happened it could tip it over into Fairfax for a Saturday column, having been given a point-of-difference edge. This difference is that the Fairfax political discourse, while crookish often enough too, hasn’t stooped to the low level GG just did, and that its own blogs are traveling I would assume happily enough. And it would, by publishing a story on this, be reflecting an apposite occurrence in this year’s electioneering discourse.
From a glimpse assessment, it would appear that the GG refers negatively to Fairfax publications more often than the reverse, however, Fairfax is happy to have a shot when its timing and thrust is good. Just a thought. But this story could have a bit to run yet, and could blow up some more.
if tim has as rumored now resigned i cant wait to see his first post from outside the tent. if its true it should be a fun post to watch.and see how news ltd. spins it
kirra, Tim would be under a non disclosure contract. It would be important for the ’sphere to respect that. He’ll be tied up, best for his sake not to expect to pull strings.
As far as blogs go, it was pretty poor and it’s demise is good for everyone. What probably killed it was the hysterical followers he attracted.
Possibly the most idiotic soup of comments seen on any Australian blog of any political persuasion.
Tim made the mistake of letting the idiots through and attacking half-reasonable comments in the name of political posturing.
Thepol, by your reasoning Andrew Bolt is a goner
Tim resigned? Jaaysus. Rupert’s attack dogs strike yet again.
And for what? To defend the reputation of Shamaham?
Someone ought to chain those mutts-up.
And Thepol, I didn’t mind his blog at all. Most contributors were lefties, with a minority of reliable regular wing nuts. In fact it was fun hopping on now and again to have a go at the wing nuts cropping-up there to dutifully defend the indefensible.
Target practise. It’s no fun kicking a leftie or a Green. Wing nuts on the other hand…….
Phil, you could have a good point there, but the trend at Dunlop’s was looking bad. When you read post after post of the most contrived conspiracy theories going unchecked you have a problem. Bolt at least has enough critics to see the debate move around. Dunlop’s blog was going one way and long self-indulged commentators seemed the fare of the day.
thepol from you comments u must assume that all voters and people who use blogs for info are ignorant.
this is the attitude the oz and people like you dont get times have changed
we no longer have to belive what the media magnates tell us to belive
we can make up our own minds
this is whan’t main stream media cant understand why libs are doing so bad they dont understand that every lie they tell now is recorded and can be cross checked and referenced in seconds. no 3 month time delay.this is one of the many reasons why howard will lose in this tecnology age whatever you say is on record for ever
thepol is trying to spin things so hard he must be Shamaham himself.
kirra,
I did make up my own mind and decided I didn’t like the new Dunlop blog. Has nothing to do with my opinions on the mainstream media and blogs.
I also have enough sense to know the election is not over and anything can happen between now and the actual poll.
kirra, if you jump to conclusions about me, please pass them by me first.
and all shall change
as the world wobbles
hang on for the ride of your life
N’
Zarquon, I am flattered that my simple opinion can be seen as spin.
One simple blog experiment that goes wrong does not have wider ramifications. Considering all the changes in the MSM at the moment, this is just a minor blip on the screen.
Left on kirra! The High priests are being challenged.
Kirra, you are absolutely right. It only takes one diligent and resourceful blogger to dig up some facts or to even run a statistical test over some poll results and the media’s spin on a news item is completely blown out of the water.
There have been so many examples of this, and it is the reason why The Australian are turning on the blogosphere. They hate having their motives questioned or their conclusions undermined. If you want to hitch yourself to one particular political party, like how The Australian has hitched itself to the Liberals, then it is much harder than ever before to actually pull it off without people noticing and shouting about it.
Through blogs and other online media, politics is coming back to the grassroots. People are now being able to have a voice, and those in the traditional media who are trying to influence the public in a particular way (such as The Australian with its pro-Howard agenda), hate it. The power of their capacity to influence is undermined.
As the blogosphere grows and politics continues to be driven back to the grassroots, there is really only one way for the traditional media to go and that is LIFT THEIR GAME. They can’t get away with lazy reporting that lacks proper analysis or ridiculous spin or hitching themselves to a particular political party. They have to offer a more sophisticated product.
But so far, rather than lifting their game, the guys and gals at The Australian have spat the dummy and have instead chosen to pick a fight with online political commentators and generally abusing the blogosphere, many of whom actually make a sizable chunk of their own readership. It is childish behaviour that has only served to further undermine the newspaper’s credibility and integrity. Frankly, if I were Rupert Murdoch, I would be quite embarrassed with how The Australian has behaved these last few days.
thepol if my language was wrong i apoligise. i will admit that i am at the moment happy to vote labor. reasons being
1
workchoices
2
iraq
3
workchoices
4
how can i know now what is a core and a non core promise
i was polte
Check out this as a summary for all Australian history:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,22058040-7583,00.html
Worst article ever!
thepol you must be aware that spin is frequently presented as opinion. If not, your naivety in commenting on blogs is astounding.
Kirra,
No probs Kirra.
Workchoices is an issue that will move a great deal of votes. The fact the government has been around for so long, will make it difficult for Howard to even the polls.
Zarq,
I probably am naive in that regard. Can’t believe how easy it is to get spin going.
I have been having a look at the editorials which have appeared in the Australian this year to see if this defence, which is often deployed by the Australian, is in fact true. I searched the editorials for the terms “government spending”, “reform shy” and “middle class welfare”.
I could find only one instance in which the Australian devoted a leader specificaly to the topic of Government profligacy or reform-shyness the way it regular does when it comes to things like Labors IR policy, this being on the 8th of January.
More often than not when they criticised the Government for spending or being reform shy it was as an afterthought while praising Howard or attacking Labor. So for example an editorial on the 10th of May praising the budget contained a warning about the “multi-lane highway to nowhere in marginal electorates” being “a sad testimonial to infrastructure spending based on winning the votes of a few rather than uplifting the prosperity of all.â€?
On the 28th of April in an editorial devoted to attacking Kevin Rudds address to the ALP National Conference the told its readers that it has “been critical of the Government’s use of middle-class welfare to shore up support and takes umbridge at Labor’s suggestion that Mr Howard has not gone far enough.”
If the GG really wanted to be harshly critical of Mr Howard it would have devoted editorial space to these matters comparable to that which it has devoted to things like IR and the oh-so substantial issue of the “psychotic left” rather than leaving it to Lindsay Tanner and Andrew Norton
to your response Noocat i asked this ? about 6 months ago
to the auzt. do you think that the exp
olision of the internet and blogs will have any effect on the forthcoming australian election ?
answer still waiting
conclusion they dont get it
i think the govt. dosent realise we are now in a age that info is istantly analised and if it is wrong in any way will be found out and posted that it is wrong sraight away’ at least mr rudd is trying to understand the youth via youtube
what is the govt. doing to reach out ti 1st time voters
Another joins the fray.
David, That handpicked genius for the Government Gazette, Gregory Melleuish, is a former Howard speechwriter. Another of their balanced non- partisan stable they are so proud to employ.
Just to poke another stick at this thing squirming on the ground. Given the original piece was to inflate Howard’s standing, it’s imaginable the News forces pro Costello and pro Howard, or at least, those with closer connections to each, would be at each other in some way. For two example, those who hadn’t done the wild thing would have reason to be voicing their upset if not disgust with this Quiggin-described meltdown.
It begs wonderment at how pivotal stories like poll announcements and the like are born – for instance, would a bloke like Sinodinos have been happy chatting quietly with News connections somewhere, prior to a story on this latest poll, with a quiet mention as to which line to take, and what weight? It’s conceivable. What we do know is he’s gone, and that deft touch is clearly missing.
Given these events as they are unfolding, it’s conceivable that ramifications can and are reaching back into Government’s high and private offices.
Again, it’s only poking a stick, and it could all be dead and buried tomorrow. But there is a sense something pretty wild is up.
It seems to me that they also run the risk of totally destroying the credibility of reporting polls per se just by virtue of
(a) the mad over-reaction and defensiveness;
(b) the more or less open admission that they use the polls to try to influence the dynamics within parties, particularly on leadership.
One simple blog experiment that goes wrong does not have wider ramifications.
…..said Thepol.
How wrong you are. Tims’ work has been of the highest standards.
I hope rumours of his departure from Newscorp, remain, just that.
His employment represented a new step in openess, to other opinions, that had been lacking for years. Mr Murdoch and co had previously, come on board, and decreed all journalists/commentators should be open to discussion, ‘on line’.
They were never ‘bloggers’ and seemed to hate the experience of direct interaction. Now the dummy spit has come and the Ruppy, ‘Prague Spring’, is over.
There is a serious election to be influenced.
I think the most remarkable strategic blunder was mentioning the blogs in the first paragraph of the cover of Australian. I’m surprised the editor let that through.
I agree, joe2, but if he has resigned because of censorship, I would applaud that action.
Sorry?
Chris Mitchell is the editor. He’s the one who phoned Brent and told him the Australian would “go” him and Crikey. He’s the one responsible for the editorials.
Yeah… but it’s insane for the Australian to advertise their own criticism…
Go back to the “Manning Clark was a communist” episode when Mitchell was editor of the Courier-Mail and you get a sense of the quality of his judgement and decision making!
I’m sure Murdoch would not give a flying $%&* unless the whole thing has an impact on the sales and/or longer-term prestige of his original organ.
OTOH, I can’t help wondering what certain members of the Bancroft family might think of this undignified mess, given that they are reportedly within a whisker of a deal that would hand the Dow Jones and Wall Street Journal over to Fox News’ new business channel…
Wouldn’t it be lovely if this soft of heavy-handed censorship was what finally scuppered that deal?
Order of Lenin! Order of Lenin!
Max: Don’t ever invite a vampire into your house, you silly boy. It renders you powerless.
Sam Emerson: Did you know that?
Edgar Frog: Of course. Everyone knows that.
————-
Edgar Frog: Are you OK?
Sam Emerson: I nailed one of them downstairs with a bow and arrow.
Alan Frog: All right, Sambo!
Edgar Frog: We trashed the one that looks like Twisted Sister.
Alan Frog: Totally annihilated his night-stalking ass!
Edgar Frog: Well, Nanook helped a little.
Alan Frog: Death to all vampires!
Edgar Frog: Maximum body count!
Edgar Frog: We’re awesome monster bashers!
Alan Frog: The meanest!
Edgar Frog: The baddest!
—————————-
——————————————————————————–
Sam Emerson: I bet you hate garlic, dontcha!
Max: No, I like garlic! It’s just a little much! It’s raw garlic.
——————————————————————————–
Michael Emerson: What’s happening to me, Star?
Star: Oh, Michael. Michael, I can’t tell you. I don’t know how to help you.
Michael Emerson: What’s happening?
Star: [whispers] I can’t.
—————————
Edgar Frog: If you try to stop us, or vamp out in any way, I’ll stake you without even thinking twice about it!
Sam Emerson: Chill out, Edgar.
Edgar Frog: [coming to his senses] Right.
————-
(Quotes from ‘Lost Boys’ – 1987)
Jeebus, did the ABC had a tinfoil hat check at the door of the global warming forum? What a pack of cranks!
Back to this thread: the balance of media power is actually shifting, Dennis.
Not much, but the blogosphere has graduated from Gandhi’s “first they ignore you” phase.
Just not sure whether the Gazette dummyspit qualifies as laughing at us , or fighting us !
I can’t wait for the morrow’s edition…
The good bits are always on line around midnight – 1am. You need to be pissed to get into the Government Gazette groove probably…
Yeah, do you reckon they’re all permanently pizzled, Kimski? A la last days of the Reichstag, boozing, shagging and shredding docs?
May explain a lot.
There’s a real “General Wenck is coming!!” sense to the Gazeditorial bunker lately.
Spot on, I suspect, Kamarad E!
Oh definitely, Kim. It’s only then that the real celestial magnificence of its highly paid, extraordinarily well-connected, and deeply insightful seraphim reveals itself.
Why, only last week Christopher Pearson (on another one of his Catholic Church kicks) was blathering on about Latin being a “universal language” (you know, as opposed to “dead”)
Used by air traffic controllers and flight crew everywhere, apparently.
I suspect a lot of them are secret lipsnigers, Christine.
That’s an interesting analogy Lefty. I shudder to think what’s in store for that large brood of Shanahan offspring should the unthinkable happen.
Btw, Lefty E, a quick heads up – hotness Emma Alberici is currently presenting Lateline Business.
Let’s put this into perspective. The Australian isn’t interested in the blogosphere as such. We graffitists delude ourselves if we think they care.
Rather it is in an ongoing locking-of-horns with the likes of crikey.com – the alternative commercial media of insider influence.
Peter B was only targeted because of his piece earlier this week which crikey.com headlined in a way that disparaged Shanahan and the editorial line on Newspoll.
The poor old Government Gazette. Taking hits left right and centre.
They may be hulking and outmoded, but like the Yamato, they’ll go down with guns blazing for their Emperor, John Winston.
Personally, I waiting for Shamaham to do the Kamikaze thingie.
Banzai, Dennis.
Has distinct possibilities Kim:
“Victor Tango Romeo , is est tower. Vos es videlicet pro takeoff. Ventus est flatus procul quadraginta knots in a meridianus occasus procuratio.” http://www.translation-guide.com/free_online_translators.php?from=English&to=Latin
Are you fuckin’ serious?
You remind me of Karl Rove after 2004, idiotically blathering about how it was an “realignment election” and how George Bush getting 51% of the vote somehow magically meant that the GOP was going to have a majority for decades.
Emma, mon dieu!
(exeunt gauche)
Gives new meaning to the phrase “Dog Latin”, Christine, vidilicet:
Lefty E, you missed her!
Dennis Shanahan est a vulgus sus fucker quisnam wouldn’t teneo suus arse ex suus elbow. Plus Requiro Higgins est a thespian.
Just a wee bit premature…
Actually the editorial does read better in Latin. Maybe they should just just publish it that way and at least we could all have fun translating it:
“Sic let’s non mince lacuna. Nos iustus don’t reputo plures nostri velico have ullus verus clue super capitagium quod paululum practical usus of politics.”
Here’s the Shanahan “blog” that started the Newspoll wars:
It is pretty inflammatory Kim
OT, but I once used Babelfish to translate Handel’s Messiah into German and back.
The God of Hosts became known thereafter as Lord of the Central Processors.
Inspired by Torchwood, I demand that Shanahan write in Welsh from now on!
Heh! The hivemind likes that one!
If Tim has been forced to resign, because of censorship, I can’t imagine Rupert would be too happy about it. He loves blogs, lots of hits, lots of ad revenue, minimal costs associated with the writers. Unless you’re Andrew Bolt, of course.
Murdoch sees the future of news sites as being the domain of bloggers, with lots of interaction with the public. More interaction, more comments, more ad revenue. He won’t be happy when it’s blasted across the nation that his key Australian online news portal stands accused of crushing a blogger.
If Tim’s gone, Fairfax and the ABC will hammer news.com.au hard for its bad choice, and with the ridiculous and petty Mitchell editorial, the fire will be well and truly lit for a mainstream media closer look at the Australian blogstream.
Few surprises to be found that Tim Blair comes out for his bosses and actually supports the censorship of Dunlop. Dunlop bagged the Oz, but not as much as Blair would have his readers believe, but so what? Are they really that afraid of criticism, or having obvious faults pointed out? Sad, indeed.
Naturally, Tim Blair’s majority conservative American readership supports the stifling of ‘alternative views’ on a site that holds a conservative government, and conservative newspaper, to account.
The Blairians always support the airing of ‘alternative views’…as long as those views are in line with their own.
Or Welsh to Icelandic and back to English:
The barmaid standings should definitely be integrated with the Lord of the Central Processors.
That’s not a bad call, Graeme. Crikey has a business model that works pretty well, given their size – online subscription sales are more lucrative in the medium term than hoping for click throughs on online ads, particularly when you have a service that people are prepared to pay for.
Add that to Crikey effectively occupying the ground of ‘insiders central’ – although less so under the current editors than under Mayne, I’d argue – and being the news service best able to harness the power of distributed knowledge and you have a recipe that is really going to give the Oz the shits.
Blair goes off like a dwarf Torquemada whenever he detects signs of left-wing bias in the meeja, but coyly refers to refers to the GG’s bias as “editorial direction” ; though he also seems to think that it is only right and proper to dispense with those who deviate from “editorial direction”.
And with typical dishonesty, he doesn’t quote from Dunlop’s spiked piece (though it is framed ambiguously enough to give that impression – and certainly several of his commenters are ascribing the quote to Tim) but instead quotes a comment from a fellow who can always be relied upon to say something foolish.
They’re definitely annoyed at the psephological blogs, too, and the big thing is that they’re furious at how people talk back to them on their own Rupert ordered “blogs”. They probably have no idea we exist at all.
Heh. I’ve been getting Oval Office in late 1973 vibes from the editorial page meself.
Milne and Price doesn’t have quite the ring of Woodward and Bernstein, though, does it?
Let alone the intellectual and moral cache.
Blair also sounds more intelligent in the universal language:
I’m really disappointed in Tim Blair. Pulling a blog post because it’s critical of your newspaper is pretty indefensible – but then for a journalist to come out and shill for his paymasters, suggesting journalists should tow the line rather than do what they’re paid for….it’s not a great insight into the guy’s integrity.
Ever since the David Marr thing happened I noticed a sudden rise of mob parochialism in GG. We are good, they are bad; using “The Left” as a synonym for bad, etc.
I still think some leftists got carried away with the idea of GG as a scary power controlling Australian politics. But the GG is at least as hysterical in ‘defending it’s turf’ against these charges… It’s kind of like some compulsory collective catharsis for all employees… Why are they so psycho?
I still think its standard of writing is basically the best of all papers. On a purely journalistic level, I’ve often admired Chris Mitchell’s ability to cram so much propositional content into small editorials. At non-hysterical moments, they seem to be able to say more with fewer words than the Fairfax broadsheets. Also it doesn’t have the celebrity fluff…
GG Editorials: The Soundtrack Album.
All that’s missing is an unrhythmic free verse middle eight rap about those long haired louts and their amplified guitars playing that jungle music.
I do agree that the MSM has the best resources for gathering and disseminating news.
But when it comes to whipping up a recipe from the ingredients they’ve harvested from around the world, many of their op-ed chefs (across the spectrum) seem just to be debating the merits of an overcooked roast with two dry veg vs a big white plate of not very much nouvelle cusine, apparently unaware that the general populace is cheerfully sampling and enjoying much much more.
I’m guessing Moscow 1952. Does anybody really think the Doctor’s Plot is a coincidence?
Rudd as Beria?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavrenty_Beria
The Hivemind’s new slogan! Thanks Anna!
Well he was trying to recast himself in a fluffy pink bunny suit before that final unpleasantness in the Kremlin.
Further chilling evidence from today’s GG: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,22065865-601,00.html
Weird, huh?
They are pissed.
All this Vulgar Latin, how plebeian.
More rolled gold political analysis at the GG:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,22065886-601,00.html
Say no to a challenge! We’ve got the Preferred PM theorem!
Wo Wenck? ist!
“Mr Keating … championed a postmodern, multicultural and Asianised republic.” http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,22064468-7583,00.html
Apart from the racism… postmodernism as a key policy goal of Keating!
Ahhhh….This puts it into a bit of context. We’ve been hearing for months now about how Dear Leader has until July to turn the polls around, which gives him another two weeks.
Well it’s not happening on either the primary or the TPP, so we’re fed the lame-arsed flummery about preferred PM from the booster-in-chief.
Meanwhile Cossie waits in the wings to be drafted for his glorious moment in the sun should the rabbit to permanently missing in the grounds of Kirribilli.
If they think that will save them they’re crazier than I thought.
drift fuck fell into the river
the morning light shone across his back
as he rode the place of dreams
face first
drinkin’
turmoil
poor drift fuck
wave upon wave
spaces w/out time
caged…him.
N’
There’s no doubt, Christine, that their current mission is to make the facts fit their theory – since their deranged editorial basically claimed Nostradamus’ powers of prediction. Forget the fact that elements of the Liberal caucus have ignored the Preferred PM Theorem and are in a mad panic.
In a way, they’d be doing Ratty more of a favour if they swung round to Costello, who’d be a cert to lose the election. Then Ratty could always claim he would have won.
Demonstrating a laudable commitment to “Keeping the Nation Informed” even though the nation is composed of ungrateful idiots incapable of comprehending the edicts the GG hands down from Mt Sinai – “But none of that will cut much ice with the battlers” – the GG publishes an odd little Myspace promo that also mentions the terrible risk Rudd runs by having more Myspace friends than John Howard. A porn-site url is also printed in full. For some reason.
I’ve just received the critically important “Facebook friends� polling, which returns similar results:
John Howard: 18 friends
John Winston Howard: 39 friends
Kevin Rudd: 2273 friends
Incapable of drawing any conclusions from this web of complex data I passed the figures onto Dennis Shanahan who informed me that these figures are great news for John Howard.
http://12thharmonic.net/
“Your lips move but I can’t hear what you are saying”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkJNyQfAprY&mode=related&search=
Anybody Left out there?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTe32sX-ltM
N’
Blair’s post is a disgrace. It clearly gives the impression that a gandhi comment from LP is part of the Tim Dunlop blog post that Blair’s discussing.
Having read the Blair comment thread, and finally the editorial in The Australian that caused so much comment, I was irresistibly reminded of lines from a song by the great Noel Coward:
I disagree. The Aussie blogosphere is still pretty “thin ranks” (as Darryl rightly put it), but the Murdoch media know exactly what’s coming. Look at what happened in the US 2006 mid-term elections. Or go read a bit of E&P. We are still a few years behind the USA, we lack the population and the organisation, but the momentum is there and it is building.
The global newspaper industry is in a state of crisis, and there are plenty of high-falutin’, self-deluding old media News Ltd hacks who see bloggers as Public Enemy #1.
Sure, sites like Crikey are a bigger threat just now, but as somebody recently said, what is Crikey but a group blog which constantly hassles you for money? Things in Ozblogistan will get interesting when there are Aussies sites like Crikey that can be open to all readers and sustained purely on advertising revenue (a la Huffo or TPM).
Ken,
Yeah, I got a few hundred hits from that link. Strangely, no snarky wingnut comments – I think they just clicked on through, trying to figure out what was going on. I hope they learned something along the way.
Where’s Tim today?
My guess is he is fighting to keep his job, get his blog post reinstated, and secure a promise from whoever gave him the job that such censorship will never happen again. But that’s just a guess.
PS: In breaking news, the US House of Representatives has passed a bill requiring a withdrawal of most combat troops from Iraq starting within 120 days, to be completed by April 1. How do you like THEM apples, Johnny?
In breaking news, the US House of Representatives has passed a bill requiring a withdrawal of most combat troops from Iraq starting within 120 days, to be completed by April 1. How do you like THEM apples, Johnny?
Pulling out on April Fools Day?
Yes. Yes, I’m sure the Iraqis will appreciate the irony.
Gotta remember, the line between Crikey and the Blogs is quite blurry in itself.
Many Crikey writers are bloggers, eg: Brent, Bahnisch, others – and if the Gazette arent reading blogs, well, Crikey writers certainly are.
And GG is reading Crikey.
I give you “Blogwatch” for example.
I once had a disagreable boss. We disagreed on many things you see. He’s now my former boss. That’s the way it should be – I guess.
I should’ve chose my wording better. Only political pundits take these surveys/pollings and the rest tend to tell them where to go and as Andrew Norton I think it is says how easy it is to skew a poll with tactical voting. I’ve seen those sites but the data is irrelevant. You don’t want the opinion of political pundits, you want the opinion of the people that only care once every three years to get a true reflection.
Morgan put out this on Tuesday.
Muslim cultures don’t recognise April Fools’ Day.
So the joke is on Iraqis.
As it has been since “Shock and Awe”.
Today’s Morgan Poll
Sham-I-am & Co. will claim this Morgan poll as justification, ignoring the fact that this argument is not about who is or is not gaining ground in the polls, it is about whether the media accurately report what is in those polls as they come out.
Margo at Web Diary has posted about the Dunlop censorship episode, comparing it with here own departure from Fairfax.
Tim has reappeared at Blogocracy.
“Yep, the editor here pulled a post yesterday, which I ain’t happy about, though of course, in the greater scheme of things editors pulling copy is hardly unusual. Nonetheless, it is something we are discussing. In the meantime, let’s just go John Howard and his new aircraft wallpaper, shall we?”
Tim Blair and his winged monkeys are, to neatly sum this up, saying “totally WTF the big deal?”
However it seems weird that News ltd would hire Tim Dunlop and not think “gee if he’s off the leash will he bite the hand that feeds?”
If you hired him for his political (left) leanings, then don’t have a sook when he puts you under the microscope…!?
Tom
what do you expect from someone who permits posts that glorify & chuckle at animal killing:
http://timblair.net/ee/index.php/weblog/comments/all_creatures_great_and_smooshed/
Gandhi can wear their disdain w/ pride.
In this household Tim Dunlop, Gandhi & the Lav Prod collective kick-arse.
Tim Blair is like a day old taco w/out chili, no bite…a flop that gives you slight indigestion.
It’s the first time I’ve ever read anything of Blair’s … he seems to be a Mark Steyn/Ann Coulter wannabe … pass off an endless series of ‘daringly outrageous’ one-liners as serious commentary.
I don’t think I’ll add him to my list of regular reading. Formulaic writing’s boring.
Damn! Might as well give up on ever finding that sure-fire formula for varied and interesting writing then.
Tom,
It seems to me there are virtual civil wars raging within most major newsrooms: the wingnuts versus those who still have some respect for reality. The wingnuts appear to have lost this battle.
Viva el Ozblogistan!!!
I have a theory that Lachlan Murdoch (or somebody at that level) got Tim through the door at News Ltd, in which case he would just go back to his original patron, get his blog back in action, and enjoy watching Shanahan and Mitchell get their asses kicked. What do you think, folks?
Rupert likes the old media glory and fancies himself as a genius in the Big Picture game: he spends lots of time working out what’s coming for his global empire in the next 5, 10 or 20 years. But he doesn’t get too hands-on in the Web 2.0 technical side of things, coz he’s out of his depth. So he buys MySpace, for example, but then let’s young Wendi Deng and her friends run the day-to-day business of it. Maybe Lachlan’s playing Webmaster in Oz?
I wonder if Tim will demand that they re-instate his spiked post? I wonder if a threat of resignation is still on the table (sounds like some kind of mediation is still pending). I wonder if he’ll get a guaranteed “hands off”policy agreement, and if so, I wonder if he will be able to keep sticking it to Da Man right up till election day? I seriously doubt it.
Also, I wonder if Rupert’s big deal with the Bancrofts came into play? I wonder if my emails to Fairfax, E&P and others were helpful in exerting a little pressure on the Oz editorial team? Was it a word from the higher ups, the outrage of the blogosphere, or just the realization of what dorks they were being that made the GG attack dogs back down?
I doubt we will ever know.
(PS: thanks again for the kudos, Nasking)
mebbe 30 years down the road…:)
I’ve always hoped Lachlan had more scruples than the Dad. Always wondered if the collapse of a certain company was to teach the Packer & Murdoch lads a hard lesson, reign them in. One never knows what kind of Machiavellian stuff goes on w/in the dynasties…how Dad’s & Empire builders try to mold the prospective inheritors of their dreams…& test them to see if they have ‘the Right Stuff’.
Ken L. said: “he seems to be a Mark Steyn/Ann Coulter wannabe … pass off an endless series of ‘daringly outrageous’ one-liners as serious commentary.”
couldn’t agree more…;)
Tom, loved “the winged monkey’s” comment…ever read ‘Otherland’?…it brought that brill book to mind…quite an image…lol.
yer welcome Gandhi. It’s good to see their House of Cards collapsing.
I see the Government Gazette’s Blog attack has hit the Main Stream.
Alan Ramsey’s devoted a piece to it & the latest polls in today’s SMH, 14.07.07.
Ouch.
Thanks Evan, nice pick up.
Here’s the link. The Government Gazette tag goes MSM.
All hail Ozblogistan!
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/polls-apart-at-the-sausage-sizzle/2007/07/13/1183833770404.html?page=4
Alan Ramsey can always be counted on for a piece of delightful curmudgeonliness. His skewering of The Stenographer may give some insight into what the other well-connected insiders in the Canberra press gallery think of the author of this week’s fiercely independent, unbiased, totally objective epistle.
Alan Ramsey quoting Shamahan:
Still giggling over that one…
I think Shammers probably thought he had a hold of the public’s sausage… not realising, of course, that it was really his own.
(Clairaudients(Kill or Be Killed): Bright Eyes)
mmmmmmmh
I notice on the Oz site you can’t actually search for a particular writer’s most recent articles. Those of us who are big Fans of the Shan have to click through all the Politics articles until you stumble on a nugget from Den.
Amongst all this comment regarding the abysmal level of journalism in the Australian, one facet seems to be overlooked.
The dirty digger usually has a pretty keen nose for winners – in the US, he is already courting Hilary – how much longer before he decides to endorse little Kevvy?
Both main polls have been fairly consistent, and extrapolation even suggests the coalition could lose up to 46 seats.
Matt Price often makes (to him, ironic) comments about waiting for the word from head office; perhaps that word won’t be too long coming.
Andrew, I haven’t checked this morning but the only “blog” since last week appears to have been from Price. The rest have all gone quiet. No doubt down to “technical issues” including the appalling redesign of the site.
Standard counter-insurgency procedures, Ma’am.
Now please move away from the private polling area.
I have instructions to clear this debate of unauthorised commentators.
Mark says:
I think that Larva Prodders are OTT on this kerfuffle, which is no more than a harmless media spat. ‘Twas ever thus, on-line or off.
I can remember some pretty fearsome stoushes being waged between journos way back in the off-line days. Every generation of swine must rise and fall, as the Good Doctor once said.
I dont know if a couple of aging journos from the Oz’s political desk are “the bastion of the established punditariat”. THe Oz po-jos have done what countless aging journos have done since time immemorial: run out of interesting things to say.
This is not a problem peculiar to off-line journos. [!]
Its a bit late to shut the gate. The barbarians have been inside the MSM tent for yonks. Heaps of MSM journalists run media-sited blogs.
Admittedly, its a lot easier for blogging boys to point out the state of media emperor’s clothes these days.
These blogging frenzies are usually just storm in a teacup whipped up in the desperate struggle to attract attention. A sign of the relentless status-anxiety of the opinon-mongering class.
“The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.”
O. Wilde
Whenever I hear the phrase “cause of freedom of speech” I inwardly shudder as I know that an earful of cant is a likely prospect. Mark seldom disappoints, in this respect.
Why would free speech be harmed if Peter Brent did get an effective “monstering” from the Oz? Brent is not made out of Dresden China. He has certainly never held back from dishing out the biff to News Ltd “Three Stooges” Kelly, Shanahan and Milne.
I am sure his heavy weight ego is strong enough to endure a couple of glancing blows from those lightweight sparring partners. I dont see any reason to worry if the they respond in kind.
Whatever happened to the bracing effect of robust debate? And why have Leftie bloggers suddenly become so precious about a little argy-bargy? Is on-line media meant to be a one-way shooting gallery?
Cripes, if I had a penny for everytime I copped a low blow from one of the foul players on this site then…I’d have alot of pennies. But you dont catch me whining.
What a bunch of snivelling sooks.
Oh Jack that’s just beautiful. Coming from you, I mean.
Well might we ask. The GG doesn’t seem to like it very much.
You seem to have forgotten that it was the GG that kicked this off this little tiff after the punters rightly pointed out that a particular news story by their Ace Stenographer was actually load of old pig’s trotters dressed up as fine imported caviar.
What a difference a week makes, eh? Last week it was all ‘Howard Checks Rudd’s March’ and we were well on the road to victory, and this week Howard’s asking his cabinet why it is that they’re basically fucked.