To the beat of a different drum
December 8th, 2009 by Mark Bahnisch | Published in Blogging, Books, Writers & Writing, Culture, Media, The Web | 17 Comments
With a fair bit of ado, the ABC launched its new opinion website, The Drum, on Monday.
It’s edited by Jonathan Green, formerly of Crikey, to whom congratulations are due, as they are to Sophie Black who’s had a very well deserved promotion to the top gig at that thing on the internet.
Margaret Simons, writing at her Content Makers blog, discusses two inter-related aspects of this ABC initiative. She first riffs on a piece by Media Watch’s Jonathan Holmes, which questions the distinction between analysis and opinion, which apparently grounds the ABC’s dictates to its own journos (“analysis good, opinion bad”). Simons then looks at the cult(ure) of personality attached to high profile journos, and questions whether non-witty, non-pretty, non-Tweeting writers are perhaps missing out in a new age of “audience engagement”. She also worries about objectivity, which is another distinction which is hard to maintain.
All these are worthy points for discussion, though I’d also be interested in what people think of the quality of the writing and analysis to date. I’ve already noted some Crikey writers, such as Greg Barns, who may have come across with Green, featured (though Barns does have a tendency to pop up in a lot of places). Whether the ABC should cast its remit rather wider is another issue – which, of course, circles back to the glam/Twitter/name issue…
My own view is that it’s harder than some might assume to find good writers with different takes. It might well be that identifying, developing and mentoring such new voices would be a most valuable contribution. But that’s almost a full time publishing/editorial gig in itself, and it may be incompatible with the ABC’s desire to have an immediate impact. We shall see.
It might also be something we could make a small contribution to here…
Interesting that a Drum post that is updated at around 6 o’clock is already closed for comments at 8.15pm. I guess it is an opinion website rather than a blog. Or an analysis website rather than a blog. Whatever.
I’m all for the ABC doing more text-based stuff. But why more cheap opinion…sorry…analysis?
It is unquestionably a dangerous path for Aunty to tread, it seems certain at least one writer is going to step over the line and embarrass the ABC at some point (it’s actually really hard to write analysis without injecting it with a point of view), and most importantly it really doesn’t add to a netspace already saturated with opinion/analysis.
I would have much preferred the ABC putting the resources towards more investigative journalism online. Dedicated online journos rather than the rip-and-read kind that turn around radio scripts now.
Frankly, I’m sick to death of opinions online. Everyone’s got one, and I care about almost none of them.
In my view, the ABC should have shied away from the online opinion/analysis, or set up a property very distinct from its more “objective” ABC News. With The Drum, the ABC is at risk of (potentially legitimate) criticism that it’s pushing a line.
When you boil it down it’s just the same old talking points from the Dead White Men of The Australian.
The self-same crap that is invoked with reverence as “the News Cycle” of the day, meaning the sound bite strategy from the Coalition godhead.
If any of you fall for something as lame as this, well perhaps you also should book in for an E-meter auditing at your local Scientology HQ.
Do you know they have been also pushing this NeoCon News Cycle detritus on JJJ, for Gods sake?
@5 – yep, I agree, Jason.
There’s a dearth of that in the Mark Scott “look at those intertubes” vision, I think. Of course, investigative journalism wins no friends in industry, pr or politics, because it’s risky. Much safer to do the commentariat/promot-a-thon thing, it would seem.
Investigate journalism is expensive. That’s why nobody does it anymore. Opinion is cheap. You don’t have to do any research or interview anyone (other than your laptop). It’s the ‘reality tv’ of print journalism.
The other problem with investigative journalism these days is you spend a fortune on getting a scoop, publish it online and then everyone picks it up right away with rewrites or analysis of their own. No-one remembers who broke the story. Consequently, editors decide it’s not worth the effort.
Easier just to get Janet or Andrew or Dennis or whoever to speak to their Liberal Party overlord and repeat the spin of the day, without attribution of course, because they want to look clever.
Straight event-based news, meanwhile, is now a commodity. No point in chasing it. Just pick up the wires and set your opinion hounds onto it. Be as outrageous and provocative as possible (upset the educated liberals who read the newspaper) and get as many eyeballs looking at the surrounding ads as possible.
It’s a gigantic sausage machine, folks. It’s information Maccas, precooked and full of preservatives, fat and sugar. Worse, the only people who pay attention to it are a diminishing band of news and political junkies living under the illusion that any of this stuff means anything.
Journalism is a bankrupt trade full of hacks, flaks and wannabe celebrities. And the “news” is a construct bearing little resemblance to reality, or least any reality than 99 per cent of the population recognises.
Investigative journalism. Ha.
I can’t tell whether Fran Kelly’s piece is just a transcript of her rambling during Breakfast, or a piece of bad writing.
No comment.No update.Pay day when!?
What’s “bad writing” about it?
Isn’t it just Unleashed rebadged?
Opinions are like arses doesn’t the saying go?
Pot, kettle etc
I have opinions on cultural production and analysis at the ABC but yeah whatever. Build a bridge and get a blog.
I don’t know why I comment either.
Scanning the threads at The Drum and the other ABC current affairs blog, Unleashed, I’m struck by the floor-space given to right-wing ranters.
Does anybody seriously believe that if the tables were turned the balance would be reciprocated? That if the Coalition were in government, the(ir) ABC would be giving as much floor-space to progressives as they do now to the conservatives?
No
Lol At rumrebellious
Cheers Laura! :-)
I was kinda worried it was a thread killer, which is bad cos Mark went to all the trouble to link, and the articles are very interesting.
If my point isn’t clear, I get alot more out of opinion from the husky and heated debate that usually follows in the comments; more perspectives, context, sources and understanding. And honestly, that’s what I dig about Larvatus Prodeo – it’s like political vaudeville that I get to insert one liners into. And no one gets paid for that sort of cultural content – well not yet ‘cept the ABC online moderators.
But since you asked for our humble
opinionsanalysis of the Drum, here goes. Comments close ridiculously quickly – I don’t think I’ve yet read an article I could comment on. And some articles I don’t think you can – on a couple I clicked, I actually leave The Drum and go to the ABC News domain (including Fran Kelly’s) but they are entitled analysis. Jonathon’s going to have a ball when mediawatch returns I imagine.And the comments threads are unwieldy, and unfocused with the collection of a thousand different points of view, many not on topic but ranting about the ABC. I wonder if its possible to have a ‘national conversation’ in our ‘online town square’. It’s just more gate-keeping of noise of a thousand ranting monkeys by a different crew with different coloured t-shirts.
I reckon Annabel was just chosen to increase ABC online audience share and traffic as part of the media wars. Sure that might have follow on effects of greater appreciation of the ABC’s journalism, but it is infotainment, and it is worthwhile remembering what happened to the Glasshouse. Or even Mediawatch way back in the early 2000′s. That doesn’t mean I don’t think ABC shouldn’t invest in political satire or infotainment. Or the world’s first twitter journalist. Um yeah.
I was going to say, what I would like to see from an ABC online opinion page would be something more akin to Online Opinion – and the ABC could provide what that currently lacks. I like its wider variety and easy access of articles (time-shifting isnt particularly convenient at the Drum thus far, it’s also what I immensely dislike about Twitter).
Funny enough, I was going to make a point about professional writing before I went to sleep leaving a half-arsed remark. Or maybe that did come through ;-) I was going to actually use Christine Milne as an example, because I’m sick of screeds that have nothing to say or are just obviously written for the job, and she was the first person I could think of that has utilised Unleashed, Online Opinion, and Crikey in the past who always has something new, interesting and relevent to say.
She does seem like the person who would not waste her time otherwise. And lo and behold, she does still appear under the Unleashed sub-domain(?). But if moderation becomes a bigger drain on resources than content production, well yeah, that’s problematic.
If I was going to single out two
informed opinion makersjournalists who interact with theiropinionbotscommenters effectively and humanely; it would actually be Antony Green and George Megalogenis. Oh, and the crew on the Crikeyblogs, and the good folk in charge round here of course.IMHA The Drum can’t do that. Neither can The Punch, though they don’t seem to have the comment overload problem. I don’t know what the answer is… more content? How about a kick-arse Climate Change debate with a panel of Australia’s finest on each side? And an online worm rather than a comment facility?
My
opinionif not worthy, is at least as valid as anyone elses ;-)Not intending to sound hopelessly partisan here, but you know only one side could have Australia’s finest. The “sceptics” would have trouble mustering a team of even mediocre intellects.
Can’t wait for Greg Hunts cameo opinion on Nuclear Power/Waste in Australia…..
[cackles!…. cackles louder!!….. cackles eveN LouDer!!!}