Our weekly (mostly) look at media spin tactics: let’s dissect the PR and propaganda that aims to blow one’s own horn, bury one’s errors, resurrect the shambling zombie corpses of well-flogged deceased equines, and ooh look! A Big Distracting Thing!
So, what are the talking points being trotted out this week? What do they hope to distract us with? What line do they want us to buy? What have they been sitting on especially to quietly slide out during the normal distractions of our weekend?
Please note – this thread’s just for the analysis of media manoeuvres and their intended effects – discussion of other aspects of issues of interest belongs elsewhere. (If you’re not sure whether there’s been a recent discussion on your particular topic of interest, please check our archive page to search by topic and see a quick list of the 50 most recent posts. Your comment may be more relevant on a recent roundtable, or maybe the latest Open Thread.)
Minerals Council is spending big on an ad campaign extolling the folksy virtues of mining, also seem to be behind the “Olde Fashioned Prospector” publicity stunt you will see on TV news today.
Hungry Beast does a summary of the provenance of the Nuts and Bolts show on Ch10 as Gina Reinhardt legacy
As has been said elsewhere:
“BOLT: Where the nuts hang out”
Incidentally, the first reaction on ABC News last night to the government’s (admittedly loopy) Malaysian processing policy was from Abbott, with the Bolt logo featuring prominently. Once upon a time when the government announced a new policy, the details of that policy were given prominence. Not now, and not on the ABC – the opposition is allowed to set the agenda over and over again.
Maybe the ABC should consider outsourcing.
Maybe the Government should just give the ABC to syop doing this sort of thing or theyu’ll cut their funding to the bone, After all, the Libs didn’t hesitate, and since Labor is cloning Liberal policy, bringing the ABC into line with whatever is left of Labor ideology wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Paul, Just a small carification required. “bringing the ABC into line with whatever is left of Labor Ideology”.
Would that be ‘left’ as in ‘remaining’ in which case a programme entitled JUST A MINUTE would probably be long enough to cover that. OR ‘left’ as in direction; in which case there is a wealth of unexplored territory that couild be covered
adrian @ 3, you are right. It happens again and again all day long. The Opposition spin is headlined. Then you get a quick summary of government policy. Then you get an actual comment by an Opposition spokesperson.
Then you often get another dose in a recap of the headlines.
How can this happen under a policy of ‘balance’?
In their peurile conception of balance, it probably measures up – equal time devoted to each party.
Which completely ignores the framing of the issue.
How did a public broadcaster become such a mockery of what it should be?
If you want to help push the ABC to return to its charter, please vote and comment on the petition.
http://suggest.getup.org.au/forums/60819-campaign-ideas/suggestions/1684971-petition-for-abc-to-return-to-its-charter
Adrian the ABC are already outsourcing-to news corp.
Ease up people. The ABC have been running the Govt’s budget spin dutifully and unquestionly for the last few weeks. “We’re about to be hit with an austerity budget caused by forces outside our control which will nevertheless compassionately take care of wavering Labor demographics”.
What tosh
I don’t think so, PeterTB @ 10. All I’ve heard is, as usual, “The Opposition says … “
Lindsay,
I meant remaining.
I thought it might be worthwhile dipping my toe into the turbid pond of Q’n'A tonight, given the guest list.
The first question was too stupid to even remember, so I decided to watch the Glenn Gould doco I recorded last night kinstead. It was spin of a kind, but more enjoyable than the alternatives on offer. (And the music was better.)
Media Watch had some great examples of Spin last night including a hilarious one where SA ALP picfacts spin were spliced together into an anti ALP piece. It was so blatent it made me laugh at it’s audacity.
One the minus side, I had a lot of conversations with friends last week who think the ALP is so on the nose ‘even Lindsay Tanner is attacking them as hopeless.’
News Ltd should continue the way it’s going, it’s getting traction and the Libs are effectivly already in the lodge with the ALP franticly trying to take up Lib policy.
More spin from the OO.
Compare:
the Oz {Go slow on carbon tax: BHP Billiton chairman Jacques Nasser
} with PM {BHP Billiton chairman calls for more scientists and engineers} yesterday.
The Oz began its text as follows:
BHP Billiton chairman Jacques Nasser has turned up the pressure on Julia Gillard to abandon plans for a carbon tax, calling for a “go-slow” approach to tackling climate change and warning that the rest of the world is unlikely to follow Australia’s lead.
Amusingly, this was under a video insert entitled ‘market Insights” in which Andrew main speaks with a consultant called David Leitch on “why business wants a carbon tax” (sic). No matter.
The OZ continued:
Mr Nasser yesterday told a Melbourne Mining Club lunch that BHP Billiton still supported Australia moving early on climate change, but questioned the government’s plans and stressed the nation needed to remain competitive with other countries
Notice how the question of pricing carbon has been airbrushed out of the picture? The phrase ‘moving early’ actually appears in nasser’s words to PM yesterdays afternoon. Here is the relevant part of the transcript from PM:
SUE LANNIN: Jacques Nasser says BHP Billiton is satisfied with the progress of talks with the Federal Government over a carbon tax.(sic)
JACQUES NASSER: I think we’ve got to just be very careful what we do here. We do think that moving on carbon is important for Australia, and BHP Billiton supports moving early, but we’ve got to be careful that we don’t get into the trap of really believing our behaviour is going to influence other countries. I don’t think that’ll be the case.{my emphasis}
So on PM, Jacques Nasser wants to move early on carbon and in the OZ, the writers (Chambers, Matt & Maher, Sid) parse Nasser as wanting to move early on climate change. Yet the ‘move early’ phrase was in a passage quite explicitly endorsing a carbon price, and as Sue Lannen noted, the company was “satisfied with the progress of talks with the Federal Government over a carbon tax” (sic).
Continuing the spin, Chambers & Maher for the Oz quote the sentence used in the PM report after the comments endorsing moving early on carbon.
We’ve got to be careful we don’t get into the trap of really believing our behaviour is going to influence other countries; I don’t think that will be the case.
Then follow up with:
The comments will be seen as a shift in the mining giant’s stance from when Mr Kloppers late last year called on Australia to act before any international agreement to protect the nation’s long-term economic interests. At the time, Mr Kloppers called for a combination of a carbon tax (sic), land use actions and limited trading system.
Not only are the two claims not in contradiction, but on the question of the so-called “carbon tax” (or at any rate “carbon”) they agree. Both Kloppers and Nasser favour “moving early”. The Oz tries to say Nasser has them “moving” on something else.
Fresh from verballing Gail Kelly of Westpac last week for “leading a carbon revolt” — an inference immediately and unambiguously repudiated by Kelly that day, the Oz has now verballed Jacques Nasser — in both instances so as to create the impression that business is rejecting a price on CO2 emissions.
Will the Oz ever tell the truth on this issue? It seems it is incapable. In this article, the truth telling had to be outsourced to a third party video.
Pretty amazing isn’t it Fran. The Oz is on the cusp of the new journalism. The truth is passe. Beside the journos at News Ltd know what they REALLY mean. Or maybe what they SHOULD mean.
They’re just editing reality on the fly nowadays.
This takes the cake. Highlighted over at Pure Poison.
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/purepoison/
So the ANZ says
What does the ABC report?
I’m not even shocked any more. I’ll be sure to write into the ABC to complain about the ALP bias theere because this comedy is the best game in town!
Further confirmation of the ABC falling to tabloid status. Tonight there will be a conjunction of 4 planets 5 if you count Earth. This is an interesting but not shattering phenomenon & I will be trotting out the telescope to have a look. But at the ABC online they dedicate most of the article to quotes from Astrologers talking gibberish. Honestly, cant they be bothered doing a bit of work other than ringing wingnuts for quotes.
New evidence at the Chilcott Inquiry into the Iraq war has a senior British intelligence official admitting the case for war was fabricated from the start, and that everyone knew Iraq had no WMDs.