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 take them for yet another trot around the same old track, and ooh look! A Big Distracting Thing! What did they hope to bury in Friday’s news-dump? Cui bono? What’s really going on?
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. e.g. browse the archives | roundtables | open thread
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/markets/australian-sharemarket-falls-in-the-red-after-gillard-wins-alp-vote/story-e6frg916-1226282409651
Gillard victory causes sharemarket fall, The Australian follows the Fox News technique whereby any given speech by Obama is responsible for real-time downward trends in share prices (if they happen to go up it isn’t a story, of course).
“Gillard victory causes share market fall…”.
Has it?
You ripper, bastards they are.
The thread about is spinning and we’ve seen it at its worst from the reactionist sections of msm.
The slandering of both Rudd and Gillard from the grub element has been repulsive, although both have shown flaws enough to have offered sufficient material and encouragement for it.
Andrew Bartlett, at his site offers the pessimistic assessment that the Australian public does not sense the real threat, a hard right Abbott government.
Given the standard of msm in this country, the absolute lack of relevant information on real issues home and crass propagandisation on issue like Syria and Iran off shore, is this any wonder?
Apparently now the speculation will be about when Shorten will challenge for the leadership. Oh goody.
Daniel Flitton’s “analysis” in the AGE today was disgusting. In the last few days there’s been a lot of denial- here and elsewhere- of the sexist tropes which follow Julia Gillard around; much “nothing to see here, move on!” But Flitton, writing for the front page of a national newspaper – one of the few remaining places in the media where we might expect people to write seriously about current affairs – chooses to present the narrative of the Labor leadership spill exclusively in terms of sex, romance and relationships.
“How a fine romance ended in a messy divorce“. In Flitton’s narrative, there’s an “awkward” “first date” “when Kevin met Julia” (a reference to a romantic comedy, for the few people who might not be aware of that), a “courtship rather than a romance”, a “proposition” and a “get-away” (with creepy overtones of a threesome). and that’s just in the first paragraph! It goes on… and on. Rudd “saw Gillard as a potential partner for life” but it was “a marriage of convenience” ending in “divorce” and “breakup” which, in the manner of so many heterosexual breakups, was “forcing people to take sides”.
This gendered trivialisation of Australia’s first female PM hurts all women. We will not move on because there’s something to see here. We will not shut up.
Brilliant explication from Helen. The Age has fallen, in less than a decade, from being a fair broad sheet newspaper to the level of a tabloid gutter-rag. Its editorial was an example of naked bias, also.
Far better was an article by Norman Abjorensen at “Inside Story”, although Ruddites had better be prepared for some harsh criticism of the defeated contender.
That’s truly regrettable Helen. Sadly, I’m not in the least bit surprised. The vacuity in public discourse is utterly pervasive, and in such circumstances, traditional narratives attached to gender are well nigh inevitable.
Oh, and look. In the same paper, same day. Tony Wright:
(My strikethrough suggestions!)
Shrieking seducer maiden versus hermetic saint. Shee-it.
Memo to self: Strikethrough doesn’t work on LP.
Helen, not the first time Flitton’s gone diving for dumb marriage tropes, either. For much blushing brides and dowries and divorce and whatnot:
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=2238
The
deltag should do it, Helen. For example:Much better.
Thanks, Down & Out!
My prize goes to Bruce Hawker for these words post the party room vote this morning:
“Well I think we may have misjudged the power of the factional leaders to really enforce the vote,” he said.
“We didn’t misjudge public opinion on it though. And I think it’s a case where we won the public opinion war but lost the battle in the caucus.”
Despite the fact that factional lines were crossed, and despite the fact that I suspect Mr Hawker may be familiar with ALP procedures on such matters as leadership selection.
Despite comments this morning from backbenchers that yes they had been taking record numbers of comms from their constituents, but not overwhelmingly in support of Rudd.
Heh. You think they’d publicly say they were if they were in support of Rudd?
One ALP MP was on radio this morning complaining about the number of emails he’d received about it since it interrupted him from doing work. He said after filtering out the ones he didn’t think were really from constituents (no bias there I’m sure!) there was support for Gillard. Even then he said he’d already made his mind up beforehand (eg am not going to change my mind based on what people who vote for me think).
Writing more ads for the liberal party I suspect…..
Pure Poison points out the difficulty Gillard will have cutting through with News Limited declaring her win today a
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/purepoison/2012/02/27/respill-thread-the-day-when-the-alp-reaffirmed-that-yes-they-still-get-to-choose-their-leader/
Each time Bruce Hawker bobbed up on the Drum I was left wondering how he could be labled a Labor adviser when most of his input was anti Gillard. The things you learn. And tonight was no exception, once again giving credibility to anti Gillard comment from the Druminatzi.
Speaker Slipper is doing a good job ruling out-of-order attempts by the Opposition to recycle spin.
The grab-bag of “gotcha” moments gleaned from the media can no longer be regurgitated in the House.
Julie Bishop looked quite distressed.
Classic spin tactic analysis. Grogs Gamut on The Drum: Sorting fact from anecdote http://bit.ly/xOi2s0
In particular, Grog notes that the #respill media overload effectively buried the release of the ABS’ latest in its series of data on the Labour Price Index: despite all the big pessimistic claims over the last two years regarding the Fair Work Act i.e. that it would cause (and is causing) a “wages breakout”, there has been in fact no such thing.
Guardian open journalism: Three Little Pigs advert – video
Nice video TT. Now if that were the benchmark all media held itself to ….
Quick, get out of your house, it’s a dam burst….hang on….
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/heavy-rain-leaves-warragamba-bursting-and-sends-residents-packing-20120301-1u61h.html#ixzz1nu4hpzGH
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/heavy-rain-leaves-warragamba-bursting-and-sends-residents-packing-20120301-1u61h.html
Meanwhile, over at the friggin’ ABC, Wayne Swan dares to criticise certain super rich mining magnates and ABC news characterises his well considered and moderate views as a ‘rant’.
One of the most toxic spinmeisters in the US has just died. (Of “natural causes”? At 43?)
If you’re not familiar with Breitbart’s work, here are two of his best known examples. This man ruined lives and careers. He makes Blair, Bolt, Devine and co look like amateurs. (Not that I’m encouraging them.)
It’s sad that he died at such a young age leaving behind a wife and four children.
It should be a wake up call to everyone about how fragile life is and to think about the legacy you leave behind.
Hey, does a dog whistle count as spin? I’d say it does.
In the AGE letters today,
So “chaos on our borders” is the new Stop the Boats. I’ll be looking out for that one.
As noted over at Crikey today, Jim Schembri has developed a habit of emailing the employers of anybody who tweets anything critical of him. #schembri is now trending. My favourite tweet so far:
I think that we should all just call him “Besmirch” from now on.
tigtog @ 26 – Schembri is going to bevery busy contacting employers!
“chaos at our borders”? Weeel, there have been a few shark attacks in WA recently, and that research station in Antarctica did get burnt down last week I think. Okay it wasn’t our research station.