Over at Woolly Days, Derek Barry has posted a comprehensive wrap of the media coverage of the Queensland campaign, and says some kind things about our humble efforts on this blog. Barry links to a rather bizarre Courier-Mail editorial apparently posted at 11pm last night. Among other things, it contains some odd non sequiturs like the following passage:
The LNP brand indisputably works, but whether it can ever work well enough to capture those urban seats remains a matter for debate.
But the main thrust of the leader is summed up admirably by Barry:
…they gave grudging credit to Labor’s win while still questioning the wisdom of the electorate.
What distinguished the Courier-Mail campaign, I think, is a combination of its unreliability in analysis and its bias towards the LNP. The paper also appeared to lose interest in the last couple of weeks, often relegating election coverage to somewhere past page 10. Only isolated exceptions to the general rule that the C-M just wasn’t worth reading stand out – Dennis Atkins’ commentary being one. But in general, its approach to the poll was both lazy and one-sided.
For a long time, and I think there’s some history here dating back to the comments of the Fitzgerald Inquiry long ago about the responsibilities of the media, Brisbane’s only paper has seemed to regard itself as the unofficial opposition. Whether or not such a stance is justifiable is no doubt a matter of opinion. But, even if one were to allow this sort of aim as a discharge of some Fourth Estate duty, it would surely be better served by serious and probing coverage rather than populist posturing and overt bias.
In any case, it’s pretty clear that the paper’s influence over the electorate is close to zero these days, so perhaps this discussion is somewhat academic, or otherwise moot.
45 Comments
The Courier-Mail has dumbed itself down into irrelevance since going officially tabloid. The crud they publish still moves papers, but not too many people take it seriously…
I’d love to see some circulation figures, and a demographic breakdown. Insofar as there’s a market for the C-M among people under 45 these days, I suspect a fair bit of it has migrated to MX for the commute read. I think a lot of people around my age (41) have given up on the daily newspaper habit, and younger folk haven’t ever had it.
I haven’t bought it on a regular basis for a very long time, and picking up the thing during this campaign certainly hasn’t changed my view as to whether I could spend a buck better daily…
I thought photographs on consecutive pages of Saturdays CM were telling. Bligh shaping up in a fighting pose on page nine and Springborg holding a baby while smiling sweetly at the baby’s mother on page ten was just the CM going into LNP overdrive.
I was a regular reader up until about a year after the tabloid changeover. Given that I have access to 200+ copies a year for $16, it is a sign of my intense disdain for the paper that I don’t consider that good value for money.
However, just how much would have the ALP won by if the paper had been even handed? Who knows but maybe the CM has helped the LNP creep a little closer. We do recall that not long ago they were a basket case.
Antony Green writes a well rounded article here:
http://www.smh.com.au/national/losers-can-blame-joh-for-their-woe-20090322-95mm.html?page=-1
Thomas, I think the Courier Mail has overplayed their pro LNP card so often that it has become ineffective. Once people would have taken notice of their view, now it is just tossed aside as more of the same pro LNP nonsense. That would help explain why only three seats were won in Brisbane despite the merger. Other sources of information now cut much more keenly into Brisbane political thinking than the Courier Mail. Who are you calling a basket case the CM or LNP?
This certainly wasn’t a failing of The West Australian. Most of their front pages leads during the WA campaign were election stories which invariably bashed the shit out of the government (the opposition scarcely rated a mention), usually with a story conjured out of thin air. Former Liberal leader Matt Birney said it best:
All three of the stories to which he refers dominated the front page. So from my perspective, newspaper coverage of the campaign was a key point of distinction between the WA and Queensland elections, odd as that may seem to Queensland observers.
Now I have been a consistent critic of the CM on this blog and that remains the case. I take solace in the fact that it is irrelevant to the political discourse of the state. They won’t but the new govt should black ball the CM for a few weeks and see if it makes any difference to their govt plans. I would also not hesitate to kick the CM in the place where it hurts, ie cut the advertising spend. some of space taken just for govt vacancy ads could be slashed by just advertising a web address (lets face it if you can’t use the web or access it now days then you are unlikey to win a govt job).
Next local ABC, WHAT A F**KING JOKE that is!! a more whiney whingey know nothing waste of time is the Bris morning programme. It has never been any good (remeber Steve Austin), Madonna King has kept up the record of moaning that the show is. More broadly the ABC from the Insiders to Fran Kelly’s show offer no discernable insights to public affairs worth a cracker. I am quite realdy to do some sever budget saving with the ABC.
Sorry about the spelling but Australia’s lack of media diversity really sh*ts me to tears.
The West Australian was actually quite balanced at last year’s state election. They were very critical of both Liberal and Labor. Paul Murray was pro-Labor when Buswell was leader.
The Courier-Mail’s pro-LNP stance turned to political poison for Springborg in the end. It actually helped Bligh.
I don’t think so, Bree. I think it had no impact whatever.
Bree, I realise I’m wasting my breath here – but if that’s so, why did The West make a front page lead out of Carpenter’s Anna Bligh-style refusal to guarantee Michelle Roberts’s position in cabinet after the election (plus follow-up story the next day), while not uttering a single word about Colin Barnett’s refusal to do the same for Troy Buswell?
It was funny last week when Madonna King had her callers ask questions of Fiona Simpson and few were able to be answered while most had their phone number taken with a promise they would be called back later if and when and answer was worked out.
Fiona Simpson’s certainly in the “failed to impress” class of 2009.
No doubt their next trick will be to demand a Liberal be made the leader of the LNP. Given their determined push for an early election in the misguided belief that it would tip Labor out of power this would be the second last desperate thread in the CM bow.
The last push would be to get Madonna King, Spencer Howson, Kelly Higgins- Divine, Patrick Lion and a few journalist friends all to stand in marginal seats for the LNP at the next state election.
I agree, The West under Paul Armstrong resembled a Young Liberals Newsletter with it’s total antagonistic attitude towards Labor, and it’s only since Armstrong’s sacking that the paper has returned to some sort of normality and is becoming quite readable.
Hopefully new editor Brett McCarthy won’t fall into Armstrong’s trap and try and outdo the Sunday Times in the crap populism stakes.
Former Health Minister did black ball the West from their media confrences and boy were they upset – even 6PR were dark when Labor Ministers and the Premier refused to appear on The Morning Program and Howard Sattler’s Drive show – even Brian Burke’s mate Bob Maumill was dirty on them.
Re Govt advertising, when Geoff Gallop moved Govt Job Advertising to the Web was the daythe West went feral, and now Chris Wharton new CEO of the paper is begging the Barnett Govt to commit more Govt advertising to the paper.
Frank, as I say kick em in the nuts where it hurts, nothing talks like money talks.
I say make Paul Armstrong the editor of The Age. That paper needs a huge clean up.
The campaign in a nutshell from the Oz whose reporters actually did a resonable job throughout this campaign.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25226665-5006786,00.html
I don’t believe the Courier Mail showed bias in its reporting. Even on the day they handed the editorial to the LNP the body of the paper carried a body of negative stories on the LNP. It would be an interesting exercise to put the paper’s election coverage to the test: count column inches and attribute positive or negative to them. Journalists are used to both sides of politics claiming the same story is prejudiced against them. It seems however that those who lean left in this blog are unfamiliar with this effect. Suggest a bit of growing up is required by StanS who’s calling for the government to stop talking to the Courier! Go on, you could gang up on them behind the dunnies, that’s a better idea.
Bree@11 – I’m afraid you are delusional. I remember one headline piece in week 2 of the WA campaign where Carpenter announced his renewable energy policy. He flew to a wind farm site south of Perth. The West Australian then ran a front-page piece with highly innaccurate figures about the carbon Carpenter burned to make the announcement, attacking him as hyprocritical. There was then absolutely no detail reported on the policy announcement.
This is just one of many examples I observed during that campaign.
The Courier Mail is doing a excellent job of reaching these dizzying heights of bias and trash journalism.
All I can say is that there’s only one paper more bias in Queensland. The Sunshine Coast Daily, who I think should just give up pretending it is anything more than an LNP flyer!
The CM is a joke.
4BC is a disgrace. Thankfully their ratings are struggling.
“Fiona Simpson’s certainly in the “failed to impress” class of 2009.”
So that would put her in the top half then?
There are alot of bitter LNP supporters talking on 4BC right now.
Bree, they are all probably still in shock. If they believed everything they heard on 4BC, then the Borg should have won all 89 seats. Interesting the Greg Cary has changed his tune all of a sudden.
aliceintheknow Posted Monday, March 23, 2009 at 9:28 am
Yes it reaches unequalled new lows for biased reporting. Been that way for years.
There is no real media scrutiny anymore unfortunately in QLD. In the 06 election when Beattie went on the 7.30 report Kerry Obrien just laughed at his claims that it was going to be a close election. But that was the only real interview of the campaign. He got away with the BS back in QLD. Even less of that scrutiny this campaign.
We need more forums like that where ministers and opposition get grilled. Andrew Fraser was able to get away with his lines at every opportunity of “Borg doesn’t believe the GFC exists and will cut 12,000 jobs”. That is all he said all campaign.
I notice also that the media were more interested in announcements and photo ops in nice locations like Airlie Beach and Townsvile. The didn’t seem so interested in showing the pollies around boring Brisbane. The media stunts worked – kissing dolphins, going to a bird sanctuary, throwing a footy. The media lapped it all up.
The fact that both pollies ALMOST pasted each other while joggin at Airlie Beach got more publicity than most pollicies.
The Patel/Dr Death finding was a google fluke. It took .5 microseconds of research and the journo won awards for this. Who knows how many other scandals are out there not being reported.
Yes we need more grizzled old journos up here. Where do they go?
Ahh, 4BC, a member of Fairfax media whose WA Talk Station 6PR is also a safe haven for Conservative views, and Perth’s ABC 720 is another station which has a similar bent.
The Australian shares our pain over the ABC’s non-coverage on election night.
And alienate The Bill Junkies ?
And there wasn’t the excuse of Footbrawl which didn’t prevent the broadcast on Newsradio either – I wonder if the real reason was because of the problems the WA Election caused with the opening ceremony of the Paralympics, which resulted in dropping coverage on ABC1, but stiull showing the paralympics on ABC2.
I agree that the 612 mornings show is very soft. Compared to Sydney I find ABC radio up here just realy lazy (especialy that Higgins Devine – how does she keep her job?)
As for Steve Austin. He used to be much better in the morning than King. The sign of that was the arrogent Makinroth refused to go on his show by the end as he was getting a bit of a well deserved grilling.
There is no forum in QLD for pollies to get a hard hitting interview so they get away with murder
As for this blog… Well it only scrutinized the LNP’s costings with a fine tooth comb… Need I say anymore?
Susan the ALP costings were perfect.
Cracking piece from Peter Cameron in the GC Bulletin. (Unfortunately it is not online), but it includes this pearler”
“The frantic LNP cheerleaders in the Brisbane press and radio stations kept telling poor old ‘Last Resort Lawrie’ he was going gang-busters. Egged on by some professional pollsters desperate to justify their fees and electoral tabels which, occasionally, are within cooee of the result”
Ross Fitzgerald has a rethink.
http://www.rossfitzgerald.com/?p=91
ruawake only someone would use the word labor and perfect in the same sentence.
ruawake only someone ON THIS WEBSITE would use the word labor and perfect in the same sentence.
Can someone enlighten me on what constitutes false advertising? During this recent campaign Mark Robinson (LNP candidate for Cleveland) has used a photo to advertise himself that must have been taken several years ago….and when you see him in real life you can hardly recognise him.
Anna Bligh and Labor’s victory was just perfect.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OWzDP5cnE0
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