Elsewhere – Political media, cure thyself – it can’t be that hard
Political media, cure thyself – it can’t be that hard
…all are steeped in the old media paradigm where it’s more important to get the story first, instead of writing it best; where the journalist decides what’s in the public interest instead of the community making that decision; and where the personal views of celebrity journalists carry unwarranted weight.…
The antidote, to me, seems clear. It involves the separation of reporting, analysis and opinion; a shift to rewarding quality over speed; and the dropping of frequently published opinion polls.
Via @Drag0nista
My scribbled notes in the dark in that Town Hall meeting tell me the journos on that panel blamed everyone even themselves (well, sort of).
A quick summary: (note the feedback loop)
The Net has broken the business model of the newspapers so they cannot afford to collect news. Fact based news is costly and opinion pieces are cheap.
On the Net we can now see what readers will read. it is measurable and they do not read political stories of fact. Readers read crap.
This leads to a crisis of confidence in political leaders who are now panicked and cannot make an argument stick. Advocacy is the lost skill of this generation. Even if you want to make a public case as a pollie who do you make it to? Do you give facts to Andrew Bolt?
Minister’s offices are now staffed by strategists, poll freaks and media-cycle chook feeders. Not many policy people anymore. Therefore, no-one to do the selling of policy and no-one to do the buying.
One thing stood out for me. Turnbull saying that in this environment the public broadcaster is vital as they are the only ones with resources to factually report. (Audience member asked how can they keep doing it with declining revenue and Turnbull waffled. ) He wants the ABC to be the link between the political class and the people. Public policy should be created, ventilated and discussed in the public sphere of the ABC, as elites talk to the centre and not the extreme. He is harking back to the old system where newspapers carried out that role.
The ABC is one place where “the separation of reporting, analysis and opinion, and a shift to rewarding quality over speed” can actually happen. But in a world of shouting opinion, reactionary think tanks, Murdoch domination, and the ABC running on the same racetrack trying to win the same race, it ain’t likely.