The Daily Verdict: Day 38 & the agenda meets the Press Club

Back in June pollster Mark Textor reported to the Liberal Party that the Government had to stop Labor setting the agenda, stress its economic management record and paint Labor as a risk - or it would face electoral oblivion. At the National Press Club this afternoon Prime Minister John Howard certainly stressed his economic management record and the risk posed by Labor but he discovered again just how difficult it is to set the agenda.

As this election campaign draws to a close, Labor is clearly making all the running. Try as he might to put an emphasis on the economy, Mr Howard could not divert the attention of journalists from the latest dirty tricks and questions about his own retirement. The media coverage is bound to revive memories of the headlines which accompanied the leaking of the Textor research back in August.

Leaked dossier reveals Howard’s desperation” said the Tele.

Old Tricky and Losing” screamed the Melbourne Herald Sun.

In the Adelaide Advertiser the Prime Minister was “Dishonest and Too Old”.

The antics of the Liberal Party in the electorate of Lindsay have surely ruined the attempt to get voters to concentrate on the Howard message that his government had transformed the nation for the better and that a Labor government would undo all the good work.

Most people will not even get to hear or read Mr Howard’s chosen words. The television grabs will all be about Labor’s subjects.

 
 

Coalition ALP
Television 0.72 2.26
Newspapers 0.07 0.48
Radio 0.18 0.51
Internet 0.06 0.54
TOTAL 1.03 3.79

You will find details of the way the Daily Verdict is compiled, with the help of raw material provided by our friends at Media Monitors, on the Crikey website.

8 Comments

  1. Sue
    Posted Thursday, 22 November 2007 at 8:40 pm | Permalink

    Tony, dear, Tony, it is not a question of letting anybody set the agenda, its about reporting on dirty tricks and a politician (Jackie Kelly) who thinks its funny using racism as an election ploy. Who ruined Howard’s chance today???

  2. Scott
    Posted Friday, 23 November 2007 at 1:15 pm | Permalink

    The Labor Party & their current Environmental plans are irrational because they set targets but don’t know how to reach those Targets. Labor only has hollow promises. Vote For the Libs/Nats.

  3. John O
    Posted Friday, 23 November 2007 at 1:16 pm | Permalink

    This latest dirty trick from the Liberal Party is reminiscent of an ailing regime struggling to hold onto power in its final days. Nasty, indeed.

  4. David Hoyle
    Posted Thursday, 22 November 2007 at 10:18 pm | Permalink

    Tony P. Are you saying that having the spouses of the sitting member and the Lib candidate being caught with racist, inflammatory, etc pamphlets isn’t newsworthy? I suppose you’re right. Just more of the same from an AMORAL Liberal Party.

  5. Tony Papafilis
    Posted Friday, 23 November 2007 at 11:45 am | Permalink

    Who declared Islam a racial issue? Do we consider anti-Christian rantings as a race issue? No. So skip the racist spin. Issue - Did you not hear the Labor man say that Labor will oppose all death penalties? That obviously includes terrorists on death row.

  6. Chris
    Posted Thursday, 22 November 2007 at 4:59 pm | Permalink

    Will people stop whinging about a supposedly “biased” media? Most outlets clearly bias slightly (recall the comparison between the Australian and Age newspaper on Crikey) but sometimes they just run a story because its more interesting than anything else.

  7. John Adams
    Posted Thursday, 22 November 2007 at 3:20 pm | Permalink

    I cannot put in to words to describe the damage that Howard has done to this nation.
    I cannot forget the vision on the television of his “Shock and Awe” attack on Baghdad and the on-going misery and loss of life that he has inflicted on the Iraquis.

  8. Tony Papafilis
    Posted Thursday, 22 November 2007 at 4:48 pm | Permalink

    Is it Labor or, more correctly, the media that won’t let John Howard set the agenda. Perhaps we should have some awards such as “Best left wing activist journo” or “best Labor cover up” though we’d need a lot of other prizes for all the runners up.