Comments on: Bushfire battler story is more complex than it looks

By: engineer

engineer — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Thank you Crikey.

This type of investigation and reporting is high value.

Debunking falsehoods is where Crikey has always been at its finest. Keep it up!

By: Frank Campbell

Frank Campbell — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Excellent.

After 30 years in the bush I'm very familiar with people like the Sheahans. The contractor class. Exuding a perpetual macho aggression, they do what they like, while quick to play the victim when impeded. They exploit the sullen sense anti-urban, anti-government grievance that hangs over the provinces.

Note that the media ran the story repeatedly and never once queried the Sheahan's story. I've got a sheaf of references here. It even made BBC TV. Bodes ill for the Royal Commission, which will be force-fed this feral populism every day.

By: Freddie Frackshat

Freddie Frackshat — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

When I first heard the anecdote (it hardly qualifies as a report, or even a fact), virtually in the form as quoted above:
"...a man (was) fined $50,000 by his local council for clearing the trees around his house. ... his was the only house in the area that survived."

... I said "You need to hear more details before making any sort of judgement on that". Of course, the problem is that people still believe what they read or hear in the media, however obviously it is false, exaggerated or misleading.

- ff

By: Alison Aprhys

Alison Aprhys — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

While working at Kinglake and surrounds as part of a CFA crew assigned to mopping-up duties, I saw the charred remains of homes that were well prepared, and others that were seemingly a disaster waiting to happen survive. Of course many survived through good planning, a tremendous amount of hard work and sometimes, a little luck. However, it is a sad state of affairs when articles such as this are written without proper research. Certainly, reporting on a disaster of the magnitude of the Victorian Bushfires means that the journalist – or their editor if they feel their colleague is overwhelmed and unable to undertake proper fact-checking – must strive to be fair. This kind of reporting simply ignites already smoldering resentment. As a journalist at Whittlesea on Feb 9, I did not report some stories as I could not obtain proof of the actual event and there were already enough distressing rumours racing via the bush telegraph, many of which I am happy to say, have since turned out to be incorrect.