News Limited’s hatchet job on Cate Blanchett hit all the right notes for this sort of confected outrage. It highlights the assumption that commercial media outlets reflect “community concerns” isn’t borne out by evidence.
Media bias
On politics, older Australians most switched-on, most sceptical
Older Australians emerge as the most politically informed and most sceptical of media users, according to Essential Research’s polling of attitudes toward political coverage.
Crikey Says: Who do you trust?
There is a trust gap between public broadcasting (especially the ABC) and commercial media. And it’s substantial.
Measuring media bias: problematic and out-dated
Media organisations often come under criticism for bias reporting. But measuring bias is no easy task and the tradition model of looking for partisan opinions is out-dated and riddled with complexities, writes Jason Wilson.
How the press demolished the Education Revolution
The media coverage of the Government’s Building the Education Revolution scheme has been wonkier than a half-constructed public school tuck shop, says Ben Eltham. The press’s distortions will end up costing all Australians.
Spot the difference: English Sun vs. Scottish Sun
How the BER went from success to screw-up in a few short hours
Tobias Ziegler tracks how news outlets spun the Building the Education Revolution audit report from success to scandal in the hours following its release yesterday.
America finds a better car bomb hero
The real “hero” of the Times Square car bomb threat incident was an immigrant from Senegal. But the US media preferred to anoint a Vietnam vet.
Find out how healthy your news diet really is
Do you really read from a wide range of news sources? Slate has created a wonderful little widget that looks at your recent news-browsing history and lays your true media biases bare.
John Prescott: Brown’s “bigot” gaffe is a Murdoch beat-up
News that British PM Gordon Brown called a voter a “bigot” has exploded in the UK press. But it’s all just part of the Mudoch media’s attempt to decide the election, writes former Deputy PM John Prescott.
Richardson: Why I’ve stopped reading News Ltd
The latest NSW Newspoll found latest Newspoll found premier Kristina Keneally’s personal ratings are going strong — so why did The Oz run with the line “the Keneally government is dead in the water”, asks Charles Richardson.
Wolff: Will Murdoch lose the UK election?
Rupert Murdoch’s media war on Tory leader David Cameron and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg in the UK are about to bite him in the arse, says Michael Wollf.
The NSW media blackout over deaths in custody
There were three tragic deaths in custody in NSW in 2009. So why did the media only report on that of Mark Holcroft? asks the Indigenous Social Justice Association’s Ray Jackson. Could it be because he was the only one with white skin?
ABC’s Insiders: as balanced as a fat kid on a see-saw
The ABC’s Insiders may include an equal number of panellists with diametrically opposed views, but that doesn’t make it “balanced”, says The Political Sword. One David Marr does not equal one Andrew Bolt or Piers Akerman.
Come in Spinner: How PR leans with the wind
Successful PR doesn’t seek to manipulate the media — it tailors its media contributions to the lifestyle and socio-economic segment a media outlet targets to win advertising, writes Noel Turnbull.
How the media has manipulated America’s minds on Afghanistan
Glenn Greenwald’s comprehensive take-down of the US media’s “mindless” and “unquestioning” coverage of the war in Afghanistan, comparing it to far more objective reporting by Afghani news agencies.
Ethical wipeout at surf magazines
A gnarly expose on the surf magazine industry, where reports of racism and drug scandals have been spiked and censored in an effort to keep relationships with multi-million-dollar surf brands sunny. Bummer.
Rupert’s war on Rudd
The entire stable of News Ltd papers — with The Oz at their helm — seem to be waging a war on Kevin Rudd, with relentlessly negative coverage of anything and everything the Government does, writes The Political Sword.
Abbott buggered by his own baggage
Tony Abbott is being comprehensively done over in the Australian media, but he has only himself (and the Howard Government) to blame.
Where are the ALP’s usual media critics on the filter?
Stephen Conroy announced a very expensive plan to give the government and its favoured lobbyists the power to control the internet: so where have all the usual anti-ALP pundits gone? Are they worried about offending fundamentalist readers? asks Jeremy Sear.
WSJ vs. NYT
The Wall Street Journal is a little pissed about a recent New York Times piece claiming the Journal has shifted rightward under Rupert Murdoch’s ownership. It’s snarky press releases at 20 paces.
How Rupert ruined the WSJ
On the second anniversary of Rupert Murdoch’s purchase of the Wall Street Journal, current and former writers say his conservative politics have tainted the paper’s editorial objectivity and quality.
ACMA names and shames networks for Sudanese coverage
Broadcasting regulator ACMA’s report on the way our commercial TV networks reported the issue of Sudanese crime paints a very nasty picture indeed.
Singling out Muslims for shock value
A radio rant against Muslims gets Yasmin Khan thinking of double standards.
Washington Post / Thursday, 8 April 2010
The Washington Post has a new blog all about the “conservative movement” and Republican Party, promising to explain what the right is “doing, thinking, and planning”. Could be fascinating reading for political junkies of all persuasions.