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There's a trite narrative being peddled about at the moment among the more polite sections of the media.
It goes like this:
Daniel Andrew's press conferences are the first time the great unwashed have ever watched a presser.
And it's a huge shock apparently.
There's a trite narrative being peddled about at the moment among the more polite sections of the media.
It goes like this:
Daniel Andrew's press conferences are the first time the great unwashed have ever watched a presser.
And it's a huge shock apparently.
Because the general public are uneducated fools who previously had no idea what the media do or how journalists do their job, this is causing all the unnecessary anger on social media & around the kitchen table.
If only the public had known all of this mysterious sorcery before.
If only the public had known all of this mysterious sorcery before.
This belief is pushed along by regular references (often well intentioned) that journalism is somehow a highly skilled and rarified craft, only for the special & the brilliant.
That deeply mysterious things on behind the scenes and idiots like you just don't get it.
That deeply mysterious things on behind the scenes and idiots like you just don't get it.
The problem most Victorians have with the Andrew's pressers are this:
They watch them daily to be updated on the latest information.
That's it.
Journalists are there to grab sound bites & content for their work, as per their boss's orders.
These two things are very different.
They watch them daily to be updated on the latest information.
That's it.
Journalists are there to grab sound bites & content for their work, as per their boss's orders.
These two things are very different.
There is no great skill required in asking the same question (texted by your editor) 4 or 5 different ways - except perhaps a thick skin.
You take notes, write the answers down, go back to your desk & write an article based on your collated information.
Brain surgery it ain't.
You take notes, write the answers down, go back to your desk & write an article based on your collated information.
Brain surgery it ain't.
So the shibboleth being peddled about in today's @theage that the anger toward the Andrew's press conferences are because people simply have no idea what journalists do or what a presser is meant to be about - is insulting nonsense.
People are angry because they already know.
People are angry because they already know.
Victorians know their information sessions are being hijacked for brownie points by the media.
People know their health and sanity is being treated as of secondary importance to a headline.
People know a game of gotcha is being played, and that their lives are the football.
People know their health and sanity is being treated as of secondary importance to a headline.
People know a game of gotcha is being played, and that their lives are the football.
The anger towards the media isn't that people can't see. The problem isn't that people don't know.
The problem is that people do see.
The problem is that people do know.
That's why they're angry.
Stop treating the public like fools who can't see the puppet strings.
The problem is that people do see.
The problem is that people do know.
That's why they're angry.
Stop treating the public like fools who can't see the puppet strings.
Just so people are aware, this thread is not about one article.
It's about a series of narratives that have been peddled for many months, using this article as an example. It's a fine article, but that repeated angle of people just not understanding what goes on, is part of it.
It's about a series of narratives that have been peddled for many months, using this article as an example. It's a fine article, but that repeated angle of people just not understanding what goes on, is part of it.
