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It’s worth noting, I believe, that just because an individual has worked for NewsCorp it shouldn’t be assumed that the individual is automatically a right-wing, LNP-leaning peddler of misinformation, fascist ideology and anti-Labor propaganda. In my career I worked for /2
NewsCorp both as a journalist and in contract and executive positions. I don’t mind saying that I loved working at NewsCorp in my time there. It was a great place to work. There were great people working there. It disappoints me that the company has evolved /3
recently in the way that it has. It is not uncommon for people in media to have worked across most publishers / broadcasters / telecasters in a career span. Working at NewsCorp has not rendered me a right-wing-nut-job. I am as Left now as I have been since I had the experience /4
of living and working in Queensland during the years of the corrupt Bjelke-Petersen regime. I understand people sensing anti-ALP bias. The current economic state of most of our media is such that it is being micro-managed by a very smart and corrupt LNP Federal Government. / 5
When you run a news room on a shoestring, any sensible drop from a government, business, corporation or lobby group makes for easy copy. When the PMO selectively grooms the press gallery for special treatment and exclusive access to its agenda, it’s hard to refuse. /6
We are witnessing a dismemberment of our democracy by stealth. We are seeing power wielded by patronage and exclusion. I know there is bias out there. Of course there is. But just because someone has worked at NewsCorp doesn’t automatically make them an LNP shill. /7
There are, in fact, some employees at NewsCorp who take the risk of liking comments that are not flattering of the organization they work for. My advice is not to disparage former News employees. It’s the ones who remain there who mostly constitute the propaganda problem. /8
I am very often critical of journalism that I find lacking in balance, impartiality and critical analysis. And I will continue to be so. But I think everyone should take a step back from the thought that politics pervades every newsroom and every piece we don’t agree with. /9
Our traditional media is operating on a fraction of the resources it once had. And it is operating with younger, less experienced staff operating under difficult conditions without the checks and balances that it once had - section editors, sub-editors, proof readers ... /10
I have joined in criticisms on occasion. But please folks, the great bulk of journalists out there are doing their best under pressure. And, like me, the great bulk do not take their political positions from their current or former employer. /11
I am not suggesting that we don’t criticize journalists. I am suggesting that we all (myself included) engage in fact-based critical debate when it comes to journalism, understanding that sometimes we don’t know what it takes to publish.
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