Our breakfast wrap — a regular crunch of fresh political commentary just in — today carries the headline: ‘Cracks emerge in the Labor-Green alliance‘.
A few sharp readers have taken us to task for that headline. We’ll let them tell you why…
Boris Kelly:
…The media is now on hyper-vigilant ‘crack alert’ (a colourful term, I admit) which conveniently ignores the collaborative, consultative nature of minority governments. Much froth and bubble will characterise reporting of this period of government simply because the media is incapable of eschewing mindless reductionism in favour of commentary that actually supports the democratic process. The co-dependence of corporatist politics and the mass media has seldom been more evident.
The man on the clapham omnibus:
…Any media articles that talk about ‘backflips’ should definitely be taken with a grain of salt and viewed in the context of this new situation.
Dr Strangelove:
…What hogwash — Brown’s message is that the Parliament can work together to pass legislation that is best for the country, with or without the government.
Just because the executive doesn’t have as much control over the legislative agenda, doesn’t mean its unstable — it means Parliament is working how it is supposed to.
TwoBob:
…there is a permanent crack that must be bridged by hard work and diplomacy for the government to achieve anything at all. Are you going to report this every time? How brain numbing that will be. Oh look the government has to appease someone to pass something.
In our defence, the wrap is meant to capture what other commentators are saying, but still … part of this brave new world is resisting the urge to seek the snappy headline in everything. It mightn’t be as sexy, but the media’s approach to this complex political dynamic is going to have to be a lot more nuanced. Us included.
“the wrap is meant to capture what other commentators are saying …”
are you kidding me? that is why i subscribe to Crikey??? given the total paucity of any real & honest reporting in mainsteam media, and all the vested interests and voices (frequently reported on in Crikey), and you “want to capture what other commentators are saying”???
the reason we read Crikey is to get AWAY from the constant beat-ups, the agendas, the axes to grind, the dishonesty, and the ineptitude & laziness
The Age headline this morning is a triumphal “The first cracks appear”. Triumph for the journalists and opinion writers saying I told you so. From the moment Windsor and Oakshott declared their intention, the overwhelming reporting has been this won’t last. From the ABC to Murdoch to Fairfax. And Crikey. It’s going to be pretty difficult to live with. Maybe my best option is to cancel all media subscriptions.
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.
– Leonard Cohen, “Anthem”.
Don is more or less correct, and I would add that since News Ltd has 70% of print media in Oz, this is not something most Crikey reader’s want to begin the day with.
Also the remark “is going to have to be a lot more nuanced” is exactly contrary to what Crikey readers want. We want it straight, no acrobatic interpretations to bend the news into whatever an authors/publishers/populists agenda might be.
The ABC news led with exactly the same dumb headline, seemingly straight from someone else (often News Ltd!). Barely 48 hours into the new government and both the opposition and the MSM (and Crikey!) are failing us all over again.
so many question marks Don — the wrap is a snapshot of commentary that we put on the website first thing every morning, not in the email that you subscribe to. it’s part of the aggregation that we provide on the website.