The 9/11 conspiracy on Melbourne radio. The Victorian Trades Hall Council has had to pour cold water on the beliefs of president Kevin Bracken this morning, after he publicly stated he thought the September 11 terrorist attacks were an inside job.
The backpedalling began after ABC 774 Melbourne heavy-hitter Jon Faine took a talkback call from September 11 conspiracy theorist “Kevin from Fremantle” — aka Kevin Bracken, MUA Victorian Branch Secretary and President of the Victorian Trades Hall Council. Calling from Western Australia, where the MUA National Council meeting is being held all week, Bracken surprised Faine by calling for a “proper investigation into the events of September 11”.
Halfway through Bracken’s opening rant, which rehashed many of the ‘9/11 truth’ conspiracy theories favoured by internet forums and late-night television specials, Faine interrupted to ask whether the call was a hoax: “No and I’d love to debate you on a publicly Jon, if you think it’s ridiculous.” Faine declined saying that there was “nothing to debate”, before going on to mock Bracken by asking his thoughts on the JFK assignation and moon landings.
Half an hour later, Bryan Boyd, secretary of the Victorian Trades Hall Council, called Faine to publicly admonish Bracken for his tirade. Asked by Faine whether he was comfortable with the MUA secretary holding such “extremist views”, Boyd said that Trades Hall did not endorse the conspiracy theory — which Bracken has held for some time.
“Ninety-nine per cent of the time Kevin is a very good Trades Hall official, in terms of the presidency,” said Boyd. “We’ve had big debates with Kevin about this, this is his personal view on this particular issue. He’s welcome to them, but he’s dead wrong.” Boyd went on to say that he was “embarrassed” by Boyd’s outburst and that he felt compelled to call and “correct the record”. — Tom Cowie
The 40-day strike? Fairfax wishes. As Fairfax Community Network staff in Victoria walk off the job this afternoon to prosecute their below-CPI pay parity claims, company insiders have told Crikey of a famous management meeting during a previous dispute in which the company accountant was asked how much was being saved in wages from the vacant newsroom. When told the strike was leaving the company $100,000 a day better off, the executive responded he would be chuffed if striking hacks took “the next 40 days off” in order to repair the masthead’s bottom line.
Contemporary Age staff, who were gathering on the grass outside the company’s gleaming Media House as Crikey went to print, backed their suburban comrades, issuing the following statement today:
We express our strong concern that the company is awarding its senior executives with pay rises of up to 52 per cent while clamping down on the pay and expenses of staff on the work floor where the newspapers are produced, and providing minimal money for upgrades. We call for: 1. management to increase the inadequate pay offer to FCN; 2. start work on formulating a decent pay offer for The Age staff at the coming enterprise agreement.
Age and Sunday Age staff have agreed to pay a levy each week into the union’s fighting fund to help FCN journalists maintain the rage. — Andrew Crook
Pollie pedals journalism ethics. On September 19, Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph beat up some of the usual weekend tabloid fodder: the “part-time pollies” taking on second jobs.
Clearly, the story didn’t go down well on Macquarie Street — and yesterday one Labor pollie, Shaoquett Moselmane, spewed forth on an article that “sought to portray politicians as people hungry for money, undeservedly pocketing public funds”. His rant on journalism ethics is worth reproducing in full…
This adjournment speech is not about this article or its author or whether the information it contains is factual. It is, however, generally about ethics in journalism and the unnecessary race to the bottom by some journalists. This short piece seeks to highlight, in my view, the importance of ethics, fairness and balance in reporting. There are, however, some media articles that seem to find their way into the press that are patronising, so simplified and shallow that any sense of accuracy is sacrificed, the concept of balance and objectivity is non-existent, the stories trivialised for mass consumption and the journalistic code of ethics trashed. In the process, accuracy, honesty and integrity are lost. Journalists should follow their code of ethics and the high standard that their profession dictates. They have a duty not to abuse their power. As the fourth estate, the media in all its forms is an important element of our democratic system and to a great extent can mould public discourse and set the political agenda…
The media can, without a doubt, not only influence community perceptions, but shape and mould community opinion and future decisions. Journalists must, in playing this powerful role, collate and disseminate information in an objective, truthful, fair and balanced manner. Like any institution with inherent power and influence, the press has great responsibility not to abuse this power. Indeed, it has an obligation to maintain a sense of objectivity in giving a fair and truthful account of the news.
Today it seems no longer a political fight or competition between governments and opposition. It is between governments and the media. Each is trying to outdo the other. The government and opposition are vying to get their messages through, while the media is always looking for new and innovative ways to profit. Each manipulates the news to its own ends to the ultimate disadvantage of the citizen, voter or consumer. With the advent of the internet and satellite broadcasting, politicians and governments are paranoid about the speed and the rapid flow of ideas and stories journalists have to put out at every news cycle. The media hunger for stories that politicians cannot manufacture fast enough to meet the ferocious appetite. In the process, politicians churn out press releases and the media spits out its news stories to the point where the politicians and the government cannot meet the demand…
Journalists, in their endeavour to meet the needs of a ferocious appetite for news and demands of the media cycle, must stay focussed, ethical and not forget decency and accuracy in reporting.
Time zones be damned on Q&A. Obsessive #qanda (the well-known Twitter hashtag used for discussing ABC’s Q&A) fans Australia wide can now type angrily in unison around the nation, with Q&A to be simulcast live across Australia on ABC News 24. This means that Queensland, South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia viewers can now watch and interact with the show live rather than watching a pre-taped recording. ABC1 will also still continue to show Q&A at 9:35pm local time.
The much-anticipated former PM John Howard Q&A special on October 25 will herald the start of the ABC News 24 simulcast. Expect the #qanda hashtag to go rogue. — Amber Jamieson
NT News. Not quite ‘Headless body in topless bar’, but…
Infographic: evolution of the geek
“When one hears the word geek, images are conjured of pocket protectors and nightstands made out of old comic books. That old notion of geek-dom has since evolved into a new tech-savy, and dare we say cool geek.” — Flowtown
Is the iPad’s influence overstated?
“Now, six months after the iPad’s launch, we thought it would be interesting to take a look at which newspapers have taken advantage of the digital platform, and the state of the market today.” — Mashable
Hillary Clinton agrees that It Get’s Better
“Hillary Clinton has made a straight-person version of the ‘It Gets Better’ videos for gay teens, in which she says, ‘It will get better for you.’ That’s a better line than, say, ‘My gay friend alleges that it gets better.'” — Gawker
Why does that ad look so familiar?
“It’s amazing how often crowd sourcing takes just minutes to turn an ad that looks startingly creative at first glance into something, erm, less original. Sometimes it’s coincidence, sometimes the inspiration may have seeped into a creative’s subconscious. And sometimes it looks like a smash-and-grab raid. Here, we offer Mumbrella’s top 20 copycat Australasian ads.” — Mumbrella
Google as a weapon against the Republicans
“How many clicks does it take to soil a candidate’s online reputation? A prominent liberal activist would like to find out.” — Politico
Re Bracken: “this is his personal view on this particular issue. He’s welcome to them” Is he really welcome to them? Do you want a fruitcake running a union?
That 1% of the time when he is not a good union official sounds like a gross under-estimation.
“Pedal Power” and Bracken (supposing he’s of a political bent) – just goes to illustrate what I’ve long believed “Those that can, do – those that can’t, teach – and for those that can neither, there’s always politics or journalism!”
The section at the top about Kevin Bracken’s remarks re 9-11 is a disgraceful exercise in biased reporting. The author’s language is condescending in the extreme.
If Crikey is unable to write honestly and with fairness about 9-11, may I suggest it doesn’t mention the subject at all?
It is not only Mr Bracken calling for a “proper investigation into the events of September 11”. More than 1,300 qualified architects and engineers have done so too – and counting.
At this rate, Australia will be the last country on earth to withdraw its military occupation forces from Afghanistan – and Crikey will be the last news medium in Australia to prop up the offical version of 9-11 without any serious acknowledgment of the millions who disagree with that quite unproven official ‘conspiracy theory’. Many critics of the official 9-11 myth are extremely very well-qualified and intelligent people, as Crikey readers would discover if the Crikey editor ever let ONE well-informed critic state the grounds for doubts. (That hasn;t happened once in nine years – as long as this wretched war in Afghanistan has been dragging on!)
I don’t expect Crikey to agree with my views. I do expect it to report facts. Crikey’s utterly one eyed reporting on 9-11 risks painting this very useful online medium into eventual irrelevance. Please allow space for different views on this matter. We already know what Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld say happened on 9-11. No need to repeat their views here like a catechism, is there?
It’s way beyond time that Crikey allow critical views about 9-11 a fair go. Mass murder, expansions of spookdom, wars, vast increases in military budgets, loss of civil liberties… these things are very serious business. Please don’t insult our intelligence. 9-11 was a crucial trigger event and it DOES merit the fullest invesigation, which it has yet to receive so far on any fair appraisal.
And the war drags on…
I congratulate Kevin for his courage. As Syd Walker rightly points out the people who question the official version of 9/11 events are supported by credible experts, physicists, pilots, eye witness workers, fireman, policeman and experienced senior figures from US military and intelligence. It is a matter of public record that members of the 9/11 commission either resigned or publicly expressed their frustration with the lack of co-operation, funding and resources.
On any level there is absolutely nothing extremist in questioning the official “conspiracy”
Indeed, it is only in Anglo countries, such as ours, where it is considered extreme to question the official version of events.
Any cursory view, clearly raises serious issues concerning the official story. This does not necessarily mean that 9/11 was an inside job. It may well be that the US intelligence were too embarrassed to admit they had no idea who did it and just went with their best guess.
Whatever the truth may be, the only thing we can know for certain is that the official story is not it.
“Today it seems no longer a political fight or competition between govts and opposition. It is between govts and the media. Each is trying to outdo the other. The govt and opposition are vying to get their messages through, while the media is always looking for new and innovative ways to profit. Each manipulates the news to its own ends to the ultimate disadvantage of the citizen, voter or consumer”! [Jason Whittaker]
• Ironically, usurped Aussie nation has been symbolised as a liberal, egalitarian society. Thriving democracy downunder, where newcomers are given a fair go, because Aussies backed the underdog and cherished mateship values. Where most people didn’t care what one’s religion or race was, unless one happen to be unaffiliated or independent Jew, morally differing from zionist canon. Encompassing scores of Israeli refuseniks who renounced bloody slaughter and made Australia home, only to face thought-police impaired internet communication (not mentioning mainstream media dis-info role).
Where none ever was able to run for political office, persevere as an outspoken journalist or run a noteworthy internet forum, unless subscribed to the taboo for discussion ethos. Where clannish inhabitants in insular communes were indoctrinated as supposedly being descendants of the wandering tribe, who find no solace outside the native land, their ancestors were expelled from. Hence they followed zionist teachings as perpetual wanderers in a quest of aliyah to eretz Israel. Apparently with the blessing of the staunch Labor icons (akin to the belligerent Michael Danby MP). Hell-bent to surpass their political counterparts precedent, whatever it takes!