Canavan rolls on The fall of Kabul is an occasion to reflect on many things — the sheer waste of it all; 20 years, countless lives, and billions of dollars down the drain of history with literally nothing to show for it; the definitive end of a certain idea of what life can be for all of Afghanistan, particularly its women and girls. Or you could use it for a cheeky and incoherent little joke about climate change. Which do you think LNP senator Matt Canavan opted for?
A note to the producers of Q+A: next time you try to resuscitate your collapsed former flagship by bringing an empty provocation merchant like Canavan on, don’t compound the insult by trying to argue he’s a serious voice on any topic or for any group.
Porter in the storm As usual with News Corp, look to what they actually do, not to what they dedicate reams of their papers. They spent months criticising the ABC for its coverage of Christian Porter during the latter’s defamation case against the former. Yet for all its cries of “trial by media” or a stain on the ABC, are we to conclude they might have actually thought the whole project was actually pretty newsworthy?
Is that the reason that Porter’s lawyers are trying to preemptively block News Corp, and Nine, from publishing sections of the ABC’s defence?
Talking Abbott issues So in the relentless, screeching storm of the current news cycle, there was something oddly quaint and reassuring about Tony Abbott announcing a new podcast about “Australian values and way of life”. This isn’t his first attempt. Much like George Christensen, one of the most relatable traits the esoteric culture warrior has is his stop-start projects, like Australia’s Future, which he hosted with IPA head John Roskam (appropriately enough, the lead image appears to depict the two men seemingly mid monologue, heedless of the other).
It lasted three episodes.
Nine curses Earlier this month we asked the question: if the Nine papers were happy to take Clive Palmer’s money to run anti-lockdown hysteria during a public health crisis (let alone, as Ben Shepherd pointed out, while running an unbearable smug ad campaign about their addiction to facts), was there any line which they would not cross for enough money? It appears they have found their conscience — announcing over the weekend that they would no longer take Palmer’s political party ads.
We genuinely applaud this decision, and we hope the $20,000 it netted you each time was worth it.
Age-ing readership Of course, paying the bills in modern journalism is no picnic these days, and the reader comments in The Age yesterday illustrate part of the problem. The publication asked its readers what had been seen out and about, and received a flurry of complaints about youths wandering and loitering. It appears to give an insight into the age group that still buys the paper, and the section of those people who still write to the paper. OK, so with no one explicitly stating their age, what does the following lead you to picture?
10 mask-less teenagers sitting together shoulder to shoulder on Queens Parade in North Fitzroy. Hugging, laughing and putting the rest of Melbourne at risk. Unbelievably upsetting! Anonymous
Laughing teens on our streets? For shame! Perhaps next week, an expose on why television these days has to have so much swearing?
Sadly, it is the 15 to 40 year olds that are most likely to spread the virus while often having minimal symptoms when infected. That we still do not have enough Pfizer vaccine to inoculate this important group is a further indictment of our vaccine strategy. Yes, social distancing and mask wearing is tedious but if we are to limit deaths, keep our hospitals functioning and save lives, all groups will have to strictly obey the rules for the next three months. And yes, I’m an old fogey who writes letters like the one quoted to the Age.
Whilst I agree that the editorial standards of The Age are slipping, some of us still like to read news that focuses on the state in which we live. It’s the best of a bad bunch and I’m still heartened that most of the coverage is reasonable and measured. Most of the letters to the editor are as well.
Really? I think you can do better than that Charlie.
Many Crikey subscribers are also in this age group and don’t appreciate the sneering ageism.
Could not agree more re Canavan. If he is on Afternoon Briefing, I immediately walk the dog. He loves Canavan!
Very disappointing comment re the teenagers, Charlie. Maskless, not social distanced and too many in the group. What they need is a kick up the backside and severe fines. How’s that for an older man’s comment?
And they’re susceptible to the Delta variant.
I see Canavan on the ABC and I think “Micallef, Pickering, Humphries and Sammy J, et al, must all be busy elsewhere doing something important?”.