The first rule of social media is “don’t feed the trolls”. Unfortunately I have completely and utterly broken that rule.
On Sunday I made the unfortunate mistake of making a joke: “I watched [Anthony Albanese’s] campaign launch speech today, but I have to admit it didn’t convince me to vote ALP.” The joke, of course, being that I cannot legally vote yet. It’s a joke I’d made before, but many of the responses this time were feral.
Some immediately went with the “pro-Liberal” claim, while others compared me to a Mussolini supporter. One went back to the “his dad controls it” conspiracy theory, and some even said I was a “fake” because of the way I pronounce my Italian surname.
I suspect that first claim will continue throughout this week for a different reason: 6 News’ interview with Albanese (broadcast tonight at 8pm AEST).
As I wrote for Crikey last month, we asked the opposition leader for an interview at the same time we asked the PM’s office, early February. However, we managed to lock in an interview with him with less than 24 hours’ notice, leaving our political reporter Roman Mackinnon and me with little time to prepare.
But the interview went ahead, and it went well.
The two major issues were simple: the truth, and how Labor is actually different from the Liberal Party in terms of policies. That first point was something we brought up with Scott Morrison too, so it was necessary to do the same with Albanese.
First, we looked at Albanese’s comments that he was “not Scott Morrison” and “doesn’t run away from press conferences”. Just days after saying that, he walked out of one after only eight minutes as journalists continued to try to ask questions.
When Roman asked if he had broken his promise, the Labor leader gave a direct answer: “Not at all.” He went on to defend his comments, which you can see in the full interview.
I also made sure to ask him — at the very end of our discussion — that if he becomes prime minister would he own up to mistakes and factual inaccuracies if he made them, and whether he would come on 6 News again.
On that first point, he indirectly mentioned his gaffe regarding the unemployment rate, and said: “We can do much better than that.” On the second point, he says it would be a “pleasure” to return to 6 News.
The other main point was getting down to the basics of Labor and what Labor is — because traditionally the Coalition has been called centre right and Labor centre left. Albanese said that was a “fair assessment”.
In a follow-up question, I asked what separates the ALP from the Liberals in terms of real policy differences, citing Albanese saying the party was not ditching offshore processing, it supported boat turn-backs, had made no commitment to an increase in JobSeeker payments if elected, and the fact that it would essentially abandon a previous plan to review the rate of unemployment benefits.
Despite this, Albanese says he can’t understand why some voters — especially on the left — label Labor “Liberal lite”, and spoke about having “a plan”.
Overall, the interview was polite, respectful and in-depth — like the one with the PM (although with fewer interruptions).
We asked the tough questions and pushed for answers, but also let Albanese respond without cutting him off. For the record, the interview is slightly longer than Morrison’s because Albanese actually spoke for longer.
If you can only see one preelection interview with the Labor leader this campaign, make it this one.
The full interview will be out at 8pm AEST today on the 6 News YouTube channel.
Most mainstream “professional” journalists are being put to shame by Leonardo. They are too afraid to ask hard questions because they do not want to lose “access”. Quite pathetic really. Leonardo reinforces my faith in the youth of today.
I’ve always had faith in upcoming youth and rarely been disappointed. I’ll watch young Leonardo’s interview tonight with interest – except LNP – extreme right, ALP – centre right, please.
I’ll watch the interview tonight when it drops. I had a look at your Twitter feed, too. It sucks that was done to you, but it isn’t surprising. I think the progressive half of the population are absolutely terrified we’re going to end up with three more years of this, so they’re shooting first and asking questions later. It’s driven by rage and impotency.
Twitter’s a poor forum for jokes, sarcasm and irony, too. I’ve had mine misinterpreted and misinterpreted others. I reckon it needs a different coloured font for the three or something.
It was in truth an ‘in joke’ for his followers that blew up because of the timing and Albo tag right after the launch. Of course many did not get the joke and responded negatively to an online journalist. No excuse for any real abuse he may have received but its being stoked regularly for the publicity.
And here we go, another apologist. I look forward to your excuses when the shoe is on the other foot and the right are doing their frothy mouthed twitter pile on involving someone you support. Presumably people like you will ask the victim to forgive them because it’s all a bit of a joke.
Oh look, another apologist for abusers. How would you feel if they were abusing your 16 year old teenager? What those people did was unforgiveable. I cannot believe that people who think they are ‘progressive’ ask for forgiveness for people who
‘shoot first and ask questions later’. You need to take a good hard look at whatever passes for your ethics and morals.
Sorry you copped a pile-on Leo.
Looking forward to watching the interview this evening. I hope you can understand the angry frustration of some progressive voters, who are terrified that Labor could lose again.
You also need to know a lot of Federal history, to fully understand why the Murdoch media’s unrestricted propaganda causes so much anger to progressive voters, who know which side has done great things for our society over decades, and which side has robbed society blind.
Why should he ‘understand’ that frustration. This is the second comment asking for understanding for adults who should know better. They are disgusting. Do not make excuses for them or you are as bad as them. This week not only has this young man found himself abused by these things from the left, but so has an ABC journalist who is a woman of colour. If these two people were being abused by those on the right, the left would have a frothy mouthed fit. Do not make excuses for these people and do not ask for them to be understood. They are disgusting.
I enjoy and applaud the work of LP and 6News. Their commitment to fact checking is a breath of fresh air and an example of how older generations underestimate younger people. I have come to trust them more than many other news services. I very much look forward to watching this interview. Thank you 6News.
Sadly, there is some ugliness around them.
I would like to state quite clearly that in this matter, my view is that I abhor bullying, I do not see there is any justification for deliberately harassing someone in any format to cause them emotional distress.
To attack LP for a little joke was inexcusable, an example of the worst birdie behaviour, and it is excellent to have this facet of SM examined.
It’s necessary to call out bullying, but I don’t think it’s ok for others to generate a huge wave of targeted abuse against those they have decided are bullying these young reporters. In short, I don’t believe ANYONE should ever be bullied. Great, point out that we should all behave more nicely to strangers, tell people it’s not ok to bully reporters, but don’t back up that point by…behaving horribly to strangers and calling for people to ‘unfollow’ and attack those people. It’s almost as though certain people feel they can let their inner bully out under the cloak of a ‘defender’.
There are those who have also decided to attack anyone who makes this particular point about bullying not being a great response to bullying as being an ‘apologist’ for bullying itself, which I think is a tactic designed to silence.
Bullying a person because they’ve been labeled a bully is still bullying. I have seen this played out around LP on the birdie for months, to me it just highlights how the public is polarised and anxious. None of this actually helps anyone and distracts from the good reporting of 6News.
To me, it also has a whiff of patronisation, as though these clearly intelligent and capable reporters are able to create and run a news service and interview political leaders, but somehow need help defending themselves?
From what I have seen, they are more than up to the job, this article is an excellent example.
Cant wait to see it. In my case it probably would not change my vote: all I need is to work out the Independent I vote for. I do not like Party politics: Parties stifle debate. To my mind, the ´best´ recent Government was when Gillard worked with 2 independents. It seems both sides of Politics disliked that govt, but Gillard managed to pass far more Legislation than the current Morrison govt who seem to withdraw legislation rather than negotiate a middle road. I am not saying I agreed with everything Gillard did, but to manage a minority government was an admirable outcome.
The original idea of Democracy was to be a meeting of a cross section of society so laws could be negotiated. The current Party system tends to be based on backroom deals with no thought for the real needs of society. In fact the recent governments also tend to stack their advisers with like-minded views, so the average voter never seems to get considered.
Looking back, Hawke ensured he had all views represented in his advisers so he could take a representative view. (I think Hawke & Gillard were the best negotiators to achieve stable, representative, government.
I understand the need for stable government. However, I also want a government that works for the ´average´ voter, their children & future children. For that reason I feel Australia must acknowledge climate change, & make our future sustainable.
Australia has the potential to export far more ´energy´ in the form of manufactured goods, steel, aluminium, hydrogen, ammonia (a huge growth industry as a fuel, partial coal substitute, fuel, & feedstock for the chemical energy.) Any minerals should be processed in Australia: this reduces transport costs & increases jobs in Australia. Batteries might be another industry Australia can encompass too.
What I feel Australia does not need at the moment is a government stuck in the past. The next government needs to help workers transition to sustainable jobs.
So, for the future, could I see Morrison working effectively with independents? Not on your nelly! So, unless Morrison pulls a rabbit out of the hat, I think a change is inevitable. May it be an inclusive government.
Gillard worked with several excellent independents + a Green in the reps, and a bloc of Greens in the Senate. Let’s hope for something similarly positive this time.
I’ll definitely tune in for this one. Imagine the wealth of journalistic experience Leo will have accrued by the time he’s eligible to vote.