Well, that was one weird weekend. I can’t recall one like it. Media misbehaviour, Mark Latham pretending to be in the profession he despises most, Laurie Oakes criticising his own network … and we even ended up with a debate.
It seemed like we were given a glimpse of something very, very ugly by the media, so ugly even journalists recoiled from it.
The hulking presence of Latham in the media room at yesterday’s Liberal Party launch sparked plenty of anger from Gallery journalists, and for once it was hard to fault them for it, except to note that Latham was masquerading not merely as a journalist but as a decent human being, and failing miserably at both. A plainly unhappy Laurie Oakes summed it up best in one of the more remarkable moments in broadcast journalism in recent years, describing it both as embarrassing and damaging to his own network.
Nine executives could do worse than listen when a grown-up is talking.
The employment by Nine of Latham — who was suddenly and conveniently missing from the venue when the Liberal launch kicked off — showed a media organisation failing to take a federal election seriously. It was apt for this weekend, given the disgraceful performance of the media contingent accompanying the prime minister on Saturday afternoon, when an important policy announcement on seniors and aged care funding was completely ignored in favour of drivel relating to Kevin Rudd and Latham.
After that effort, which sent Twitter into meltdown, yesterday’s press conference by Julia Gillard in Darwin saw a massive improvement, with journalists actually focussing on policy detail.
But the media aren’t the only ones guilty of not taking the election seriously.
Elections should above all be a contest of ideas. But ideas have been few and far between in the 2010 campaign, and most have been, in short, rubbish. For every proposal to give principals greater budgetary control in their schools, there have been high speed rail studies, knife crime crackdowns and handouts to Family Tax Benefit A recipients. Both parties have made a virtue of turning their backs on key reforms they have long championed and which, as recently as a couple of months ago, party leaders insisted remained critical.
Yesterday’s Liberal Party launch was bereft of policy of any note. There is no reason to expect Labor will be any better. The only real content on offer from a major party at this point is Labor’s ongoing lesson in how to completely bugger up a big lead.
There’s a powerful sense that we are being let down by both our major parties and our most powerful media, that they are failing to step up to their responsibilities in the most important event in Australian public life.
If journalists, media executives and the major party politicians aren’t taking this election seriously, how on earth can they expect voters to? How can they legitimately expect voters to even pay attention?
All of us in the media and politics might reflect on that once the dust has settled in a fortnight.
The humour for me Bernard, is that the reason the electo-morons aren’t taking it seriously, is as you say, that the media seem to be in a complete Tizz over hair-dos and faith, rather than looking at the issues.
Gillard not having the time to waste on her knees with others of a like (unthinking) mind, makes more sense to me, than that other fool running about the beach in Speedos, not mentioning that he can’t add up and doesn’t either like or understand the economy, in fact economics, let’s face it, and his second string, another maths moron, who not only can’t add up, actually has never studied anything worth a damn, and like most of the current crop, is a liability to Australia.
I agree that in the current crop there isn’t a single statesperson, but god give us someone with a little more fibre than that budgie smuggling nutter and his catholic understudy.
The whole idea of a political party run by an abbott and a bishop leaves Australia looking like a joke on the international stage, much like Spain in the 15th and 16th centuries.
im taking this election seriously because we could see a right wing idelogue elected as prime minister, with no policies except a dog whistle
its a bit much for laurie oakes and channel 9 to cry crocodile tears and apologise for mark latham
they along with the murdoch press and for that matter most of the mainstream media, have done one thing only in this election campaign, and that is to get on board with the liberal party and shit can the labor party
even the abc has joined the club, the thing that surprises me is that julia gilliard is still competative is this election after what she has copped
so much for living in a democracy where every body gets a fair go
Can anyone clarify for me what Latham actually did? Everyone seems to agree that it was Very Inappropriate but there’s no footage of the Dreadful Incident itself.
I’m just curious.
@cairns50 “so much for living in a democracy where every body gets a fair go”
The meeja might be offensive, annoying and Very Inappropriate (see above), but I wouldn’t call it anti-democratic. On the contrary, one of the best features of a democracy like ours is the ability to criticise leaders without fear of jail or re-education camps. Would you prefer a rule that Ms Gillard (or Mr Abbott or any other politician) could not be criticised?
Yes, Latham was like a bull in a china shop, the body language and gestures were aggressive but, frankly, I find it refreshing that, in Oz, this type of incident can still occur.
Can anyone imagine similar public access to the nation’s leader in the USA? Or, for that matter, a former party leader in any country getting away with such confrontation. In 10 and 20 years’ time we’ll be having a good laugh over this old news footage.
Latham is a larrikin and a bit of a goose, it’s part of his ‘charm’ and it’s the sole reason the Nine Network contracted him.