An Open Letter to Journalists at News Ltd

Guest Author Uncategorized

Victoria Rollison is a legend in her own lifetime in Australia’s (and undoubtedly beyond’s) Fifth Estate. We are most grateful to Ms Rollison for permission to republish her work.

Dear News Ltd Journalists,

I’m writing you this letter on behalf of all Australians. That includes everyone who can vote in the upcoming election, as well as those too young to have a say in their own future. I wanted to let you know that your behaviour throughout the election campaign has been appalling. I know you know as well as I do that it’s not the role of a journalist to campaign for a political party. Journalists often justify their bias by saying that opinion pieces can be whatever they want them to be – whether or not they’re biased, unbalanced, untrue, or part of a conspiracy on behalf of your boss to get rid of the NBN, which threatens his business interests. But you’re not just contributing opinion pieces and amateur PhotoShopped front page images, denigrating the target of your smear campaign. You’re also contributing news articles, designed to bring about a certain result, a result you’ve allegedly been instructed to manufacture to help your boss make money. Doesn’t this make you feel dirty? Doesn’t the 17 year old aspiring journalist in you feel even a little bit sad about finding their middle-aged-self behaving in this unethical way? Don’t you care about the impact your work has on the country you live in?

I’m sure many of you justify your blind obedience in the ‘get Rudd’ campaign to the fact that you need a job. You have to do what you’re told so you can keep working as a journalist. I know there’s not many jobs out there for journalists, but this doesn’t justify you doing the wrong thing. There are hundreds of examples throughout history of ‘employees’ doing the wrong thing on behalf of their bosses, and justifying this wrongness by saying they were instructed to do it. That doesn’t make it ok. If Murdoch told you to hit your wife, would you do that too? Where exactly is the line that you wouldn’t cross, no matter what your boss wanted? Is there a line? When you write puff pieces about Tony Abbott, when you do glamorous photo shoots of Tony Abbott’s daughters but don’t actually ask them a question, when you choose not to scrutinise Abbott, and omit news that is damaging to him, when you support Mal Brough’s campaign to destroy Slipper and then ignore the news that you were part of the Ashbygate conspiracy which a Federal Court Judge has revealed, when you cover your front page with blatant propaganda to help Abbott win government, but don’t tell your readers what his real plans are, when you give a candidate a free run and create the misleading impression that the Labor government is unsuccessful, you are failing Australia. Your job is not more important than your responsibility as a journalist. How are you ever going to get another job with this sort of behaviour in your background?

I actually think it’s an absolute outrage that not one of you has resigned in protest during this election campaign. Not one of you has stood up for journalistic integrity and said ‘enough’. Not one of you has said your pay cheque isn’t more important to you than your ethics. And what about all the jobs your readers will lose because of your campaign? You know Tony Abbott has proudly announced that he’ll sack 12,000 public servants. These are people doing important work in our communities. They help people. They support the disadvantaged in society. How is your job more important than their jobs?

No doubt many of you are Liberals yourself, having been hand-picked by your boss to make sure you’re on his side. But even if you think Tony Abbott deserves to win the election, and even if you like his policies and are completely in favour of his plans for this country (assuming you know what these are), don’t you think the Australian people have a right to hear both sides of the story before making up their own minds? Don’t you think it sounds a little bit like Fascism for your boss to decide that he wants an Abbott win, and then for you, his minions, to do his dirty work in the most blatantly dishonourable and immoral media campaign this country has ever seen?

Perhaps you read letters like this, and you are so hardened to the world that you let it roll over you, like water off a duck’s back. But I just hope that somewhere, deep down inside you, there’s a little voice reminding you that you’re doing the wrong thing. If you even have the ability to feel guilty, to feel ashamed, even if it’s just at 3:00am in the morning when you can’t sleep, I hope you feel awful.

It’s also important for you to know that we won’t forget what you’ve done. If your boss gets his way, and you do manage to deliver Australia the most conservative, austerity obsessed, downright mean and selfish government we’ve ever had, it’s very likely most of your readers, especially those in areas like western Sydney who’ve you’ve conned most successfully, will not be very impressed with you. They might ask why on earth Abbott is cutting spending on services they need, like health and education, when they didn’t hear about it before the election. They might be disappointed to hear their work rights are being undermined by the same front bench who came up with Work Choices. And they might be really pissed off when the surplus they’ve been promised is actually a gigantic $30 billion dollar black hole. No doubt you’ll do your best to blame all these woes on Labor, as this is your unthinking knee-jerk reaction to everything. But how long can this work? I know you like your readers dumb, but don’t underestimate how quickly people work out that they’ve been screwed over. I hope your precious job is worth it then. I would have thought your entire industry was in enough trouble without you putting another dozen nails in its coffin through your own arrogance and incompetence.

481 thoughts on “An Open Letter to Journalists at News Ltd”

  1. What’s their problem, Ducky? I think he’s been more convincing today than he has for the whole time since he took over.

  2. The song leonetwo spotted on twitter is oh so right. Released in 1996 TripleJ would play it uncut but within a few years Howie had that “fixed”.
    Do not click on link if you are as refined as leonetwo. It takes you to the song on Youtube.
    http://tiny.cc/fonp2w

  5. Lyndal flogging the dead horse, has to be reminded that Kev did make some policy announcements.

  6. And the ABC24 spruikers go negative immediately.

    I’ve seen what I wanted to see so off goes the TV.

  7. Must be that, Ducky. He was never going to last the distance by restricting it to him and editing out the last three years. It’s taken a huge swallow from him, and he did tread lightly over it, but finally he’s acknowledging the positives. Now he’s got values to fight with, and a much clearer direction than Abbott’s platitudes and aspirations stuff.

  8. WTF ? Gilbert Grape on Sky reckons “The teleprompter worked pretty well for him (Rudd)”

  10. Sadly,apart from political tragics watching Rudd today and the party faithful at the launch no one will have any idea what he sounded like and what he said.

    In fact i will be surprised if, at this stage, they would really care even if they did.

    Three days (I think ) before advertising ban kicks in. Too late for any positives to filter through and settle into the public think on the election.

    Todays launch would have been good if labor was already in front but the OM have already called for the coalition and once the ad ban comes into play nothing positive will get out for labor.

    It would not surprise me if the coalition and OM ran the line that Rudd was only playing catch up with the small business and apprentice announcements.

    “Too little, too late ” springs to mind.

    For all those wishing and hoping for a labor win I hope I am wrong.

    Time will tell but political analysis is a lost art in this country.

    Too hard when the bells and whistles of gotcha moments are so much easier to write about.

  12. I’m with jaycee and RNM1953.

    I think it can still be done even if time is running out. We’ve finally got the agenda, at least from Rudd – not necessarily Murdoch and his satellites- and values are very conspicuous.

    If people get around to looking at what’s in it for me and for our future, he’s got so much more specific on his side. Ultimately, Abbott’s primary message is, “kick this other mob out, and trust us.” It could open up a gulf.

  16. tlbd,

    The OM have called it for the coalition.

    I believe the positives of today will not be allowed to get out into the public arena.

    That is just my opinion which is worth no less or more than any other opinion here.

    As I said I hope I am wrong.

    Time will tell.

  17. The changes to job search are long overdue
    The retraining initiatives for the unemployed look massive, send them back to university and apprentices get a grant of $12000 towards tools – not a loan

  21. How depressing that the MSM have already called the Labor launch a flop

    Hope they are quaking in their boots next Monday morning as the first round of retrenchments happen.

    Simple questions to voters
    1. Can you pay for your kids education
    2. Could you pay for your baby to be born by caesarian section
    3. Would you be bankrupted by the costs associated with cancer treatment
    4. Could you live off your savings for 4 years
    5. How long can you pay your bills for, if you lost your job tomorrow

    Obviously if you rely on your job, universal health or free education system then you can’t afford to vote for the Coalition

  22. Has any one mentioned
    – small business will be able to claim $10,000 equipment tax write down in one year
    – legislation to force overseas companies to employ Australian subcontractors – that will stop Maersk paying Philipinos working on Aussie oil rigs $3 per hour

  23. Doylem – I hope you are wrong, in fact this atheist is almost ready to prey that you are wrong

  24. I couldn’t give a stuff what the OM says!

    Interestingly I’ve been getting some blowback on Twitter for that fairly innocuous piece of Photoshopping I did on the Sunday Tele’s front page.

    I’m sick and tired of hearing about Godwin’s Law when, if anyone’s violated it, it’s the Murdoch rags.

    I’m also sick of hearing about “The Moral Highground”, conformance to which is EXACTLY what Murdoch expects of OTHERS, but never himself.

    As far as I’m concerned, they started it.

    Juvenile? I don’t think so. “The Moral Highground” never won any wars or election campaigns, especially when you’re up against two-faced Moral Troglodytes.

  25. I just ducked out and caught Triple J’s 11:00 a.m. (Perth time) news. Lead +main story the Labor launch entirely made up of audio and reporting on training, TAFE and apprentice moves. So there is within minutes word out to a younger audience about things that would concern them. Oh and second story is Abbott squibbing on his policy costings release

  26. Abbott is still a no-show for Q&A tomorrow night, Kev will have it all to himself. It will be a nifty follow-on from the campaign launch and will reach a larger audience.

    Tony Jones offered Abbott the same deal – a show all to himself – but so far he hasn’t accepted that either. If Abbott can’t handle an hour of face-to-face live interviewing with the fawning Tony Jones who would never dream of giving him a tough time then how would he cope with representing us internationally?

  27. Time is the big thing, Doyley.

    There’s a raft of very positive things there, and it’s a question of whether it can get out there in time, given the OM fix. Twitter and Facebook will help a bit. Don’t underestimate the TAFE initiatives, even with so little time to get known. The States cutbacks and cancellations were a very hot topic in Victoria some months ago. Victoria was still sagging in polling – so something as positive as that, and reinforcement on other things will bring that Labor support back.

    If the Liberals ramp up the Boats! issue this week, you’ll know Labor is in the hunt. And Boats! has mostly been a Lead Balloon issue in SA and Victoria, If you can believe the polling stuff being floated in the OM, SA is about the only area looking good for Labor at present. I take the view that there might be some cherry-picking with that, and that Essential might be closer.

    Essential sees Queensland as capable of 4 gains for Labor, offset for them by at least two losses in each of Vic, NSW and Tas. WA might bring two seats, even three. NT unknown. With the Newman factor plus a positive focus, the Qld gain could come up to eight. Just have to see whether NSW and Vic can fight some rearguard actions to limit net losses.

  28. bushfirebill

    It is indeed strange hearing Newscorpse types talking about the moral high ground whilst standing neck deep in the latrine

  29. bushfire – do one with another right wing criminal like Thatcher on the front page, oh wait a minute, I think Murdcoh did that in 1979.

  31. Well, let me rephrase it “I don’t give a stuff what the OM opines and editorializes!” I do give a stuff about their photoshopping and captions.

  33. The OM are the gatekeepers of what the public is allowed to hear and see especially for those out there not turned on by campaign launches and political ins and out.

    That is the reality.

    By all means do not give a ratz what the OM say but what they say and report does matter because that is what people take in.

    Rudd and labor can produce the biggest policy announcements of the campaign but if the OM are not prepared to report fairly then it will do no good.

    On the evidence so far the OM will not report the launch today in a fair and unbiased way.

    The initial reports may be ok but that is before the OM has time to frame their response and before they know what the coalition attack angles will be.

    That will come.

    So as I said for those who are fighting and wishing hard for a labor win I hope I am wrong and the launch today will be the turning point.

    But that will only happen if the OM allow it.

    We shall see.

    Cheers.

  35. With the TAFE announcement, why wasn’t it announced two or three weeks ago? I fear that waiting until now does not give enough time to sell it, and if the media start picking it apart there’s a chance that Rudd will stop mentioning it, like the northern territory tax free zone or moving the navy from garden island to Queensland.

  38. So, Kevvie gets an hour to himself on nation-wide TV tomorrow night.

    Any LotO would sell his arse right arm to take half of that. If Tone’s puppet masters think Tony Abbott couldn’t get a positive out of that they must have very little confidence in him. Their creation: their problem.

  41. gd and others,

    I hope for all those fighting for a labor win that I am wrong but for the last three years plus the OM has not covered itself in glory.

    Five days before the election, three days before the advertising ban comes into play cuts things pretty short to get any traction from today.

    That would be so if labor was in front but more so with labor behind and the OM having already called the election.

    How foolish would the OM look if they were proved wrong next Saturday after all the hard work they have put in ?

    News ltd editors will be sitting down now with the opposition planning the headlines tomorrow which will be picked up by the ABC etc etc.

    Tomorrow will tell us what direction the OM take.

  47. Off to father’s day lunch piss up lunch, will check back in later but if I’m making less sense than usual you’ll know why. 🙂

  48. Tone should have got a bravery award for getting netballer sweat on his suit. the line ”nothing wrong with a bit of modest sweat” was truly heroic. You know it makes sense!

  49. On another issue unrelated to the launch it appears President Obama may have gone out on a limb re Syria.

    He is looking isolated and is starting to step back on his approach for military action.

    Perhaps Rudd and Carr may be advised to tone down the rhetoric as well.

    Russ was playing politics on the issue last week and trying to use it to so the difference between himself and Abbott.

    Time to let it go.j

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