The Same But Different . . .

Guest Author Uncategorized

Today’s Guest Author is Victoria Rollinson, with a splendid piece first published at The AIM Network. Thank you, Victoria! And hat tip to Puffy and Leone for their recommendations.

(Image Credit: Angus Mordant; Fairfax)

When Turnbull ‘knifed’ Abbott a week ago after publically shaming Abbott’s terrible government on national television while announcing his intent-to-knife, I wondered how the mainstream media would treat this story. I couldn’t help but worry this would be yet another example of a Liberal story being treated with a completely different narrative to the same Labor story. A sitting PM is replaced by a member of their own cabinet. A late night coup. A first term Prime Minister. Abbott lasted a shorter time than Rudd and had already been challenged 6 months earlier. By my reasoning, the white-anting, destabilising activities of Turnbull and his supporters over the last 6 months was far more bloody and underhanded than Gillard taking the opportunity to lead the Labor government when it was offered to her within hours of her colleagues’ decision that Rudd’s chaotic leadership was not going to improve, second chances or not. However you argue it, overall a fair observer would see great similarities in the two situations. But these similarities are clearly ignored by the media and it turns out my worry was well founded. Low and behold, the Turnbull/Abbott story is being treated completely differently to Gillard/Rudd. Of course everyone in the mainstream media is very busy mansplaining to little-old-us the voters why the two situations are apparently completely different. But I don’t need this situation explained for me, because I can see with my own eyes that Turnbull just did to Abbott the same, if not worse, thing Gillard did to Rudd.

If you haven’t already noticed for yourself the differing tone of the stories about new-PM-Gillard with new-PM-Turnbull, take a look at this apple-with-apples comparison.

Here is a transcript of Gillard’s ABC 730 interview with Kerry O’Brien the evening she became PM on 24 June 2010 and Turnbull’s ABC 730 PR campaign interview with Leigh Sales a week after he became PM.

If you can’t be bothered reading these transcripts, take it from me that Gillard was interrogated about her ‘knifing’ of Rudd for the entire interview, and framed as the ‘villain’ who couldn’t be trusted, a tone which continued throughout her time as PM. Gillard was also hectored about what she would do about the mining tax policy, not forgetting she had become PM that day. Turnbull, on the other hand, was treated like a ‘hero’ and provided with the invaluable opportunity to outline his vision for the country on an unchallenged soap box where he was allowed to sell his government’s refreshed credentials. He wasn’t even tested when he claimed Direct Action was working to reduce emissions when there was no evidence backing this claim. Two interviews in similar political circumstances, yet chalk and cheese in their treatment and tone.

A simple word count showed Gillard spoke for 65% of her interview with O’Brien. Turnbull spoke for 77% of his interview with Sales. Sales even apologised for asking a question Turnbull might ‘find offensive’ and then again said sorry for cutting him off. Soft doesn’t even come close to describing this cringe-worthy excuse for journalism. But it gets worse. Check out the word clouds of both interviews and see if you notice the same thing I did.

Here is Gillard’s interview, where the most used words were obviously Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. So the main topic of the interview were Gillard’s villainous replacement of Rudd.

Now here is Turnbull’s interview.

Can you see what is missing amongst all the positive words? Yep, that’s right. The word Abbott. You can do a Where’s Wally search for it if you like, but I’ll save you the trouble and tell you it appeared twice in the interview. Hardly there at all. Abbott’s already gone and the media aren’t dwelling on the part Turnbull played in his demise. Unlike Gillard, who had to put up with the media’s obsession with the Rudd leadership spill throughout her entire tenure as Prime Minister, even after she went straight to an election to prove her legitimacy in the role. Yet Abbott has been erased and shiny-Turnbull-with-a-sly-grin has got off scot-free. See what I mean about same story but very different treatment? How do you even begin to explain this other than to say Labor is always bashed by the media, and the Liberals always excused? Sadly this is the only explanation that makes sense.

322 thoughts on “The Same But Different . . .”

  11. We hired a dog. This is “Snoop”.

    He’s our grandson’s puppy. Half Jack Russel and half Pig Dog. He lives with Pig Dogs on a farm in the hills out the back of Wauchope. The Pig Dogs – four of them – are very gentle with him. They could bite him in two if they felt like it. But instead they play with him. He’d never even worn a collar until I shortened one of Bob’s old collars and put some extra holes in it. He’s been a real bush dog until now.

    We’re minding Snoop while the boys are away with their father at Jindabyne. Snoop’s owner (the older boy) has told us modestly that he (the boy, not the dog) is “apparently, a natural snow-boarder”. He didn’t even see snow for the first time until the day before yesterday. A bit like Snoop with collars. Both feral. Both lovable.

    Snoop has taken over Cozzie’s pillow and all his toys and chewies. We didn’t have the heart to throw them out after Cozzie died, and I’m glad we didn’t. There’s now a new dog in the house, if only for a couple of weeks over school holidays.

    At least I took Snoop for his very first walk on a lead. It took two days to get him used to walking in the same direction as I walk. I haven’t been able to toilet train him yet. He’s gradually getting there… the sooner the better. I’ve become a dab hand with a mop all over again.

    Snoop weighs about 1.5 kilos, if that. He likes chewing things, and like Cozzie did, makes everyone he meets seem like someone special, with slurpy kisses and tiny razor bites, and he brings a smile to their faces.

    We have to give him back, and part of even that deal is to get him chipped and checked at our local vet’s, at OUR expense. That’s why I said we “hired” him. We don’t mind. It’s good to have a dog in the house again, to take him to all Cozzie’s secret spots and to have someone to keep me company during my days at home, working. Whoever designs those dog pillows is a genius in his own way. Every dog I’ve ever shown one makes a bee line for it and moves in, with all the accoutrements.

    I don’t mind the chewing so much, but it’s the swallowing that frightens me. I’d pay quids to see an X-ray of this puppy’s stomach.

    Snoop has an old face. As Harry Have-a-Chat (a bloke who worked for my old man years ago) would have said: “He’s older than his self”.

  13. This little black duck

    Snot Mouth Wet concrete.

    I haven’t watched Scrott for any length in an interview for a couple of weeks but there was one thing that did amuse me when watching the Shire Gabbler. Seeing how long he could keep up the gabble before lack of oxygen forced him to take a very audible gasp of air. Bonus, a merciful 500 millisecond break.

  14. kaffeeklatscher,

    He started off well enough.

    Then the adagio became andante; the andante became allegro and he finished vivace.

    Combined with the increase in decibels, it was quite an orchestration.

    The words themselves melded into misrepresentations, evasions and lies.

    SNAFU.

  16. This little black duck

    I had been surprised for a while that some in-house media/image lackey had not been sorting that style out. From your description of his progression from adagio perhaps someone is trying but as time wore on the inner Scrott broke through.

    Perhaps it is just the style de jour for the speaking in tongues crowd.

    Or just a convenient way to cover bullshit . The listener will struggle to process the bulldust let alone remember it all when poured out at such a rate.

  18. Leone, if I can get him half organized and tamed in the next two weeks, that’ll be worth it. He’s a sweet little dog, quite tiny, and full of affection for strangers (which is fine when I’m with him). If he sees someone on the other side of the street, he wants to skip over and slurp them. And mostly they want him to do it.

    He sleeps next to me, just like Cozzie did.

    Toilet training is next.

  20. Why should we give a shit about Peta Credlin?
    She was chief tactician in the most sexist and misogynistic attacks against our first female PM and doesnt deserve the sickening sympathy from other so called high-calibre women like Annabell Crabb and Julia Baird.
    I’ll also add that if she wants to publically try use her infertility problems to garner support for that ‘icon’ of womens rights Abbott then she deserves all the flack due to a nasty bitch like her.
    If she wants kids then perhaps find a younger, able to get it up husband.
    Or like other women do not wait until your down to your last egg because you want a high flying career then cry when nature has decided your too old to be a mummy.
    Another thing, Mark Latham is a knob but he was spot on in his criticism of these upper class selfish women like those who infest the media, Crabb, Baird, Sales, Trioli etc.
    They dont give a fuck about women being bashed and killed weekly outside of the inner suburbs they inhabit or the struggle for very low income women to keep their essential penalty rates or find a few hours childcare to even look for a low paying part time job. For these women of ‘calibre’ feminism is more about their right to keep their privileged and generously paid positions replete with tax payer funded nannies and $75000 PPL schemes where they and their children enjoy unneeded largess at the expense of the very hard working people they look down upon, sneer at and patronise.
    They then cry sexism when anyone challenges their privilege.
    Fuck them all.
    And please no cries of sexism directed at me. The criticism I make of these selfish bitches is tame compared to what ive said about those knob gobbling liberal fan bois like Uhlman, Simkin and Brissenden.

  21. Stony,

    I have only one quibble with your analysis.

    Women in your “upper class” also get abused and murdered by their partners. I knew one of those murder victims. I also know some who have been (and probably are still being) abused but who somehow are still alive.

  22. bb,

    Those Bette Davis eyes!

    You will love Snoop and Snoop will love you.

    I think your OH, with all the travails, is lucky to come back to you lot.

  23. “Why should we give a shit about Peta Credlin?”

    We do? Stuff me and call me Olive!

  24. Stony,

    You need to go to hospital and come back more often. You just may be about to become a legend here.

  25. If Waffles can’t “calm” the unions and the rest of the workforce he is

    Malcolm The Negotiator? Think about it.

  26. I think we had three murders through family today.

    When too much ignore is not enough, you bastards!

  31. stonyhabbott

    A quick run down of what “senior” media lizards earn will show they would be in the world of the 1 % . They would naturally end up living in the 1% suburbs , be part of the 1% social scenes and kids go to the same 1% schools. Their “normal” would become what “normal” is for the ( cough) struggling 1% .

    Just today I caught some ABC journo on RN wittering on about the guess on the upcoming show. Well golly gosh the chap was “a neighbours of mine” . Some parliamentary cabinet secretary/ assistant minister or some such and one of the “faceless men” wot did in Abbott. So obviously they live in Povoland.

    Oh and name dropped that their current (first world problem ), something to do with a pup for the daughter, had got a (Facebook ?) response from the Defence Minister advising them to buy one.

    The Australia Institute did a study on income distribution in Australia and one result of this survey in it demonstrates another problem that would afflict “senior” meeja lizards, see link quote. At the other end of the scale low income level people waaaaay underestimated what the average was. It matches a program I saw on US’s PBS where they walked around a city asking people if they were thought they were middle class Americans. It was amazing to see how many people in both , what looked like slum areas, and those in even very up market ones said they absolutely considered themselves middle class .

    ….51 per cent of people who earn between $100,000 and $150,000 per year think that the average Australian earns between $100,000 and $150,000.

    Click to access PB+64+Income+and+wealth+inequality+FINAL.pdf

  34. Well that’s that – another disappointment for the fools who thought Turnbull would usher in a Golden Age.

    Note the use of the 1%’s favourite cop-out, ‘Of course I’m concerned….but…..’

    Speaking to RN Drive, Turnbull categorically ruled out a change to the government’s offshore processing policy.

    ‘It is absolutely clear that there will be no resettlement of people on Manus Island and Nauru in Australia. They will never come to Australia,’ he said.

    ‘I know that’s tough. You could say we have a harsh border protection policy, but it has worked.’

    The conditions of Australia’s offshore detention centres have been the subject of continued criticism, and Turnbull admitted to concern over their current standard.

    ‘Of course we’re concerned about conditions there. Who would not be concerned about it?’ he said

    http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drive/prime-minister-malcolm-turnbull-tough-stance-on-asylum-seekers/6799610

    Turnbull is an anatomical miracle – no guts, no balls, no spine, no heart and his arse and his soul are gone too, flogged off to pay for his ascension to prime minister. And yet he still lives and allegedly breathes. The Zombie PM.

  35. I forgot – the Zombie is morphing into Abbott faster than you can say ‘budgie smugglers. He is going to be the prime minister for indigenous affairs.

    He might say he is a prime minister for all Australians but he’s wrong. He’s not my prime minister.

  38. jaeger

    Thank you for the explanation. I have not heard Flowers in years and had even forgotten about the Icehouse connection.

    Iva and crew with the big song back in the day when I came to the ” Great Southern Land”.

  40. Song suggestion from jules over the road:

    “For the first time in ages I watched some 7.30 tonight and saw Morrison interviewed.

    There’s a song by NOFX called The Idiots are Taking Over and his interview made me think of it.

    what are we left with?
    a nation of god-fearing pregnant nationalists
    who feel it’s their duty to populate the homeland
    pass on traditions
    how to get ahead religions
    And prosperity via simpleton culture

    ”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziNaZxvp-Qk

  46. Stony’…I can see we are going to have to nick-name you “Star Trek”, as you are going with your commentary where “no man has ever gone before”..

  47. BB

    Snoop is gorgeous. I don’t think it will be long before you will be adopting another little one once he is gone back to his owners.

  48. Um, I slept in for the first time in ages. We have to go into town about 8.30am so there won’t be any links from my poor efforts this morning. By the time I get home there won’t be many. As the old saying goes, no news is good news.

  49. dentist today. I am reflecting on the poor state of dental health of poor people in Australia. By the time they get to see a dentist, their teeth have deteriorated so much that extraction is the only course open.

  50. Fact check scorecard: How does Tony Abbott’s record of claims and promises stack up?

    Since its establishment in August 2013, ABC Fact Check has checked 34 claims made by Mr Abbott.

    Six of these claims were made as opposition leader, with a further 28 made after Mr Abbott became prime minister.

    Out of the 34 of Mr Abbott’s claims that were tested, Fact Check determined 11 of them (32.25 per cent) to be in the red, or negative verdicts.

    By contrast, only four (11.76 per cent) of Mr Abbott’s claims were determined to be in the green, or positive.

    But far and away the largest amount of verdicts returned for Mr Abbott were neither positive nor negative, but “in between” (orange).

    There’s breakdowns by subject matter too.

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