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More on those media laws....

Senator Fielding, of the Family First Party, has said that he is persuaded, on balance, to accept the proposed new media laws. One has to ask on which planet he lives when one considers these stats - as noted in an open letter from Crikey to Senators Joyce and Fielding

"In thinking about that personal issue, Senator Joyce, please think about the current state of the “media of influence” in your home state of Queensland. A state where one media company owns the only statewide daily newspaper (870,000 readers), the only statewide Sunday newspaper (1,493,000 readers), almost all the suburban newspapers in Brisbane (850,000 readers), and the daily newspapers in the state’s big regional markets of the Gold Coast, Townsville and Cairns (274,000 readers). Your vote to allow dilution of cross-media rules will mean that, in addition to their existing audience of 3,487,000 readers, the same company will have the potential to own a statewide television network as well. How will that enhance the lives and rights of your constituents?

And in thinking about your constituents, Senator Fielding, please think about how watering down the cross-media rules will impact on their lives and minds. Think about how, if the changes are voted through, Australia’s biggest media company – which is also Australia’s biggest casino company and the publisher of a stable of soft-p-rn magazines – will be able to grow even bigger in the media and may even be able to control the country's leading broadsheet newspapers. How will that enhance the lives and rights of your constituents?"

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