For all the talk by former PM Howard of freedom of the individual, the beauty of democracy, etc. etc. his Government did much to stifle debate and restrict the true flow of information from the media.
Yes, dumbing-down is a world-wide phenomenon, but Howard and his cohorts did much to curb and channel what we all read and see. Witness the stacking of the ABC Board with a motley lot of people bent sharply to the Right and with no interest in a public broadcaster. Australia was all the poorer from what happened. The topic is explored by Julie Posetti, a former ABC political reporter, is a journalism academic at the University of Canberra in a piece on New Matilda "Journalism that Bites".
"One of the early casualties of the Howard era was journalism with bite.
At the ABC, evidence of muted reporting and self-censorship emerged quickly as Aunty was harassed by Howard’s henchmen from day one. The National Broadcaster was beaten so viciously with the ‘anti-bias’ stick its managers and editorial staff began to recoil from challenging critique and tough interviewing. A form of self-censorship — conscious and unconscious — threatened the ABC's integrity at times.
Richard Alston’s official assault on the AM program via his abuse of complaints procedures, the stacking of the ABC board with ultra-conservatives and revisionist historians, and the appointment of seriously Right-wing commentators in an effort to create the impression of balance, all contributed to timidity and a palpable reluctance to criticise the Howard Government. There were of course stand-out performances from some during the Howard era — with Lateline being the star rebel.
But Howard Government bullying of the media didn’t stop with the ABC. More recently, SBS has been in its sights. Commercial TV, radio and print operations also reflected the resultant lack of strident, opinionated journalism during an era where freedom of speech was under constant attack, government spin was on overdrive, and scandal after scandal failed to dent the Coalition’s electoral appeal. It’s not that there was a total absence of enterprising journalism during this period — ultimately, the Coalition was called to account by journalists over the Solon and Rau cases, Children Overboard, Tampa and Haneef, but the Government frequently got off lightly."
Yes, dumbing-down is a world-wide phenomenon, but Howard and his cohorts did much to curb and channel what we all read and see. Witness the stacking of the ABC Board with a motley lot of people bent sharply to the Right and with no interest in a public broadcaster. Australia was all the poorer from what happened. The topic is explored by Julie Posetti, a former ABC political reporter, is a journalism academic at the University of Canberra in a piece on New Matilda "Journalism that Bites".
"One of the early casualties of the Howard era was journalism with bite.
At the ABC, evidence of muted reporting and self-censorship emerged quickly as Aunty was harassed by Howard’s henchmen from day one. The National Broadcaster was beaten so viciously with the ‘anti-bias’ stick its managers and editorial staff began to recoil from challenging critique and tough interviewing. A form of self-censorship — conscious and unconscious — threatened the ABC's integrity at times.
Richard Alston’s official assault on the AM program via his abuse of complaints procedures, the stacking of the ABC board with ultra-conservatives and revisionist historians, and the appointment of seriously Right-wing commentators in an effort to create the impression of balance, all contributed to timidity and a palpable reluctance to criticise the Howard Government. There were of course stand-out performances from some during the Howard era — with Lateline being the star rebel.
But Howard Government bullying of the media didn’t stop with the ABC. More recently, SBS has been in its sights. Commercial TV, radio and print operations also reflected the resultant lack of strident, opinionated journalism during an era where freedom of speech was under constant attack, government spin was on overdrive, and scandal after scandal failed to dent the Coalition’s electoral appeal. It’s not that there was a total absence of enterprising journalism during this period — ultimately, the Coalition was called to account by journalists over the Solon and Rau cases, Children Overboard, Tampa and Haneef, but the Government frequently got off lightly."
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