My public posts are now unavailable on Facebook because the dopey Morrison Government chose to charge Facebook for linking to media websites.
As far as I can see, that meant that sites such as The Guardian, the Herald Sun, and The Age, amongst others, actually benefited, free of charge, every time a FB reader clicked on a link. That is because the reader then landed on the media website. This means that the tech giants were actually providing a service to the media companies, such as Nine Entertainment, and News Corp. Is it a compliment to be treated like a major media entity, and to be cancelled? I think not, just more collateral damage for Morrison and Murdoch.
The Morrison Government has taken its adversarial position for two reasons; because Rupert Murdoch told them to, and because they are playing the patriotism card. This is the same card they have been playing in the China dispute. We must always look to the words of the immortal Dr Johnson, “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.” When you have nothing in the policy saddlebag, pretend that plucky little Australia is being attacked by a bully. It works every time.
Rupert Murdoch is hocked to the eyeballs, and he does not really make money in competitive markets unless he takes his mastheads down into the sewers. He does not run a company which provides journalism, because, like his father before him, he is a marketer, and not interested in “journalism” as such.
I refer you to use another tech giant, Google, and read about the “Gun Alley Murder” and its aftermath. That was a famous story in the 1920s in Melbourne, and a man was hanged partly because of the campaign run by Keith Murdochs’ Herald. No regard for consequences then, and none now.
Did you see what Rupert did over the past week? He blamed the electricity shutdown in Texas on renewables, although the regulator had actually dismissed that claim. But it still appeared in the Wall Street Journal, and on Fox News, so there is no differentiation in the places where he subverts the truth. Clearly, his journalists are ‘opinions for hire’, so nothing they write is worth a pinch of salt. So people of intelligence tend to look elsewhere for their information. Does it remind you of The Australian?
Nonetheless, every disaster has an upside. If you can’t get your news and commentary on Facebook, and you want some diverting, even sometimes, amusing reading, you should do yourself a favour, as they say, and continue to read me in Pearls and Irritations.
Mark Buckley is a writer based in regional Victoria. He has a particular interest in politics, history and ethics in public life. He blogs at www.askbucko.com
Comments
6 responses to “What Rupert wants, Scotty gives”
Exactly, the Mainstream (sic) media are losing because they lie so often, by omission or commission. Iraq was bound to have an effect.
Dr Johnson’s well-known aphorism has to be amended for Australian conditions and politicians. Here, patriotism (or its facsimile) is not the last refuge of the scoundrel. It is the first.
While the Morrison government continues to indulge in its never ending marketing campaign, led by Scotty from marketing, of which the Google/Facebook fiasco is just one instalment, and inspired by fear, the shonky product that is the Liberal Coalition government will continue to be preferred over the alternative, a progressive Labor government that actually brought progress and pride to Australia a decade ago, and is poised to do it again.
I sincerely hope that mistake is not repeated , but I’m not filled with any great confidence that under Albo’s leadership it will change, as he appears to whittle away many of the progressive policies taken to the last election in the misguided belief that the party can win back its so called blue collar base, if such a thing even exists any more. All that is needed is some tweaking, such as grandfathering and emphasising the positive benefits of a greener and cleaner future and the jobs that flow from it, to counter the lies and deception of the government.
What Labor needs is another Whitlam or Hawke to lead the party out of the wilderness. The Federal party has been bereft of street smart political leadership with the sales skills to challenge the government in recent years. I hope I’m proven wrong, but I’m afraid Albo just doesn’t cut it. I despair at the thought of having to endure another 3 years of the corrupt LNP government after the forthcoming election.
Reading you, Mark – and reading you on P&I, too. I’ve just had an exchange with a cousin in Dallas who responded to my seeking reassurance he and his family were safe – then him wondering after some remarks I made to him re Trump and the big freeze and so forth. Trump one of the best Presidents, ever, what did I mean? I tried to present how much of the world – certainly here in Australia – sees the US and its woes – and which we follow assiduously because of its powerful effect on all the rest of the world – and Murdoch and so on and so forth. And Indigenous and other abuses carried out here, supported here by Trump buddy Morrison – and that the example of the US and its disregard for sovereignties around the globe and 800 military bases etc etc – is affecting us here too by its “example”. I expect the family thread is severed.
Oh no! But then again many of Trump’s or indeed Bernie Sander’s supporters are legitimate, and it’s just a consequence of their severely ravaged economic fortunes brought on by globalisation, and crazy US capitalism.