Archives for November/December: Editor caught in speed trap, Local Reporting under scrutiny, 2UE inquiry comes to a close and Fight Club review.

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CAUGHT! Police attack "sleep speeding" editor In an extraordinary development, a senior staffer at the Australian Voice has been caught sleeping at the wheel by a police officer in a crackdown on the "lethal cocktail" that is sleep speeding. Police using the latest in "cabin capturing" photographic technology were able to first take a close up of the driver's behaviour while speeding and then a photo of the car speeding. The incident took place near Woodville Road, Fairfield at 6:20 pm on 30 September 1999. The captured speed was 74 km/h in a 60 zone. In the photo, you can see that by the time the first flash went off (with the dozing editor inside), the editor had woken and started depressing his breaks (see the red break lights in action). Police sources indicate that the editor could have been doing in the vacinity of "85-100kph" in the time between the cabin capture photo and the actual photo of the speeding car. Unfortunately for the dangerous driver, all the skidding in the world couldn't stop the police from 'doing justice'.However, the police action is seen as controversial. The editor of the AV has been an unstoppable critic of police procedure and practice in targetting drivers in places that aren't speed traps. The editor in a statement said: "The road was straight - I would bet there have been hardly any fatalities, and as you can clearly see - dozing off on a straight road is no problem for a driver of my calibre. This is police payback for my criticisms of the fascist powers - and i'm not surprised at all. I will not fight them however, I will pay the fine so that the stupidity of police snooze and radar detectors are exposed!"

Above: the photo that rocked the AV, including police data. Below: A sleeping editor, seconds before being flashed.

INTEGRITY IN LOCAL REPORTING TORCHED

Today, I came across two local newspapers that cross regions. The first was the Bankstown Canterbury TORCH, the other was the Cooks River VALLEY TIMES. It was with shock that both papers carried the exact same story, word for word, on their front page (click here to see exerpt): "Mayor's millennium Christmas toy appeal". In fact, even the way the headline was formatted (i.e. the caps and non caps) was the same - though the space dedicated was slightly different. The articles in both the TORCH and VALLEY TIMES were word for word copies. Even embarassing mistakes like "With just a few weeks to left, Mayor Griffin is urging residents to help brighten a child's day by making a donation."

No where in the paper is there any indication that this was an "advertisement" paid by the council. We are therefore to presume that no payment was made, but that both local newspapers COPIED a council press statement. However, another explanation could be possible. Both the TORCH and the VALLEY TIMES are owned by Torch Publishing, and surprise surprise - Mark Kirkland is editor of BOTH papers. Infact, looking through both papers, and one is struck by a sense of De Ja Vouz. On page 2 of the VALLEY TIMES and on page 10 of THE TORCH comes another word for word copy - "Experience to remember". What is more alarming is that on page 2 of the Valley Times and page 10 of the Torch, is a 3/4 page spread outlining Canterbury Council upcoming events, rate updates, and wait for it, a letter "From Your Mayor's Office" for the Christmas Toy Appeal (click here for excerpt of advert). In the council section, it is not made clear that it is an advertisement, but one would presume that it is by its separation from the articles.

The problem with local reporting is that firstly and obviously, ownership issues are plaguing the distinct nature of many papers. Two front page leads, written by the same person (or maybe even an unchecked press release from the council media advisers) as well as a 3/4 page advertising spread by the Canterbury council in both papers makes what the council says and does very lucrative. In the Cooks River, I counted four news stories within the first six pages that came from Canterbury Council. I'm not saying here that council news isn't important news in the local field - indeed, it is essential. This makes what is going on worse. Newspapers regurgitating council press releases and at least not even trying to make their papers more diverse in content raises serious questions about the ability of local papers to be anything other than a conduit for advertising. What we need in local reporting is that names be associated with articles. This will be the first step in identifying the culprits who regurgitate council press releases and advertising as news. Both front page stories in the TORCH had no name attached. The Valley Times is barely any better. One must also wonder whether the reporting staff at these firms put any effort into the reporting that goes on in the body of the paper and on reporting related to advertisers. Is their hard work merely re-phrasing a press release or an advertisement? If this is not bad ethically, why then don't they have a paper that contains just ads? Obviously news is seen as above advertisement and requires some sort of detachment from the advertising process to fulfill that goal.

ENTERTAINMENT REPORTING - 1 Page Advert = 1/4 page article (or more if you're lucky)

Skipping to the Entertainment Section in the Torch (I've got limited time), and you'd think you're in a time warp. We have an article on "Joey's musical journey" (page 43) - none other than the charismatically talented Joey Fimmano and friends, who will take you on a musical journey at the Revesby Workers Club (with number provided at the end of the article). Funnily enough, on the next page (45) is a full page advertisement for the club. Canterbury Leagues gets better value for money - putting a quarter page advertisemnt (page 42) and getting a quarter page article on page 44. And "A Christmas with Lee Kernighan" (page 43) is followed by a full page ad for the Bankstown District Sports Club on page 46. Not one entertainment article is written without advertising space. Is there any room for entertainment events that are not sponsored by or brought to you by clubs or advertisers? And why is there the need to write articles on it - why not give the clubs more ad space? The answer is simple - it gives the newspapers word added weight and makes the event "newsworthy" when indeed it is a paid ad. How many local newspapers do this - I'd say almost all of them. To conclude, Proprietors must begin to look ethically towards the way they report and the way they gain revenue. If the John Laws inquiry shows anything, it is that we value integrity in reporting. And while Local Newspapers may engage in trivial news stories - in a democracy, local issues are also important. Local Newspapers need to get their practices in order - because all they are engaging in is deceptive conduct - not only to consumers, but to the interests of democracy in local government reporting AND in legitimate entertainment reporting (and God knows how much money they save in re-fashioning press releases from the council and these advertising clubs! - it's poor journalism and unethical!).

FIGHT CLUB - ANOTHER GREAT FILM

We're not even in the Oscar race, and i've gone through all the adjectival vocabulary in praise of films. The Matrix, Eyes Wide Shut, The Sixth Sense and now Fight Club. I think Eyes Wide Shut can be taken out of the equation - it has well and truly been out-classed by the others (though not in control over mise en scene). But Fight Club is an amazing film - it really does push boundaries and cements the discourse of reality and disenchantment in modern society. It is marred only by its depictions of the chief anarchist with fascist colours. I suppose you can't be an anarchist if you follow rules, but it seems as though the film-maker did this to make his film and the violence that takes place in the film, more morally acceptable if it took place with the under-current of fascism. I think we can well and truly say that "anarchy" in itself isn't an evil - well not as evil as capitalism (in this film anyway). And as we sit in the cinema, sipping on coke, admiring the latest developments in cinema comfort and sound, we are parodied - our lifestyle choices are attacked, and the very essence of how we define ourselves is attacked. What's more is that it's extremely funny - we recognise it ourselves. Almost every line of dialogue is filled with humour, perverse and pervasive humour. THen there's fantasy - the whole film could be a fantasy if you want to look at it that way - but even within it we can see that thiis movie wants to tear at things, it wants to rip them apart - The fighting is a metaphor of that... The film process itself is torn apart in the movie, a fantasy about a plane being torn apart is engaged in, and then there are the various explosions. This movie is a deconstruction and a deconstructive movie. People of course will get all moral about it - and say how irresponsible it is. I wish they'd shut up - perhaps what is more irresponsible aree movies that make us slaves to the IKEA catalogue - movies that cement the feeling that we can be a movie star, we can be anyone we want to be (other than ourselves - because if we are ourselves, we don't need to buy the latest self improvement products). Fight Club gives credence to who we elites call "loonies" - it articulates their fears and their disenchantment with society - it articulates a class of people who have been left out of society. It even reminds me of all the country people who voted down the republic. These people know they'll never be movie stars, and will never be what advertisers tell them to be - perhaps they are the more enlightened ones by realising their fate and fighting down the institutions. Fight Club is also not detached from Hollywood narrative - it is WARPED hollywood narrative. Traditional Hollywood narrative will accept that politicians are corrupt, that institutions are bankrupt, that capitalism is bad, but there'll always be a Regan like figure who will rise above it and be an excellent father figure. Some people call this narrative fascist. Well, The Fight Club is the anti-E.T. film in a way, because the hero is definitely warped, mentally unstable and fascist in intention (as opposed to Spielberg and Lucas heroes who are not fascist in intention) - he goes that extra step by BREAKING the system, not helping its members cope with the system in the hope that one day, they will make it. Fight Club is the logical conclusion of the years of male disenchantment as expressed by classical cinema over the last two decades. Male disenchantment has been a growing theme in the cinema for a while and it stems from the void left in families due to the absent father. There are countless of these narratives (E.T. being just one). The Fight Club directly makes this obvious in dialogue ('we are brought up by women') and it occurs in the visual sphere as well through an almost parodic use of Freudian Theory. In Freudian Theory (or what i know of it), castration complex denies males of their power and it is the female that castrates. In this film, it is more like society is castrating the male and castration metaphors/jokes play big in this movie - the most obvious being the running testicular cancer theme (and perhaps when they destroy the corporate art - which is a big ball).

The ending image of Fight Club is at once a parody of hollywood sunset/reconciliation image AND a fantasy about the beauty in destruction. There's of course much more to this film, including other sexual connotations which in a way relate again to power and control, but the film's strength is in its mixed message and its excellent performances, style and originality. Movies are becoming almost too clever!

90/100

2UE INQUIRY HEADS INTO FINAL STAGES

Thursday, October 28 1999

Friday will see possibly the most spectacular day of the Australian Broadcasting Authority's inquiry into 2UE and its broadcasters Alan Jones and John Laws. Laws is expected to take the stand, and hence it will gain much attention. The Australian Voice has noted in previous editions how influential these broadcasters are on Government policy - and especially with John Laws, one could see how easily his views could be bought. However, this has been going on for years. Philip Adams noted it in a book. But it took the Media Watch story of exposing how these people operate before the ABA launched an inquiry. While Laws and co may say "but everyone was doing it" - that is no excuse. Laws came close to blackmailing the banker's association into the sponsorship deal - and the full truth as to whether he made his anti-bank statements as strong as they were in order to get the "deep pockets" at the bankers association to cough up for "the whole story" is something that will be a cause for speculation. Then there are those who say, "but John Laws IS a salesman and he has always sold products and his viewers know it." Yes, they do know he sells things - but in the case of the banking contract, it was not obvious. These people pride themselves as know it all - fighting for the battler personalities who SHAPE opinion, yet when their opinion is skewered by their business interests in such a way as to completely DISTORT their duty to listeners and HALT criticisms during matters of public importance (even supporting them strongly during times when public policy is shaped) is problematic. Many viewers, may also be unaware that Laws would say anything good about a company that pays him 500 thousand a year. I mean, I would - I would kiss their feet if they payed me 500 grand a year. At the bottom of archives 41, I've got my original spiel on the broadcaster, written on the night of the original media watch story. More will be forthcoming if I can make it to the inquiry tomorrow for a first hand report!

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