Wednesday, November 13, 2013

MEMO RUPERT MURDOCH : NOT ALL NEWS IS FUN , FUN , FUN .




Tiny  sample  of  smiling  reporters . 
 

After   Rupert   Murdoch’s   recent   visit   to  Townsville he    tweeted  that   the  Townsville Bulletin, one of his  many  publications,  is  an  excellent  local  newspaper  You   would   not   have    expected   him   to  tweet  otherwise.   There   is,  however  one   glaring  aspect  of   the  paper   which   frequently  , inexplicably,  detracts  from   the  image  of   a  caring  ,  sensitive  ,   local   publication  :   the    use   of    graphics   of   smiling , happy  looking   journalists   in   tragic  stories   about  murder,   road   carnage  ,  other   sad   events    and   serious    community  matters.

The    November  4   edition, for  example, which   portrayed   smiling   Murdoch on  the  front  page , the report  spilling  over  to   P4 ,  with  him   tipping  a   boom  in  the North , just as he did in  Darwin  earlier this  year ,   illustrates  the   point.    On  page  5  was  a   large stock  head  of   beaming   reporter  Samantha  Healy   having   won   two   awards   at  a    multi  media night   in  Cairns.      The   stories  were   about   a  Palm  Island  boy   who   tragically  died    from  a  preventable   illness  and   devastation  caused   by   synthetic   drug  use .    Hardly   subjects    for    an article  with   a   happy   snap  .   She   deserved   a   write  up ,  but  surely  with   a   non- beaming     photo .

On   the   same  page ,  there   was   a   pic   of   smiling   reporter   Jane   Armitstead   in   a  story about   drunken  crime   soaring  in  Townsville.   Again , not  a   laughing  matter . The  same   happy   photo of  Armistead  was   reasonably   used  in   a  report  about  news    of  welcome  rain  but  surely  not   apt   for  another  about  a  childcare  worker  suing  an employer for $260,000 after  tripping over at  work.    

The   November  2-3  weekend  edition  of   the   paper  ran  the   tragic   court  case about  the  man sentenced  to   life  imprisonment  for  the  murder   of   a  16 month old   boy  . Under  the  heading HEARTBREAK RELIVED AS TOT’S KILLER  JAILED , see above ,    was  the  smiling   face of   reporter  Emma  Channon . Later , on page 13,  there  she  was  shown  again , same jovial   expression ,   in  a court  case  about  a  seven year old   girl  allegedly  duct –taped   and   gagged   by  her   father .  

 A  quick   glance  through  the  November  11  edition  spotted at  least  three   smiling journalists  in  reports  about  a grandfather collapsing and dying  after screaming at children  chroming , a  toddler  left  inside a  hot  car  at  the Townsville  Airport   and   anger about  a  pedestrian  crossing where a  woman , 86 ,  was  hit ,  receiving  two  broken  legs. There was  another smiling  reporter shot in the follow up  to the  grandfather's  death .  Ivories  were   flashed in a   report about  Mt Isa  residents being  "dudded " by the  Newman Government   over  funding of  the  emergency  helicopter

 There   are  numerous    other   examples  of   inappropriate  use  of  smiling  reporters  in  sad  and   serious reports.  Similar happy   photos regularly   appear   in  another  Murdoch paper ,the  Cairns Post . One   prime  example in  the  Cairns paper  this  week  is  the court  story  about a  woman whose  face  was mutilated  in  front of a  child  who   will  have  to  recount  the horrendous event again  due to  one word ruled inappropriate   which  will  result  in a  rehearing .   Other  serious  matters  in the  same  edition had   happy  reporter  snaps. Surely  this unsatisfactory situation  has  been  discussed  at editorial conference, raised by  reporters   whose  standing heads   are   inappropriately used  in page  do  ups ?

It is realised  that  newspaper  nowadays  are often   made up  in  some  distant   location   down south,  some   even   overseas .   This   means   the  local knowledge  of sub editors  ( often made redundant) is  lost  and  strange  things  appear  in print.  Reporters  at  the Townsville   Bully  have apparently  fallen about  laughing  on  occasions  due to   clangers   caused by  this situation .  One  particular case  involved  a  name like  Butterworth  being turned into   Butterscotch  via  the  distant  page  master .   Surely   the    editors  of   the  two papers  and  staff  realise that  the  frequent  running  of   smiling   reporter pix  in  serious   and  sad stories   should  not   be  happening .  It  is  not  a   good   look that detracts from  the  newspaper . What  do the  journalists  think ?     It    lends  weight  to  the  old saying that   news  stories  are   just   there  to   fill  in  between  the  adverts and  that  smiling   females  make   good  eye  candy...the  P3  bird  syndrome . NEXT : Another supposed  newspaper    development   which  will  cause  many  seasoned   journos   to   chuckle   and    choke   on  their   pots .