Sunday, October 22, 2017

TOWNSVILLE BULLETIN CHALLENGE: LATE FINAL EXTRA

Months ago, a former longtime  Townsville  Bulletin  employee  , Doug Kingston , announced  he  intended  to  start up , at his own expense, an online challenge to the paper  to  provide Townsville with   balanced  and  fair   reports  on  major  local issues .   Clearly , this was an indication of  dissatisfaction with the paper   for  which  he  had been  closely  involved . 

Ever   since Kingston announced his intention to challenge the Bulletin no other local media  organisation  appears  to  have  religiously followed  up   the  subject , which you would expect , another  insight into the obvious shortcomings in  news gathering in  the  balmy  tropics .

Tired of waiting for  the media to get its act together , this blog asked   a basic  reporter type question of  Kingston  :  what  is the  latest on your proposal? It  appears a  second  player also  keen  to  challenge   has  entered  the  scene and   they are   likely  to  join   forces .   The  Bulletin is vulnerable on many  fronts as  there is obvious growing  discontent  with  the paper , especially over its handling of the highly contentious  proposed   Adani   Carmichael   coalmine  and  its  fulsome support for the Townsville  City Council mayor , the council's    proposal  to give  Adani  $18.5 million  for  a FIFO  airport. 


It was recently announced that  the Bulletin editor, Ben English , who had only been  in Townsville for 18 months, was  leaving and going to  another Murdoch paper on the Gold Coast . As no replacement   editor  was   named , it was seen as  bad  PR , a  snub  for  Townsville .
 
A constant critic of the Murdoch Townsville Bulletin , of course, has  been another  ex Bulletin reporter, Malcolm  Weatherup , who successfully  brought a  defamation  case  against   the  media  empire .
 
Weatherup in  full flight 

Each week , Malcolm  Weatherup  produces   the  well read  onliner  The Magpie , which  in recent  weeks has  included strong criticism  from  readers  about  the Bulletin, the Townsville City Council , Adani  , the last rites  performed on  the  paper  by  one  on  October 8 at 11.14 am...  
 
The Undertaker says:

It is with great sadness that I announce the death of journalism in Townsville. Actually the profession died a couple of years ago when “The North’s Own Paper” rolled over and put advertising revenue ahead of quality journalism. I remember a time when advertisers got only one thing for their money – space to spread their message.
 
On numerous occasions big advertisers tried to use their ad spend to hush up embarrassments such as drink driving charges and court appearances. Back then they were politely shown the door and the story was published big and bold. But, following a dramatic fall in circulation, advertisers became more important than journalism. It started slowly at first, with advertising messages disguised as stories.

 After scores of quality journalists lost their jobs to protect profit margins, investigative journalism became a thing of the past, replaced by the publication of media releases. If those media releases happen to come from a big advertiser, no questions are asked for fear of losing revenue.

I suspect that scratch-my-back deals are now the norm – agree to a substantial advertising spend and you get to tell only your side of the story. The Townsville Airport passenger levy and the continuing Adani public relations exercise are obvious examples.

 Then there is the cosy relationship in which the Townsville Bulletin is a preferred supplier to Townsville City Council. How much advertising spend is involved here and what does the council and the mayor get in return, apart from ad space? Those who are hoping a change of editor will mean a return to quality journalism will be disappointed, because cash is now king.

 Any new editor who upsets an advertiser won’t be around for long. As has been suggested by others in this blog in recent weeks, the Townsville Bulletin has abandoned its role as watchdog for the community and is now a lapdog. It appears that if you spend enough money you can now get away with anything. Sad.
 
Weatherup's  October  21   edition of the  The  Magpie  kicked off  with the pungent heading  : The Ratepayers  Revolt  But The Voice Of The North Gets Laryngitis . The opening  paragraph  pointed out that  ratepayer's were so furious  about the Townsville City Council's   $18.5million  gift to  Adani  that  an online  protest petition ,  calling on  council to rescind the action at its  next  meeting  and make available all   documents related to the   deal  be made public for scrutiny,  had been  ticking  over   faster  than the calorie counter  of    Gina Rinehart, now more than 44,000.   Poets ,  obvious scholars   and   rude  chaps , apart from Malcolm,  contributed  items  to  the  lively ongoing  edition .
 
UPCOMING : What is wrong with  the Townsville  Bulletin?