[LINK] Alligators in the sewers, moon made of cheese, etc

[James Riley]

I'm with you, David (Higgins) - the comment about "journalists as tools to
try and further the commercial interests of the proprietors" is as stupid as
it is ill-informed.

Mark Westfield's piece in The Australian is what is known in technical terms
as a "scoop". The fact that Mark Westfield is one of the best connected
business journalists in the country might have something to do with the fact
that he was able to get the story (As anyone who has worked at a large
newspaper will tell you, it is notoriously difficult to get any comment from
one's own management).

James Riley
Editor
InformationWeek
jriley@dwr.com.au


-----Original Message-----
From: david higgins [mailto:dhiggins@access.fairfax.com.au]
Sent: Thursday, June 22, 2000 7:31 PM
To: richard@auscoms.com.au; link@www.anu.edu.au; monty@ausbone.net
Subject: [LINK] Alligators in the sewers, moon made of cheese, etc


AAAARRRGGHH! When will you see how dunderheaded these comments are:

"Just another example where the business pages of the major metro newspapers
are used as tools to try to further the commercial interests of the
proprietors."

"And of the journalists themselves, Paul. A "declaration of sharholding" is
an
irrelevant joke. Journalism is as compromised by its practitioners' own
behaviour as by the interests of proprietors."

For the record, once again, I have NEVER experienced, nor have I heard of a
journalist -- during my time at the SMH or The Australian -- being told what
to write at the request of management.
Use your brain here, rather than jumping directly to the urban myth. The
vast majority of those involved in the Internet industry are against DCITA's
regulatory policies. It is hardly surprising that someone like Tom Burton
(who is in charge of the SMH's Web site) and the management of Fairfax would
have the same opinion on this matter.

In the case of Mark Westfield's pay-tv piece, isn't it likely that a
journalist who has just published an incredibly detailed history on
Australian Pay TV, The Gatekeepers, would be the first to hear about
negotiations on a pull-out by News and PBL.

Furthermore, both today (Thu) and tomorrow the SMH is running negative
pieces about f2 (the restructure and, well, you'll have to wait and see for
the other).

David Higgins