“Senior media figures on the mainstream ‘left’ are where they are because they know how to play this game. The idea is to talk a good fight, to elicit applause from the ‘left’, but also quiet nods of acceptance from the media gatekeepers, the people they are supposed to be challenging. A key talent is to appear passionately radical while subtly indicating that one is not ’extreme’, that the rules of the media club are accepted. The first rule of media club is: Don’t talk about the inherent contradiction of a corporate ‘free press’. The second rule: Rule one does not exist. The third rule: Do not discuss the existence or non-existence of rules one and two.”
Medialens, July 27, The New Statesman Editor And Blair’s ‘Mistake’
Interesting stuff Antony….this is the sort of debate we need about our very own so-called “liberal” press in Australia. A strong and “free” press is needed now more than ever to hold our Government to account but as recent history suggests, it’s only the alternative media that is prepared to ask the “tough” questions.
Medialens is essential reading. It’s a free subscription and they send out alerts every few weeks. They focus solely on the so-called liberal press, Guardian, BBC, Independent etc, and say that the devotion to power, govt or business, is often just as strong there as with the more ‘commercial’ outlets.
Pilger’s attacks on the so-called “liberal” press especially during the Iraq invasion were also informative and tragically correct. Remember the New York Times mea culpa following the non-discovery of WMD?
I certainly do. I wrote a long feature for the SMH on this matter months before it was really discussed here.
See here: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/03/23/1079939624187.html