Shaggy Dog Comments...
Frailty, thy name is journalism (with apologies to The Bard). This week seems to be a big week for hacks, so we thought we'd look at a couple of things Alanis Morrisette would call ironic.
Corner any journo in a bar (it's the best place to look for them), and you'll probably hear them complaining about the story that got away because the defamation laws are too strict. But guess who's first to reach for a lawyer when the media has a go at one of its own? Quince paste loving 60 Minutes reporter Richard Carleton is currently sobbing his way through the ACT Supreme Court as he sues the ABC's now defunct Media Watch show over claims that he pinched a story 'lock, stock and barrel' from a BBC doco. Meanwhile, Melbourne shock jock Steve Price, who made a hasty move to Sydney to fill Alan Jones' shoes when he absconded from 2UE, is busy suing e-gossip website www.crikey.com.au Price, like his predecessor, is always happy to dish it out, and now he seems to be taking over from The Parrot as Australia's leading litigant. Among Price's other victims was The Fat's Dr Turf. Not surprisingly, journalists at Fairfax and Murdoch's News Ltd seem to lob writs at each other the way schoolkids fire rubber bands around a classroom.
Meanwhile The Oz's political correspondent Glenn Milne has incurred the wrath of Mrs PM for a speculative piece in Monday's paper which quoted an anonymous Liberal Minister who claimed Dr Peter Hollingworth was actually Mrs Howard's choice as Governor General. A livid PM's wife issued to press releases denying the story. The second one was a letter to the journalist concerned, in which she wrote : 'The rationale of your defence, apparently, is that any allegation can be contained in an article about a person without the truth of that allegation being checked. I find such an attitude quite unacceptable. You owe me an apology.'
Page MP Ian Causley decided to have a go too, claiming the whole incident was 'was evidence of a breakdown in the ethics of Australian journalism'. He said selective reporting was no different to sanitised information from a totalitarian regime. 'There is an increasing tendency - or laziness - not to research both sides of the story. There are plenty examples of only reporting a portion of all evidence available,' Mr Causley said.
The funny thing is, for a minute we thought Our Ian and Mrs Howard were both talking about the children overboard scandal, which saw government ministers mislead a now furious Canberra press gallery, and refuse to answer repeated questions seeking the truth, then gag the Defence forces to stop them telling their eyewitness version of events. Milne's story is probably bollocks, but there's a certain karma in all this that everyone from High Anglican to Muslim and atheist could appreciate.
Which leads us to Lismore mayor and budding film critic Bob Gates, who wrote to another newspaper last week asking them to run a piece by rabid right wing Melbourne hack Andrew Bolt, on the film Rabbit Proof Fence, about three Aboriginal kids from the stolen generation.
Bolt's been a mad crusader against the 'elites', do-gooders et al, and was all the way with JWH on the toss-the-children-overboard lie, painting hysterical pictures of asylum seekers not seen since Goya painted Saturn devouring his children. Interestingly, he wrote the article claiming the film was 'false and misleading' in key areas at the same time the lie about throwing kids overboard was finally exposed.
'If it's [Rabbit Proof Fence] not factual, I think it's going to do a lot of damage to the reconciliation movement,' Cr Gates told The Star, adding that he wasn't going to see the film, which critics have said is a 'must-see' Australian story. Bolt has waged a consistent campaign against the stolen generations and last year misrepresented Lois O'Donoghue in a interview in an attempt to prove the whole thing never happened. Rather than his shrill whine, you may prefer to read Robert Manne's detailed historical analysis of the 'facts' from the film from last Saturday's Sydney Morning Herald. Listening to Bolt on this film is about as credible as listening to British historian David Irving complain about 'the facts' in Spielberg's Schindler's List.
There was a curious item, passed unanimously, at the last Lismore Council meeting which read in part that 'Lismore Council welcomes our residents who have come from other countries to make their homes here. We acknowledge the contribution they make to our community and we appreciate the opportunity to share understandings about different traditions and cultures and celebrate our similarities as human beings'. The motion also included a request that it be sent to people who attended a multicultural Christmas luncheon in Lismore last year. What's all this about then? It seems Mayor Gates, eager to support the Coalition's policy on asylum seekers, made a little speech at the luncheon in which he disparaged migrants, including linking them with crime and claiming they hang around together and fail to assimilate in to the Australian way of life. Needless to say a few of the overseas-born Aussies choked on their Christmas cake. The Mayor later defended his position in a letter to luncheon organisers, saying he felt obliged to point out the truth. If one day someone decides to make a fillum about Mayor Bob's life, we hope it's a comedy.
Our thought for the week comes from American comic Steven Wright who suggests: 'Borrow money from pessimists-they don't expect it back.' We plan to bring you more of his wisdom in coming weeks.
 If you drop into The Echo office you'll notice a new smiling face at the front desk.
Kerry Mason (pictured) has joined The Echo team and has already won over the rest of the staff with her friendly, enthusiastic attitude and willingness to help.
Kerry told us she'd been having a great time at work so far. Well, she had to really!
'Everyone's so easy to get along with,' she said. (We checked to see if she'd met Shaggy's master at that stage...) 'I moved to Lismore in February last year and it's the best move I've ever made.'
After completing a week's work experience with The Echo last year, Kerry decided it was the sort of place she'd like to work, so she went to employment provider Tursa to improve her job skills.
Shaggy knows the team love her already - especially because she brings us a morning coffee, which of course makes her the most important person in the office.
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