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https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2019/02/09/the-demise-independent-media/15496308007425 After last year’s federal leadership spill, the newly anointed prime minister, Scott Morrison, wasted no time asserting his deeply conservative convictions. After a hand-wringing “report” in The Daily Telegraph about training teachers how to respond to the rise in trans-identifying children in schools, the prime minister tweeted, “We do not need ‘gender whisperers’ in our schools. Let kids be kids.” I was just one of many who reacted with anger. The assumption transgender identity can be somehow implanted in vulnerable children by “politically correct” svengalis is deeply offensive, and it only serves to further isolate trans kids, who already report heightened rates of suicide and depression. Morrison’s characterisation of this training was despicable. I said as much in response to his tweet, calling him a “loving disgrace”. I wasn’t surprised to be contacted by my then boss. But even I hadn’t realised the depths to which a once proudly independent news organisations had sunk in its attempts to appeal to the right wing. The day after I posted my tweet, I was told a memo had recently been circulated around the offices of Fairfax directing staff to, among other things, “respect the office of the Prime Minister”. But as a mere freelancer, I hadn’t received the memo – nor the seven years’ worth of superannuation, sick leave, holiday pay, job security and reasonable salary increases that would have accompanied being on staff. Apparently, referring to Scott Morrison as a “loving disgrace” was not an act of respect; instead, this behaviour was now considered a sackable offence. I was told this would be my first and final warning. It was concerning to see how fearful my employer was of the fallout that might come from a tweet criticising the country’s most senior political figure – particularly when that tweet, written by a freelance contributor, wasn’t even widely shared. But my editor made it clear to me that some punishment was required, because they wanted to say appropriate action had been taken should The Australian decide to write about it. I was due to fly to the United States the following week for a two-week book tour, so I agreed to go on paid leave for the duration. Still, I was troubled by how Fairfax seemed to be making its decisions on the basis of a competitor’s potential outrage. Some have argued this shift to the right is a result of Fairfax’s merger with Nine, a deal that was completed in December last year. But the change in political culture at Fairfax began long before the television network set its sights on establishing a newspaper presence, and my story is just a small example of it. To my mind, the trajectory traces back to the appointment in March 2018 of James Chessell as Fairfax’s group executive editor of Australian Metro Publishing. Chessell has worked previously as national editor of both The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, and as deputy business editor of The Australian Financial Review. More pointedly, he has also been an adviser to former Liberal treasurer Joe Hockey, as well as a known associate of many in business and finance. OVER THE PAST YEAR ESPECIALLY, I HAVE NOTICED A DRAMATIC SHIFT IN THE DIRECTION OF WHAT IS CONSIDERED “WORTHY” CONTENT AT FAIRFAX. Chessell’s appointment was accompanied by concerns over editorial independence. During the Fairfax strike in 2017, when Chessell was overseeing national content at The Age and The SMH, Mike Seccombe quoted one striking staff member in The Saturday Paper as saying, “The idea that the company would appoint a Liberal Party staffer and friend to run federal politics is extraordinary.” Writing in Guardian Australia in 2017, Amanda Meade reported Chessell had told the chief foreign correspondent for The SMH and The Age that his reporting on Donald Trump was “too anti-Trump”. As Meade wrote then, this was a view “said to be shared by Fairfax bosses Greg Hywood and Sean Aylmer”. Over the past year especially, I have noticed a dramatic shift in the direction of what is considered “worthy” content at Fairfax. Of course, Fairfax isn’t the only news organisation whose political independence appears to be wilting, nor is it the first to demand absolute brand loyalty from an ever-increasing army of freelancers who are afforded none of the basic civilities of formalised employment in return. Ahead of writing this piece, I asked for comment from other freelancers who had noticed similar policies of fear being applied in their professional relationships. Many people contacted me. Freelance tech journalist Nick Ross told me he spent three years investigating a piece on the failures of the NBN for the ABC only to have the story killed “because it would upset Malcolm Turnbull”. Another freelancer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told me: “The outlet I worked for had a sponsorship arrangement with a major bank that seriously limited what we were allowed to report on. We were unofficially encouraged to self-censor how we wrote stories, and when we didn’t, we were told directly. One of my articles indirectly criticised the major banks, and our managing director phoned my editor ordering them to take it down.” This policing affects us all, but it has its own hierarchy of harm. Yassmin Abdel-Magied still receives death threats to this day following a seven-word Facebook post that highlighted the ongoing harm caused by war and military conflict. The Murdoch press spent weeks vilifying her, with The Australian devoting more than 90,000 words to the topic. On an episode of The Guilty Feminist podcast that aired in 2018, Abdel-Magied spoke about the impact on her career and wellbeing, and the many organisations from which she was unceremoniously dumped as a result of the campaign against her. Tarneen Onus-Williams was working for Oxfam when reports of her speaking passionately at an Invasion Day rally in 2018 were seized on by News Corp commentators, who wasted no time waging a campaign against her that was striking in its similarity to the one that targeted Abdel-Magied. Onus-Williams told me that in the midst of the media storm, Oxfam implemented a media policy that had previously not existed. “When an article came out, I would get in trouble because of the policy. Anything I did publicly had to be run through them. They have self-determination policies and programs to support Aboriginal women’s political engagement, but they kept shutting me down and not letting me do anything. I ended up leaving because they made it so frustrating to work there. They wouldn’t even be a referee.” The impact on Onus-Williams has been extensive. “I’m just anxious about tweeting or writing anything because I get trolled all the time,” she said. “Oxfam Australia lost more donors from my comment than they did [from] the revelations workers had been sexually abusing natural disaster victims in Haiti.” In September 2018, shortly after I returned from America and resumed writing, the newly appointed editor at Daily Life – the Fairfax section for which I was a columnist – informed me via email that after almost seven years filing twice-weekly columns in exchange for exclusivity, my output, and thus my freelance salary, would be cut in half. When I spoke with my editor on the phone a week or so later and expressed my frustration at the situation, she told me Chessell had instructed her that my presence in the paper was “in no uncertain terms” to be reduced. As a freelance writer, the nature of the work is inherently unreliable. But beyond dealing with the rotating roster of editors, expected fast turnarounds and a rapidly evaporating pool of subeditors, contributors are being asked to protect the brand at all costs. At the same time, the brand offers little in the way of support for those providing all of its saleable content. Across the organisation, contributors and staff journalists have been directed not to “attack the competition”, being reminded that “when they go low, we go high”. But what this really means is that the columnists and journalists themselves – whom News Corp has no problem viciously targeting – are denied protection and support when they need it most. Instead, their opinions are being scrutinised and curbed in order to not incite “negative” press. Understandably, it’s been difficult to find Fairfax employees willing to speak on the record about the cultural shift inside the organisation. They are terrified about the ramifications. After I left, though, one senior Fairfax journalist gave me their assessment of the company, on the condition of anonymity. I think it gets to the heart of what has changed at Fairfax, and what is wrong: “Chessell’s clear political agenda is to shift The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age sharply to the right, to make us pale versions of The Australian. It’s been hugely damaging to the independence of our journalism and to the reputation of the mastheads. Much of the changes have resulted in fawning coverage towards moderates in the Liberal Party and outright puff pieces including on Chessell’s former boss Joe Hockey. “Fairfax journalists have long been a rare independent voice in mass media in Australia. That independence is now being undermined from within.” That really is a loving disgrace.
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Feb 9, 2019 09:13
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This is, at the same time, something I knew already and surprisingly upsetting
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Feb 9, 2019 09:26
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My first car was a stick
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What's more upsetting is literally the same thing was done at the ABC, with strikingly similar results. And so all 4 Liberal-aligned news outlets are going to be sitting around trying to figure out how to steal Morrison the election.
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Feb 9, 2019 09:36
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You may even say that it is Political Correctness Gone Mad
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Feb 9, 2019 09:37
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froglet posted:I don't think locals should be trampled over by developers, but society doesn't benefit from groups of wealthy, time-rich, adequately-housed people lobbying for local government prioritise their personal amenity over larger gains like doctors and nurses actually being able to afford living near the hospital's they work in. Yes, boomer culture is an important aspect of what is going on. And in case I wasn't clear enough about it, there's also a lack of political will. Announcing open things and taking credit for the government who actually ponied up the cash and got the building started is what everyone wants, so of course, no one does anything. The planning aspect disturbs me because it looks like we're just sleepwalking into situations that take a lot of work to undo, and no one is given time or encouragement to really think through it and try to get it right for a decent time ahead, maybe 20 years. Big corporations can do this, why the hell can't a government? Oh that's right, big government bad  Don Dongington posted:What's more upsetting is literally the same thing was done at the ABC, with strikingly similar results. It won't save them, nothing will.
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Feb 9, 2019 09:41
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Don Dongington posted:What's more upsetting is literally the same thing was done at the ABC, with strikingly similar results. Dude Barry Cassidy was loving going in so hard on Shorten on Insiders over the Franking Credits issue and on insiders extra he said the election is 50-50 now because the liberal party will try every tactic in the book and Labor is trying to steal from hard working folks who just want to give the true blue asx a punt. I've never seen an Insiders ep so favourable to Morrison before.
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Feb 9, 2019 09:56
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https://twitter.com/SenatorWong/status/1094087583137595392
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Feb 9, 2019 10:03
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Anidav posted:https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2019/02/09/the-demise-independent-media/15496308007425 All this may be true but Clementine’s story is more about her having a tin ear than independent media. Anidav posted:I've never seen an Insiders ep so favourable to Morrison before. Born 1950.
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Feb 9, 2019 10:16
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Just want to say thanks again for well wishes itt I was just making a point but I really appreciate the kindness.
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Feb 9, 2019 10:57
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So how do we fix the bias in the mainstream media?
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Feb 9, 2019 11:00
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bowmore posted:So how do we fix the bias in the mainstream media? Burn it down, salt the Earth, start from scratch.
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Feb 9, 2019 11:02
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bowmore posted:So how do we fix the bias in the mainstream media? Subscribe to Saturday Paper Subscribe to New Matilda Subscribe to Jacobin Subscribe to Crikey Subscribe to hambeet
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Feb 9, 2019 11:04
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Anidav posted:Subscribe to Saturday Paper
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Feb 9, 2019 11:04
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Whitlam posted:Burn it down, salt the Earth, start from scratch. 
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Feb 9, 2019 11:05
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Encourage young people to ignore mainstream media. Not hard, they already do
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Feb 9, 2019 11:11
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bowmore posted:i’m not 100% sure that is the answer its 20% right.
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Feb 9, 2019 11:14
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If our Eurovision rep isn't Kate Miller-Heidke or Electric Fields this country is officially worthless.
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Feb 9, 2019 11:21
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TISM or get farked
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Feb 9, 2019 11:27
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bowmore posted:So how do we fix the bias in the mainstream media? The cosmic balance is now way out of whack. Fairfax could have their cake and eat it for (what they thought would be an eternity) as people were likely to read their editorials while compelled to buy them to access half a foot of classifieds each Saturday. Throwing in a negligible subscription for the rest of the week was just a bonus. So basically create a new mainstream. And in better news... quote:https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/getup-poll-points-to-abbott-electoral-defeat-20190209-p50wqi.html Good to see GetUp getting behind a local girl, daughter of a small town lawyer who would spend every spare winter moment skiing on the outskirts of Manly. Does GetUp do this "enemy of my enemy" stuff often? Zenithe posted:TISM or get farked
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Feb 9, 2019 11:29
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hambeet posted:its 20% right.
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Feb 9, 2019 11:29
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There's something different sounding about 2019 Ratbag Craig. I can't put my finger on it.
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Feb 9, 2019 11:35
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Graic Gabtar posted:Good to see GetUp getting behind a local girl, daughter of a small town lawyer who would spend every spare winter moment skiing on the outskirts of Manly. Don't save us from sinking by trying to drag the whole ship up at once, take a knife and cut off the anchor first.
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Feb 9, 2019 11:52
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Tokamak posted:There's something different sounding about 2019 Ratbag Craig. I can't put my finger on it. it's like 2017 anime dave
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Feb 9, 2019 12:11
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Is zali steggal actually that much better than tones? I refuse to read the puff pieces on her
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Feb 9, 2019 12:12
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bowmore posted:i’m not 100% sure that is the answer It absolutely is. You support quality or atleast quality in the face of the mainstream competition to create a new normal.
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Feb 9, 2019 12:14
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hiddenmovement posted:Is zali steggal actually that much better than tones? She's not Tony Abbott, so there's that.
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Feb 9, 2019 12:14
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Recoome posted:it's like 2017 anime dave Idgi 
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Feb 9, 2019 12:15
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hiddenmovement posted:Is zali steggal actually that much better than tones? she sounds like a tree tory so she’d be at home in this thread
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Feb 9, 2019 12:21
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Anidav posted:Dude Barry Cassidy was loving going in so hard on Shorten on Insiders over the Franking Credits issue and on insiders extra he said the election is 50-50 now because the liberal party will try every tactic in the book and Labor is trying to steal from hard working folks who just want to give the true blue asx a punt. most high profile abc presenters are very well off and almost all of em are gonna get hit by the changes
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Feb 9, 2019 12:27
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Endman posted:She's not Tony Abbott, so there's that. I do hear a lot of people complain that because some rich electorate isn't going to vote for some amazingly progressive person who is going to smash capitalism you might as well keep Regressive Shithead. Which... I don't think is quite right. Those electorates are pretty much never going to vote for someone who legit wants Gay Space Communism or freeing the refugees from prison island. Sure, they might be the same in broad strokes but I'd rather Regressive Shithead got kicked out rather than them staying in and continuing to build influence inside and outside of parliament.
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Feb 9, 2019 12:38
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froglet posted:I do hear a lot of people complain that because some rich electorate isn't going to vote for some amazingly progressive person who is going to smash capitalism you might as well keep Regressive Shithead. 100%. We've slowly shifted to the right over time, not all at once. Incrementalism has worked really well for the right so why wouldn't it work well for the left, too? The slower you go the less backlash there is. I won't say it's impossible to do worse than Abbott (Dutton exists, after all), but it's fairly unlikely.
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Feb 9, 2019 12:43
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Does anyone know if there are any countries that ban trailing commissions for mortgages?
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Feb 9, 2019 13:11
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Turks posted:100%. Careful Fair few of us got yelled at for suggesting nuclear as a stopgap incrementalism to full renewable and NO FULL RENEW OR COAL NO IN BETWEEN LONG TERM PLANNING
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Feb 9, 2019 13:22
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Kate won. First important election of 2019 off to a great start.
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Feb 9, 2019 13:23
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Yeah but by the time we get nuclear power plants up renewables will be even more cost effective. It's just throwing money down the drain this late in the game. Just wait for Sunshine Bill the Panel Shill.
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Feb 9, 2019 13:24
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Lid posted:Careful I would have been pro nuclear 20, maybe even 10 years ago. Today though? It doesn't even make economic sense anymore, disregarding any environmental concerns. It's literally cheaper to overbuild renewables and use excess to make Hydrogen when the grid doesn't need it. Nuclear plants are going bankrupt all over the place, even with government subsidies.
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Feb 9, 2019 13:46
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Yeah pro-nuclear posters ITT need to get it into their heads that nuclear isn't an option in Australia anymore. We don't all simultaneously reject the idea out of hand because of green biases or the post-Chernobyl and Fukushima fearmongering - it simply doesn't have enough time to spin up before the milestones we need to hit to make a meaningful difference. There is no point going nuclear because we won't have a plant up and running til 2035 at best. If we focus on renewables we'll achieve much more by the half way point, even if we do still have a small amount of fossil fuel generation by then.
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Feb 9, 2019 13:55
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Labor refers Tim Wilson to police over claims he shared voter details with fund managersmh posted:The chair of a taxpayer funded government inquiry has been referred by Labor to the Australian Federal Police after being accused of sharing the details of voters with a high-profile fund manager as part of a co-ordinated campaign against Labor's franking credit policy. There's more and it's worse, including a bunch of libs going "yeah nah it's fine, labor and the greens just wish they'd thought to use a public inquiry as a fundraising push first, idiots".
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Feb 9, 2019 13:58
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Looking forward to the Security Division of the LNP, formerly known as the AFP, declaring they haven't uncovered any evidence for a prosecution
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Feb 9, 2019 14:08
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Sa did a royal commission into nuclear and found it was economically unviable, even in a state with arseloads of uranium.
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Feb 9, 2019 14:12
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