Cheap Journalism 101

Tired of cheap journalism. "The standards of practice of Journalism have changed since my day" is a sentence my father occasi...

Tired of cheap journalism.

"The standards of practice of Journalism have changed since my day" is a sentence my father occasionally brings up at family dinners when we chance on the topic.  Gone are the days when fact and objective reporting were the required skill set of any respectable journo. 

Instead, we the target public, now have a minefield of corporate sponsored bias and hype to navigate on a daily basis, together with an unprecedented level of immaturity and naivety among the so-called "journalists". The news media however is not quite as adept at tricking a now hype-savvy readership as it once was.

Take for example this little piece, complete with the mandatory skewed hype title by Stephen McMahon (Original article link here)

News Limited's Version

Galaxy poll reveals business executives have little belief in NBN
It will cost about $40 billion, but a significant number of Australia companies don't think the NBN will make any difference to their business.  The Galaxy poll of more than 400 senior executives found more than one third said it would not boost their productivity.  Fifty-one per cent of respondents said it would make a positive difference their business.  The Coalition claims the NBN project could blow out to $90 billion but the government maintains it will be delivered for $37 billion.

Gloom and doom for NBN support from Australian business, that is if you haven't had your morning cup of anti-bullshit antidote. Let me demonstrate by employing the use of  exactly the same statistics from the news.com.au excerpt, except this time using them to say what they actually mean.

Anti Bullshit Version
Confidence in NBN from the majority of Australian senior executives
Despite Murdoch controlled News Limited's attempt to skew statistics on Labor's NBN rollout in an unfavourable light to the Australian public it has been revealed that a majority percentage of Australian senior executives have confidence in the NBN's ability to deliver positive benefits to their business.  Only about one third of respondents could not understand the productivity gains achievable by solid IT connectivity and first-class infrastructure in the poll run by Galaxy. Despite coalition claims of a $53 billion budget blowout, the government maintains it is still on track for its forecasted $37 billion.

Crazy how different a picture you can paint with twisted words.

Good for business? Maybe.
Responsible journalism?  No way.