In the past three years there have two significant public protests against the government of the day. There was the failed ‘convoy of no confidence’ in 2011 to protest against Julia Gillard’s ‘carbon tax’ and now we are in the middle of the highly successful Australia wide March in March protests against the Abbott Government.
The media attention to these events has been worlds apart.
The mainstream media ran with the convoy of no confidence stories for almost a week, focusing on both the promotion to the event and the event itself. For example, on August 18 2011, in the lead-up to the convoy The Australian eagerly told us that:
The “convoy of no-confidence” in the federal Labor government, a convoy of trucks, trailers and campervans sponsored by the National Road Freighters Association started out from all over Australia yesterday and will be converging on Canberra on Monday.
The convoy will be carrying a petition calling for a federal election. Thousands will be streaming in from regional Australia in no fewer than 11 different convoys.
They are coming from Bendigo and Mildura, Warragul and Colac, Norseman and Wyong, Rocklea and Rockhampton, Atherton and Charters Towers, Port Hedland and Halls Creek.
And the day before the event we were told by news.com that:
Canberra is set to be brought to its knees tomorrow when 11 separate truck and van convoys from every mainland state and territory protest the legitimacy of the Gillard government.
A similar report was provided by the Sydney Morning Herald:
About 80 trucks are on their way to Parliament House in Canberra in the first phase of a “convoy of no confidence” against the Gillard government.
And when the event was over it continued receiving massive and widespread coverage in every Australian newspaper. This Google search brought up page after page of results confirming this, if you’re interested. Every detail of the convoy was dissected, organisers were interviewed, photos were splashed across the font pages and in keeping with what we can expect from our media … it was hailed as a huge success and another nail in the coffin of the Gillard Government.
All we saw or heard was hysterical shrill from the mainstream media.
In contrast, the successful March in March protests received no coverage from the mainstream media. Before, during, or after. At the time of writing the ABC and ninemsn.com stand alone as the only major media organisations to give it any coverage. (Naturally the ABC will be punished for reporting it).
The mainstream media is free, of course, to publish whatever stories they wish. But I find it disturbing that after giving mass coverage of the convoy of no confidence, they choose not to bother reporting anything about the March in March. It is also disappointing that the views and actions of what is going to amount to tens of thousands of Australians … are totally ignored. In contrast the actions and opinions of a few truckies, probably 80 in all, were awarded prominent coverage.
Maybe, just maybe, they don’t want their ‘protected’ readers to know of the growing groundswell of discontent towards their beloved leader.
Unless you are a reader of independent media or engage with social media … the chances are high that you would not have even known about the march.
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