I should start with an apology to anyone who reads my contributions to this fine project for my absence over the last six weeks and beyond. Work simply erupted over this time and so opportunities to write for pleasure or interest were few. But now that I have some time I want to note a very interesting interview with Tanya Plibersek on the ABC’s Insiders programme. Ms. Plibersek’s reaction to the trained monkey interviewing her sets the tone for how the Labor party must behave toward the media moving forward.
Background: The Media and the 2022 Election Campaign
Anyone who has paid the slightest bit of attention to the media coverage around this election campaign would have noticed the unbridled bias the media has shown. Whether it is uncritically reporting government talking points or being quite openly hostile to Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese and his team, the media has let its true colour show, and that colour is blue. Lest you think this is merely partisan bellyaching, there is evidence to support this. A gander at the front pages of what passes for ‘newspapers’ in this country shows the COALition propaganda rags these papers have become.
This is also by no means restricted to the print media. The television networks are awful too. Whether it is channel 7 constantly bashing every policy Labor put out, and when Albanese and co responded by not putting policies out, accusing them of having no policy, or the ABC consistently cutting Mr Albanese off in his press conferences (technical glitch they said – once maybe, but on the regular?), the bias has been on full display.
Sidenote: The ABC
While bias in the media is to be expected, it is least forgivable in the ABC. Here is a national service that we all, regardless of our political affiliation, pay for. It is the National Broadcaster, not the Government Broadcaster. As one who advocates for a change of government at the forthcoming election, I would be mortified if the ABC turned on a dime and did propaganda for an Albanese government the way they do for the current government. Such action would not surprise me, and it would expose that the ABC knows where its bread is buttered, but I digress. The point is that the National Broadcaster has turned into a government propaganda network. Actually, strike that: based on current evidence, it is a liberal party propaganda network. Its bias against the Labor party is unforgivable. From Stokes, Costello and others I expect this (one is a former treasurer under the LNP ffs), but the ABC knows better.
It is truly remarkable to see a party that nominally represents half the country being treated like an insurgency against the legitimate government that must be stopped at all costs. Democracy is a cruel joke at this point.
Speer[s] Through The Heart: The Plibersek Interview
On this morning’s Insiders programme on the ABC, Shadow Education Minister Tanya Plibersek was interviewed, or more aptly interrogated, by host David Speers. For full context, we note that Speers used to work for Sky. The man is a clear example of ‘you can take the man out of Sky, but you cannot take the Sky out of the man’. I refuse to watch the interview (chiefly because I would throw something at the screen if I did), but the exchange that is making headlines is when Ms Plibersek said to Speers
Sorry, go on. I don’t want to interrupt you, David, please go on
Such was her response to what even news.com.au called ‘one of many interjections from ABC Insiders host David Speers during an interview’. When even news.com.au notes the excessive number of your interruptions, you have gone too far. But more to the point, Ms Plibersek has shown how you combat the media. Her snark, what one might even call sass, sets the tone for Labor’s media relations moving forward.
She combined the correct substance, calling that trained partisan monkey out on his journalistic malpractice, with not losing her temper. She put him in his place without raising her voice and it was brilliant.
This is The Future: Labor and The Media
Since the media has made its bias as clear as one would like, the model for Labor is equally as clear. You must fight back against the media and its hostility toward you. The media is, at the end of the day, run by humans. Humans do what they can get away with. If you show the media that their constant barrage of ‘gotcha questions’ and loaded questions will not be tolerated, they will soon change. Hell, you could even threaten their access if you were so inclined. But you have got to bring them into line and make them remember that the Fourth Estate is not meant to show its colours so brightly.
A useful example of getting around the media took place on Qand A, another ABC programme, earlier this week. Mr Albanese received a question about the NDIS, but his attempted response was effectively shut down due to Speers’ constant interruptions. Undeterred, Mr Albanese obtained the woman’s mobile phone number, called her and, after thanking her for her question, provided a detailed answer. A fine demonstration of getting around the media, its hostility and bias and talking directly to voters.
Conclusion: Sass to The Max
The hostility of the media, along with its total hypocrisy (deficits are now an issue again just in time for a Labor government) is hereby exposed. Your role, Mr Albanese and the Labor team, is to no longer take the crap that media dishes out. Scott Morrison has cowered the media through his screeching about bias when confronted with facts he does not like, and they are compliant lapdogs instead of the watchdogs they are meant to be.
Now, I am not suggesting that Mr. Albanese manipulate the press as his counterpart has done, but I do want him to say when confronted with some partisan BS question framed in some crap fashion
Nice gotcha question there. Does anyone have a serious question they would like to ask?
This is not hostile to the media broadly, but it does send the message ‘serious questions only, folks’. It will be necessary for Mr. Albanese to put the media in their place from the start, because if Labor is elected on May 21st, the media will commence Operation Restore Legitimate Government from May 22nd.
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