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Someone has well and truly lost the plot

That fine custodian of moral virtue, Piers Ackerman, is mostly known for his frothing-at-the-mouth appearances on ABC Insiders most Sunday mornings and as a journalist for The Australian and a couple of other magnificent Murdoch journals. The Australian, we are reminded, is the masthead of Murdoch’s media empire in our country. It espouses to be the pinnacle of decency in the Australian media landscape. I found this summary of its wonderfulness:

The Australian is this country’s leading news brand. The editorial values focus on leading and shaping public opinion on the issues that affect Australia, its residents and the Australian business environment. Led by a team of highly credible and experienced journalists, editorial themes cover economic, political and social issues.

Unparalleled national and international news and business sections are supplemented by indepth business to business sections such as; Australian IT (the largest newspaper IT section in the world), Higher Education, Media, Aviation, Thoroughbreds. As well, lifestyle, arts and sports sections balance the read for our independent thinking and influential readership.

The Australian brand is globally recognised as a leader in media innovation. The brand has evolved into a multi-platform offering for both its consumers and its advertisers by taking full advantage of the many techonologies available in the marketplace. From a refreshed, smart broadsheet layout to full gloss executive lifestyle magazines. From an up-to-date by the minute guide to news around the world via The Australian website to the fully interactive iPad application, online and iPad editions are refreshed throughout the day.

The Australian newspaper is published Monday to Friday.

A word from our Editor-in-Chief

The Australian was born in July 1964 as a bold venture in national journalism, vowing to provide “the impartial information and the independent thinking that are essential to the further advance of our country”.

Today, it retains that sense of adventure, covering the affairs of an island continent, with reporters across the country and foreign bureaus throughout the region and around the world. It is read by Australians from Broome to Burnie to Cooktown, and is published at six print sites around the country.

As the national broadsheet, our core areas are federal politics, international affairs, business, sport, the arts, technology and education. To do our job, we must stand above other sources of news and information.

We strive to be first with the big national stories. We aim for factual reporting and penetrating analysis. We seek to take our readers beyond the “spin” of the political, business and sport press release machinery.

Chris Mitchell

Keep this piece of propaganda in the back of your mind: to provide “the impartial information and the independent thinking that are essential to the further advance of our country”.

Two newspapers in The Australian’s stable are The Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, where Piers Ackerman is given the freedom to provide “the impartial information and the independent thinking that are essential to the further advance of our country”. They promote Piers as being:

… one of The Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph’s best-read columnists since 1993. One of the nation’s most respected journalists he has worked in New York, London, Washington and Los Angeles.

Well someone has well and truly lost the plot.

Here is Ackerman’s latest piece from The Australian, “Piers Akerman hits back at his critics following the ABC Insiders program”. I have highlighted those sections that do not to provide “the impartial information and the independent thinking that are essential to the further advance of our country”.

The chattering classes whipped themselves into a lather Sunday afternoon claiming that I raised questions about First Bloke Tim Mathieson’s sexuality on the ABC Insiders program that morning.

Rubbish. The ABC’s producers had conservative Perth shock jock Howard Sattler’s repugnant interview with Prime Minister Julia Gillard listed as an item for Insider host Barrie Cassidy’s discussion to open up the question of whether she had been exposed to sexism during her career.

Do the sneering Left and the Twitterati really believe that it is possible to discuss the Sattler interview without touching on its subject matter?

What seems to have enraged the Left-wing blogosphere is that I said the Parliamentary press gallery had been asking the same sort of questions when Gillard and Mathieson’s relationship first came to light as Sattler had raised last week.

That seems to have infuriated my fellow panellists, former Fairfax journalist Lenore Taylor, now writing for some Leftwing online site and my News Limited colleague Malcolm Farr, who with Cassidy denied ever hearing such a thing.

I have never made any suggestions Mathieson’s sexuality. I don’t deal in tawdry topics.

Mathieson is in fact a very good friend with one of my long-standing mates and over the past several years we have been scheduled to meet for a weekend lunch, with or without his Significant Other, but diary conflicts have prevented such a felicitous engagement.

Yet there is no greater rumour mill in the nation than the federal press gallery – which in recent weeks has been relentlessly asking (I shan’t say what because I don’t engage in rumour mongering).

As I said the Sattler interview was unacceptable, that should have signalled my view clearly.

Quite frankly, I can’t understand why the Left gets itself so wound up about sexuality and gender issues when it publicly preaches these matters are irrelevant.

That’s my position and always has been. What people do in private is up to them.

What angers me more than the phony outrage of the aged feminists and class-and-gender war warriors is that the Sattler interview was deemed worthy of comment when there are so many more pressing national issues.

Not least the fact that the Australian navy and customs ships are too busy ferrying illegal people smuggler boats to Christmas Island to pick up the drowned bodies of those who were unsuccessful in making Labor’s lethal voyage.

Or the fact that the Prince-in-waiting Kevin Rudd is equally to blame for Labor’s blow-out Budgets, waste and failed policies as Gillard, the woman most ALP MPs hope he rolls.

Outrage from the Left – don’t make me laugh. Campbell Newman and his immediate family were subjected to a barrage of falsehoods concocted by Labor during the recent election and some of those who endorsed the rubbish have now found refuge in the Prime Minister’s office, just as the phony race riot of Australia Day 2012 was concocted there.

As I said at the end of the show, addressing Gillard (who wasn’t watching), I intended no offense.

I meant it. Just as I now say I will never be intimidated by the baying of Labor’s politically correct lickspittles who were ever so silent when this government was trying to muzzle the news media during its current term.

I repeat, I don’t draw up Insiders’ agenda, the ABC did because a conservative shock jock had made a fool of himself and been sacked.

They ignored the offensive nature of the charge in their attempt to further gore their quarry.

Many of you will find nothing wrong with that. He is simply sharing his opinions, even though they don’t provide “the impartial information and the independent thinking that are essential to the further advance of our country”. I think, more than anything, he’s letting us know that he doesn’t like the Left or any class or group likely to fall into the Left category.

But he doesn’t leave it alone. His article was reproduced on The Telegraph under ‘Sexuality rubbish a tawdry affair’ where readers were offered the opportunity to debate the article with Piers himself. There one can see first hand that Ackerman has no intention of providing “the impartial information and the independent thinking that are essential to the further advance of our country”. I produce some examples below:

In response to:

Piers,
I believe your wife is a female…correct?  Well, does that make her a lesbian?  THINK !!….that’s if your narrow-minded, blinkered, one-eyed, right-wing extremist attitudes allow you to.

Ackerman wrote:

THIS must be the stupidest comment ever submitted, Chris. This is the sort of logic that brought the destruction of border protection, the installation of pink batts, the Budget surplus we never had and Gonski, you must be channeling the brains trust of the ALP.

I agree with Ackerman that it was a stupid comment, but don’t you just love how he turns it into some Labor bashing?

Someone wrote:

Did you ask Tony why his sister is gay? Did you ask Alan Jones whether he is gay? Are you gay? Never seen you with a woman and has never been discussed. Don’t care what you do or Alan Jones and rest of you so called commentators. When did journalists become commentators? Your a journalist. Come out to the country sometime and look at real people with real issues. and yes there are gays in the country maybe you will fit in. Wasn’t that personal maybe that’s what the PM thought?

Ackerman, quick to blame the Lefties responded with:

Being a homosexual or a heterosexual has never been a big deal with me, Bathurst, but it seems to excite the Lefties no end. I have always been interested in the issues the ABC would prefer not to deal with – such as Labor’s failure.

Ackerman, so far, hasn’t answered many comments but when he does the majority of them are used as a vehicle to provide “the impartial information and the independent thinking that are essential to the further advance of our country”, which in his opinion is to demean anyone on the Left that breathes. Here are more of his rants:

And as for your pathetic smear, go and get your shilling from the ALP, they run the only smear operation I am aware of.

Interesting, Andrea. The first woman in parliament was elected by conservatives. The first female office bearer was conservative. Elected and appointed on merit. People aren’t afraid of women. They don’t like Quota Queens though and they distrust Labor losers like Gillard, Kirner, Bligh and Lawrence. With good cause.

Carol – if Anne Summers is not an aged feminist, I am a carrot. I would have thought that applying age as a descriptor might have excused her peculiarly bilious form of feminism. If you suggest not, I guess mit is just pure nastiness on her part.

Mark, why wouldn’t everyone feel entitled to feel superior to those on the Left when the evidence of the Left’s disastrous policies and philosophies is abundantly evident.

So The Australian vows to provide “the impartial information and the independent thinking that are essential to the further advance of our country”. Yet they put Piers Ackerman to work on the farm. Goodness me, someone has well and truly lost the plot then.

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25 comments

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  1. Fed up

    Tune into Drum A rational man, who tries to understand. Sorry, once again missed the point.

    The PM did not use the so called gender card. PM did not accuse all men. PM said very little.

    The PM talks about women issues.

    Two or three sentences taken out of a long speech.

    Sorry, I do not feel sorry for men.

  2. Iain Macpherson

    Throthing at the mouth?
    Or is he known for frothing at the mouth?

  3. Karen Lagalla

    Piers is a dickhead anyway an over inflated nobody, and he is as bigoted and ill mannered as the next one. They’d eat their Mother given half a chance. I watched the show and I think he was put firmly back in his box and didn’t like it one bit. Go to your room Piers LOL

  4. rossleighbrisbane

    Context is everything. Yes there is nothing wrong with being gay. Neither is there anything wrong with being a woman. But if you call someone a “woman” it may be reasonable for the person to take offence. I can’t call, for example, an AFL footballer a woman and argue that there’s nothing wrong with being a woman, so I don’t see why everyone is calling me sexist.
    Similarly, asking if someone’s partner is gay is just bad manners for a whole range of reasons none of which have anything to do with homophobia.

  5. Fed up

    Appears now, the PM is using Gonski as a diversionary tactic.

  6. Michael Taylor

    Thanks Iain. All fixed. He is back to frothing.

  7. Monicas wckd stpmthr (@Monicas_WS)

    Writers for the Australian are only allowed to think independently if they are thinking exactly what their boss, Rupert Murdoch, is thinking.

  8. alan workman

    akerman couldnt lose the plot, he never had it in the first place

  9. Colin Thai

    Well it never stops, The idiot radio guy in the West, Jones, and Piers Ackerwoman, will they grow up, I don’t think so. There is no sense in all their rhetoric, I reckon I could have a better conversation with a duck on the lake, they have all ran out of ideas. Such utter garbling out of their mouths. And the thing that hurts me the most they are getting paid, I’m off now to the lake and give the duck a proposal of working in the media, me his manager, I only want 5%. thanking you for my time…..

  10. J.Fraser

    akerman could be working for Murdoch until they put him in the ground with prose like that.

    Murdoch probably didn’t need his viagra after reading it.

    Apparently there is still smoke surrounding newman.

  11. Bill Morris

    What about this ………

    “The Australian is this country’s leading news brand. The editorial values focus on leading and shaping public opinion on the issues that affect Australia, its residents and the Australian business environment.”

    Where does The Australian i.e. Murdoch, get the right to:

    Lead and Shape Public opinion.

    And the Australian business environment.

    Murdoch thinks he has the right to manipulate society and the business world to suit his own purpose and values. Murdoch’s values ????????

  12. wantok

    The sad thing is that the ABC feel that they need to accommodate people Like Akerman for ‘balance’ but the guy is not balanced he’s so far to the Right that he can’t contribute sensibly to a balanced discussion without his deep prejudices coming to the surface.
    Malcolm Farr (News Ltd) and Lenore Taylor (Guardian Australia) are balanced and objective and their contribution on Sunday was informative and considered.
    In particular, Lenore made a telling observation in final comments, that whilst all this hoopla was going on about Ms Gillard’s partner, the coalition are still not delivering any policies for the electorate to evaluate prior to the election.

  13. Fed up

    Poor Lenore had to sit on the same seat as him, Better when he is isolated from them. That woman is gong to deck him one day,

  14. Fed up

    They also pay them. I find something wrong, in paying people to spread their own propaganda,

  15. Heather

    I like your viewpoint Michael, but I couldn’t stomach reading Piers’ comments after the first two or three. Too much for this ageing feminist.
    What a complete nutbag arsehat you are Piers.

  16. Michael Taylor

    Agree, Heather. Reading his columns is like slitting your own wrists.

  17. doctorrob54

    Akerman is an obese,dickless ignoramus employed by the Murdoch press to promote Lib.agenda with the nod to perform any way he chooses.Since with the Telegragh he has never performed any journalistic work,All he is capable of is to sit on his arse and print as many derogatory articles about the left that he can fabricate.There is much more I could write about this degenerate but he is not worth my time.

  18. CMMC

    Is he actually still alive, or is someone just manipulating a corpse, in the manner of “Weekend at Bernies” .

    That tepid mound of grey flesh.

  19. Truth Seeker

    I don’t know how they can get away with lying like that about a publication which has been the LNP daily rag (and I do mean RAG) since its inception.

    And Piss Aker.. whatever, is a vile old piece of excrement that should not be allowed anywhere near a computer, much less a TV camera :mrgreen:

    Thanks silkworm, just signed it 😀

    Cheers 😀

  20. xiaoecho

    When are these outdated dinosaurs going to become extinct? They’re wrecking the joint.

  21. Dennis Ball

    Nothing this tosser says is worth listehing to. He is a waste of skin.

  22. Dennis Ball

    *listening

  23. Roswell

    Well he certainly has a lot of it. Skin, that is.

  24. Ricky Pann

    Have another line… never trust a coke addict..full of bullshit and bravado

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