Category: Media monitoring

media distortion, Media monitoring

Crikey’s malicious attempt to discredit victim in Porter rape allegation

Crikey has published an appalling confection, promoted by others in the media, to cast doubt on the victim’s account and engender sympathy for alleged perpetrator Attorney-General Christian Porter, writes Dr Jennifer Wilson.

Crikey’s malicious attempt to discredit victim in Porter rape allegation
Media monitoring

Tony Abbott’s media monitoring: we have a message for him

Keeping an eye on social media (Photo: Alex Ellinghausen, image from smh.com.au)

The recent headline in The Sydney Morning Herald  – Abbott government spends up big on media monitoring – went on to tell its readers that:

Federal government departments are spending eye-watering sums to know what the public is thinking and what the media is saying about them . . .

Social media – in particular Facebook – was saturated with the story and subsequent howls of derision over such a costly and questionable exercise.

I disagree.

I want this government to spend as much time and money as it takes to monitor ‘what the public is thinking and what the media is saying about them’. They seriously need to know. They need to take a good look at what’s happening on social media – a long, hard look – where there are refreshingly honest opinions about how utterly incompetent, heartless and disgraceful they are (whereas no such critique exists in the mainstream media). They need to to look, listen, and learn. Thousands of social media users will tell them that this government is considered the closest thing to fascism seen in the free world, while personal attacks on Tony Abbott continue; notably suggestions that the man is a sociopath. While there certainly is no proof, it is understandable that such opinions exist given the behaviour of this government and its leader.

But if they do want to know what people outside the fluffy Murdoch media think, they can always start with this site.

Hundreds of articles have been published on The AIMN echoing what the public think of the worst government in Australia’s history – the Abbott government – and I’d l really appreciate that one or some of their minions take a look at us. Actually, I would implore them to. This site represents the political and social views of a large number of disgruntled Australians. Given the recent opinion polls and the noticeable stench of this woeful government, it would be safe to say we now represent the views of most Australians: ordinary people appalled by this mess, ordinary people appalled at seeing their country – to put it bluntly – go to crap.

However, to save them from rummaging through The AIMN (and similar sites), Facebook and Twitter I have compiled a summary of what I have found of them. I will address it to Tony Abbott personally.

Dear Tony Abbott,

Do you really want to know what the public is thinking of you and your government? After being heavily involved in social media since your election win I’ve come up with the following (based on thousands of comments I have read). This is what people are saying about you (with my own comments in italics):

  • You are a prime minister who displays breathtaking incompetence. The role of prime minister is far beyond you.
  • You are a prime minister who regularly embarrasses both yourself and your country on national and international stages.
  • You are a prime minister who shows more loyalty to the elite few ahead of the wider electorate.
  • You are a prime minister who has no interest in the opportunities of the future.
  • You are a prime minister who is out of touch with the majority of Australians.
  • You are an extreme radical.
  • You are a person who can’t sustain media and public scrutiny without ‘cracking’.
  • You are a habitual liar and back-flipper.
  • You are a  person who is totally out of touch with reality.
  • You lack direction.
  • You are a prime minister who not only ignores that we belong in a global community, but also want to remain isolationist.
  • You are a complete idiot who cannot make a public appearance without being stage managed.
  • You have lied about everything that Australian people value: the ABC, pensions, Medicare, our security etc etc. You have lost the peoples’ trust.
  • The cruelty of your policies know no bounds, and the economic incompetence is breathtaking.
  • I agree with all of the above but I certainly don’t agree with this one: some people would like harm to come to you. I personally wish no harm of you and I deplore seeing such comments. I also deplored the calls from far right-wing radicals to have Julia Gillard shot, dumped out to sea in a chaff bag, or those – including yourself – standing under signs screaming ‘ditch the witch’. In what context does ‘ditch’ mean? Something sinister, I imagine. You didn’t appear too concerned about these particular threats which leads me to believe this is behaviour you tolerate. So it may come as no surprise that daily people are posting comments wishing you the same. They hate you that much, yet they chose to follow your lead in displaying hate. Again, I deplore those behaviors from any political persuasion.
  • For a couple of years now people have questioned the nuances of your relationship with Peta Credlin and the power she may wield as a result. Personally, I really don’t care about your private life, but the power she wields is questioned not only on social media but the mainstream media as well.
  • The question of your apparent non-renouncement of your British citizenship is gaining momentum. Quite a storm has developed. We may never find out the answer, but the consensus among thousands of people is that if you are not legally entitled to hold an office in the Australian Parliament, then you should be disqualified from receiving the parliamentary pension based on your years of service. Come clean!
  • This will surprise you: most Labor voters want you to stay on as prime minister until the election because you are considered Labor’s best weapon. Conversely, many disgruntled Liberal voters want you removed forthwith. No matter what people want, they do not expect you to be in the job by the end of June.

Have you heard enough? I could go on – there is so much more. And I haven’t even started on your ministers yet. But at this stage I won’t: people are saying many of the same things about them too.