Keeping it real
How the mainstream media gets my goat, a Eurovision mystery and radio for blokes.
I know, and I hope you know, that this newsletter is a niche offering. It’s not for everyone, and it’s not intended to be.
But one of those niche-y things I do is look at how (in my opinion) the mainstream media — newspapers and their online equivalents, plus radio and television stations — fail to connect with their audience.
I’ll start with what was a bugbear for me when I worked in newspapers, and it remains that way today.
The print media is full of stories about “movers and shakers” and “local celebrities” who nobody outside of a tight circle has ever heard of.
Back in the day, I used to push back, usually in vain, over the kilometres of newsprint devoted to “social” pictures of people who not only were of no interest to the readers but didn’t even buy the newspaper themselves. (To be fair, some of them received free copies.)
The prevailing opinion in the MSM still seems to be that ordinary people actually care about the activities of the monied classes and want the opportunity to applaud them when they do well. (Of course, as the “tall poppy” effect illustrates, the opposite is generally true.)
A related phenomenon is illustrated by the hard-hitting journalism promoted in a social-media tile for a Brisbane newspaper recently: “What your private school says about you.”
Breaking news: we didn’t all go to private school and very few adults still obsess about what happened when we were in short pants. We’ve grown up.
An extreme preoccupation with the old school tie might have once been a thing — and maybe it’s still a topic of discussion while the red wine is being decantered in the boardroom at big law and accounting firms. But real people don’t GAF.
While I’m in this mood, here are some other things that annoy me.
Crimes against English. These include, but are not limited to:
The use of “multiple”, “a number”, “up to” and other terms that are so vague as to be meaningless.
The confusion between its and it’s in print. It’s is a contraction of “it is”; its (like his or her) is the possessive form of a pronoun. It’s simple.
Using the word “allegedly” at random in police and court reports. Rule of thumb: it’s not an “alleged” crime, it’s a crime. What’s alleged is that a particular person, or group of people, committed the offence.
Writing or saying “rain event” when “rain” would suffice.
“Very unique”. Unique is a unique word that means “one of a kind”. There are no degrees of uniqueness.
Sport. I’ll keep it brief because I’ve said it before. There’s way too much to read, see and hear about people (mostly men) playing games, and it is way out of proportion to actual audience interest.
“Little America” Syndrome. Yes, Australians have adopted a lot of things from the United States, but we’ve rejected a lot too. Assuming we want our media American-style is as foolhardy as Starbucks was when it first entered the market here thinking it would soon become the dominant player. And yet so much of what we read, see on TV and hear on the radio lacks the authenticity that Aussies clearly demand.
Pumping up the tyres of hatred. I’d like to think that there is a special place in Media Hell (which I really hope is a place) for those who fan the flames of hatred for one segment of society under the guise of defending another. That just drives us all further apart.
Uncanny synchronicity of topics and thought on the opinion pages. When there is an overwhelming, steaming pile of sameness from the usual suspects, you have to suspect that they are all under marching orders (or just lazily pushing the buttons). Have they done “you can’t even wish someone a Merry Christmas anymore*” yet?
Euro-audio?
Former top-rating Breakfast host Spencer Howson has been filling in in his old shift on ABC Brisbane over the past two weeks and will be on air until Christmas Eve.
On today’s show, a caller said he had missed Howson’s coverage of Eurovision, noting that the usual hosts, Craig Zonca and Loretta Ryan, weren’t quite as obsessed with the singing competition as their predecessor.
Howson cryptically replied that he would have something to say about that on Tuesday. What could it be?
Eurovision will next be held in Basel, Switzerland in May 2025.
Point to ponder
On the subject of radio, perhaps somebody can explain what’s so “super” about a network that doesn’t feature one female face on its new webpage (or, presumably, voice on air.)
*Yes, you can.
Disclaimer: Brett Debritz once made a good living working for the media machine.