They’ll kick you, then they’ll beat you, then tell you government is unfair
BLESS the Greens’ view of the media. In the realm of inconsistency, nothing else can beat it.
Cry freedom! The ABC news website yesterday:
SENATOR (Christine) Milne accused the Coalition and Labor of eroding press freedom by backing the bill. “We are doing away with freedoms of the press that have been fought for a long period of time and have now been given away,” she said.
Greens senator Scott Ludlam repeatedly questioned if the Australian media would still be able to report on intelligence operations like the attempted phone tapping of the Indonesian president’s wife, or the Mohammed Haneef case. “By what means does the government believe that the potential criminalisation of national security reporting makes our country any safer?” Senator Ludlam asked. ... “We have quite a proud tradition of press freedom in this country, I would like to see a lot more of it, but from what we do know, protections for these people are absolutely essential.”
Cry a tad less freedom. AAP on November 30, 2012:
THE Australian Greens are pressing the case for greater media regulation in light of a report by the Leveson inquiry in the UK. ... “The overwhelming conclusion ... is that self-regulation is a dead duck,” Greens leader Christine Milne told reporters in Canberra on Friday, adding every powerful institution needed an oversight.
Cry freedom-ish. Tony Abbott on the ABC’s AM yesterday:
CHRIS Uhlmann: Now, you’ve spoken to Egypt’s leader about Peter Greste, the journalist that’s been held there for such a long time now. Can you tell us about that conversation?
Abbott: In broad terms yes, Chris. I’m not going to go into the detail of who said what to whom, but I think I can say that President el-Sisi is a reluctant jailer here. He wasn’t the president when Peter Greste and his colleagues were arrested. He does have to allow Egyptian legal process to run its course, but the impression I have of him is that he is a decent man of good values who appreciates that free, or at least free-ish speech, is very important even in Egypt.
The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times websites on Thursday:
ONE of the photographs run on this website, tablet and Fairfax papers in relation to the death of Numan Haider was published in error. The young man in a suit was not Mr Haider, and we unreservedly apologise to him for the error. The young man has no connection whatsoever with any extremist or terrorist group and we deeply regret any such inference arising from the publication of the of the photograph. The picture has been withdrawn from circulation.
And yesterday:
WE are reviewing and changing our internal processes to ensure such a mistake is not repeated.
SBS yesterday:
FAIRFAX Media used a Facebook image of Abubakar Alam on the front pages of three publications on Thursday, wrongly identifying him as the 18-year-old shot dead by counter-terror police in Melbourne. … Speaking to SBS Radio’s Pashto program, the Year 12 student said he was scared to leave the house after being incorrectly identified. “I’m really scared,” he said. “I can’t go anywhere. I haven’t been out all day. I can’t do work, I’ve cancelled my shift. I don’t know when I’ll be back at school and work. I’ve had such a good name as a student, as a worker … It’s a terrible thing to happen.” … Mr Alam said he is yet to hear anything personally from the publisher. “Sorry is just the start,” he said. Mr Alam said he was considering taking legal action.
The SMH’s carnival of wrong following the annual Ernie Awards. Jenna Price on Twitter yesterday:
GOODNESS @smh. Nothing compared to the wrong photo on page 1 but you’ve run last year’s Ernies copy. Mr Pyne will be sad.