Gerard Henderson regularly and rightly criticises the ABC. A “staff collective” he calls it, which has not one single conservative commentator presenting a prominent show. I can’t speak first hand these days. I neither watch nor listen to the ABC. I suppose episodes of Four Corners, e.g., on the Trump “Russian collusion”, the 7.30 report and that awful Q&A eventually wore me to the point of throwing up. I forget which program the ABC used to reach a new low of propagating the traitorous lie that Australian navy personnel tortured asylum seekers. Probably the so-called “News.” At my gym, I also found that the ABC weather report frequently became a vehicle for climate change alarmism. Then, of course, the ABC outdid itself with Covid hysteria.
I reflected. Is the ABC an outlier? Could the ABC exist in its present form as an island of anti-Christian, national self-loathing, green-leftism, among a sea of otherwise objective commonsensical news media? Well, I don’t think it could. Its audience would dwindle still further to nothing much at all. In fact, overwhelmingly, I think, the mainstream media in Australia is on the ABC’s side of the fence. They not all as far left of the fence but they are on that side.
Now I am not au fait with all of the media, so I stand ready to be corrected. But I get the sense that all of the free to air TV channels are woke / left / green. I suppose there is a conservative shock jock or two around on the radio, but they have little influence. I read the Australian newspaper but cancelled my online subscription in 2016 because of its anti-Trump tirades.
It has a few good writers. Steve Waterson was magnificent on Covid but he was among Covid bedwetters like Greg Sheridan. On climate change, the Australian was an early adopter of a price on carbon (dioxide). It seems to me that it always strikes a milquetoast stance even when it is trying to be right of centre. Mealy-mouthed at best. What is the editor’s view on the Voice? Who knows? Which mainstream outlet has come out forthrightly objecting to the racist Voice on principal?
Sky News offers something. Andrew Bolt is usually good value on climate change and on the mythical stolen generations but he goes to water on too many matters. Covid was one. Trump another. The bellicose-by-proxy support of Ukraine is irritating, if you are in search of objectivity. Chris Kenny is good on climate and I think was good on Covid, but his illogical support of the Voice is mystifying. Rowan Dean is good of course. But the other evening I turned off Sharri Markson, who with some ex-political apparatchik gave an impression by innuendo that Kathleen Folbigg, who has suffered so much, might have done it. I complained. Have received no reply. I thought this is exactly like the ABC. Stooping to malign someone without evidence or just cause. It’s exactly the feral atmosphere which allows the tendentious ABC to survive and not stand out too much.
My point. Nothing can be done about the ABC. Can something be done about the rest of the media or at least a substantial part of it. I doubt that too. But railing about the ABC is pointless. It is simply a prominent jackal in the pack.
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