"Journalism" invented the pile on, the public smear campaign, the rumours exaggerated as fact, the facts ignored, the appeals to primitive tribalism, racism and xenophobia, the invasions of privacy, all while claiming the status of a unique moral correctness.
Murdoch and the News Of The World didn't invent that kind of toxic business model. It has been a low bar for over a century. Ask Lindy Chamberlain. Ask anyone "of African appearance" in Melbourne, ask any Muslim, look at the front pages and editorial lines run by Murdoch.
Meanwhile, even as they claim unique moral correctness for their every action, some of them pursue and attempt to smear the un-elected spouse of a premier...
The contradictory 'wave or particle' nature of bourgeois social systems is highlighted by relationships with journalism. Without its power to demand answers, despotism thrives unchecked. Yet, as a business it prospers as an agency of social control, in cahoots with the regime.
Reporters defending the moral entitlement of reporters to an audience of other reporters is a signifier of a social phenomenon best defined as "elite over-production." In short, in our era, there is an over supply of this essentially homogeneous status group.
Journalism, the thing signified by the formal publication of reporting, is sustained by myth and folk legends. Woodstein and Bernwood meet Deep Throat and bring down a president. Lois Lane bravely faces peril in her dogged pursuit of Superman's real identity.
Reporting also claims it is all things to all people, and yet as perennially reported by journalism itself, the trade lacks the actual social and cultural diversity to be all that it claims. Despite claiming to speak up, it often speaks down.
"Diversity." A perennial concern. Frequently raised, but stubbornly unchanged. "When newsrooms are dominated by white people, they miss crucial facts..." Circa 2018 theguardian.com/world/commenti…
"...barriers faced by those from poorer backgrounds or minorities are getting higher." "Journalism's lack of diversity threatens its long-term future..." Circa 2016 theguardian.com/media/2016/aug…
"Whitewash on the box: how a lack of diversity on Australian television damages us all..." "75% of [TV] presenters, commentators and reporters are of Anglo-Celtic [and middle-class!] background." Circa 2020. theconversation.com/whitewash-on-t…
Meanwhile, Herald Sun reporter is advertising anti-lockdown rallies...
Despite pleas from authorities to maintain social distancing, a Channel 7 "reporter" aligns himself and his network with rule breakers and anti-maskers...Objectivity anyone? Is this an example of the much vaunted moral rectitude journalism wears on its sleeve?
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.