Australian Press Council tippy toes around climate change "theories or predictions"

The Australian Press Council found a Crikey journalist should not have used the word “hoodwinked”, rejected the remainder of John McLean’s complaint and, then carefully moved on tip toes around the subject of global warming and climate change. Presumably in the hope that Tony Abbott and Andrew Bolt’s winged monkeys would not descend in angry hoardes.

Adjudication 1618: John McLean/Crikey (November 2014)

The Press Council has considered a complaint about an article by Elaine McKewon headed “Big Oil-backed climate denier who hoodwinked Fairfax” on the Crikey website on 13 January 2014.
The article described John McLean, the author of an article published in Fairfax newspapers, as being “misinformed”, “falsely presented as an expert on climate science”, “not affiliated with any university”, and having “no verifiable qualifications in the field of climate science” or “standing or expertise in climate science”. It also said he was a member of the ICSC which was a body aimed at “discrediting authoritative science on climate change” and had funding links to the oil company Exxon.
Mr McLean said the claims about his lack of standing and expertise were inaccurate and unfair. He denied deceiving the newspapers about his expertise and said that, in any event, they were under no obligation to publish only the opinions of climate science experts. He especially criticised the word “hoodwinked” in the article’s headline. He also complained that the statements about his links with the ICSC and its funding were inaccurate and unfair.
The Council considered that the word “hoodwinked” in the headline could reasonably be read as implying that Mr McLean had actively deceived the newspapers and readers. As no reasonable basis for that implication had been provided to the Council, this aspect of the complaint was upheld.
Mr McLean’s claims to standing and expertise, however, were not of sufficiently compelling force to establish misrepresentation or suppression by Ms McKewon in that respect. The same applied to his criticisms of her references to the ICSC and its funding. Accordingly, these aspects of the complaint were not upheld.  But it was emphasised that this conclusion did not amount to a finding that her claims were necessarily correct. It also did not involve an endorsement or rejection of any particular theories or predictions about climate change warming and related issues.

The media narrative concerning the Member for Warringah, Tony Abbott, finally shifts markedly towards reality - Part Two

It has only taken seven long years for mainstream media to cease evaluating Liberal Party federal politician Tony Abbott MHR solely on his own terms and start to examine him through an unclouded lens.

Now that the flood gates have opened and a rising storm surge is threatening to founder Merchant Vessel Abbott, Liberal Party insiders are spilling the beans to journalists…….

Herald Sun 7 December 2014:

But what voters would no doubt like the Abbott Government to do over Christmas is stop talking about themselves and start governing. The Government itself needs to take a big, long break over summer and turn off their mobile phones because they are tired and behaving somewhat like my toddler when she starts screaming in the back seat of the car about five minutes before she passes out fast asleep. The Abbott Government needs a nap.

The Sydney Morning Herald 7 December 2014:

A funny thing happens when governments start to panic.

All of a sudden, the language becomes clearer.

Has any government press release, any speech, any happy ministerial aphorism ever carried, for instance, the same urgent fluency as was exhibited last week in the disclosure that Treasurer Joe Hockey had "gone off his tits" about his colleagues' extravagant mangling of the GP co-payment debate?

It's a crude expression, of course. On just about every level (semiotic, rhetorical, anatomical) it's just wrong, wrong, wrong.

And yet, there was a pungency to the line (delivered by a nameless Coalition squealer) that was something of a relief, particularly when juxtaposed against the Prime Minister's cheery assertion, before a room of his stricken colleagues, that "this has been a year rich in performance".

Brisbane Times 6 December 2014:

The Coalition is "not a happy family" and there is a "shitload of room for improvement" say government MPs, who confess to being in the dark regarding the future of the government's controversial GP co-payment and a mooted cabinet re-shuffle, because those decisions are centralised to the Prime Minister's office.

"We are not all a happy family ... you're going to have to ask people outside the backbench what's happening with any of the policy decisions, because there is very little inclusion," said one disgruntled backbencher.

"We usually read about it in the papers. Is there resentment? Of course there is."……

A wide survey of Coalition MPs by Fairfax Media revealed a mixture of anger, disappointment and loyalty in response to questions about the recent outbreak of grumbling among government members, with Treasurer Joe Hockey a particular target……

As for a Cabinet re-shuffle, "it's really Tony and Peta's decision, there's no point pretending otherwise", the MP said, referring to the Prime Minister and his chief of staff Peta Credlin, who has been criticised for a perceived excess of power within the government.

The Age 6 December 2014:

The Treasurer Joe Hockey has acknowledged ministerial unrest about budget measures as he added fuel to perceptions of disarray surrounding the Abbott government's failure to receive support for its reform agenda.

Mr Hockey has become a lightning rod for internal dissatisfaction due to stalled budget measures and a deteriorating deficit, with calls internally for him to be replaced.

On the final day of Parliament for the year, Mr Hockey attempted to address party-room mutterings arising from a series of political errors and what some say is excessive control by the Prime Minister's Office.

The fractious mood follows a messy final two weeks of the parliamentary year dominated by confusion over the $7 GP co-payment - dubbed the "barnacle debacle" - controversies in the office of the Minister for Defence, David Johnston, and new tensions between Mr Abbott and his deputy leader and Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop….

For his part, Mr Hockey has confirmed the unrest inside government ranks by publicly pointing the finger at ministerial colleagues angry about having to find savings in their portfolios.

"Look, this is part and parcel of being Treasurer. When you have conversations with your colleagues about asking them to live within their means, in their portfolios, some of them don't like it but we have got to do what is right for the Australian people," he said.

"I know it's hard for people. I know it's hard for the community. I know it's hard for colleagues but we have to do what is right."

The Treasurer said it was up to the other members of the Abbott government, not just him, to do the hard work in selling the budget to the public.

But the mood for change has gripped some inside the Coalition who are looking to Communications Minister and former Liberal leader  Malcolm Turnbull to be installed as treasurer.

"The jungle drums are beating," said one longstanding Liberal, who warned frustrations could come to a head in the early months of 2015…..

The Australian 6 December 2014:

Tony Abbott risks becoming a one-term prime minister unless he lifts the Government’s fortunes, with Labor opening up a 10-point lead — 55:45 — on a two-party preferred basis.

After a week of confusion over the $7 GP fee and Mr Abbott admitting the Government had a “ragged’’ week, support has plunged.

For the first time, Labor leader Bill Shorten has passed the Coalition on the primary vote since the election of the Abbott Government.

Support for Labor is 41 per cent on primaries.

An exclusive Galaxy poll commissioned by the Sunday Herald Sun has revealed that primary support for the Government has plunged to 38 per cent. That represents a 7.5 per cent drop since the 2013 election when Mr Abbott secured 45.5 of the primary vote.

Primary support for Labor has hit 41 per cent compared to just 33.4 per cent under Kevin Rudd at the last federal election.

“In Victoria, support for the Coalition is below the vote achieved by the Napthine government at the state election last weekend,” Galaxy pollster David Briggs said. “Given that the Coalition lost government in Victoria after just one term in office, this suggests that a similar fate could await the Abbott Government unless voters see a notable improvement in their performance.’’

The Australian 6 December 2014:

A CAMPAIGN to destabilise Joe Hockey has been undermined by revelations that Tony Abbott’s ­office made a crucial decision to delay telling voters about the full extent of the nation’s financial problems.

The government’s budget sales job was weakened from the start because Mr Abbott and his ministers argued over when to reveal the grim scenarios outlined in the National Commission of Audit, forcing a delay that wrecked their message.

The Prime Minister’s office ­insisted on shelving a sweeping budget review for 10 weeks when the Treasurer and other ministers wanted to provoke a national ­debate on the need for deep cuts to government spending.

The Weekend Australian has confirmed that Mr Abbott’s advisers were so concerned about the explosive ideas from the commission of audit that they considered suppressing the report until budget day. The issue goes to the heart of the dispute over the government’s economic message as critics blame Mr Hockey for failing to persuade the electorate to accept cuts to benefits, changes to pensions and increases in petrol excise.

The nation heard another dire warning yesterday when Martin Parkinson, in his final speech as Treasury secretary, predicted a “decade of deficits” and a hit to ­living standards if Australia did not tackle the structural problems in the budget.

Mr Abbott stood by Mr ­Hockey yesterday in the wake of claims that backbench MPs wanted Malcolm Turnbull installed as treasurer, a rumour that illustrated the blame game within the government over its stumbles…..

The Australian 6 December 2014:

POLITICIANS give the game away when they do something they don’t want to do.

Lip service and conceding on principle is stock in trade but to force yourself into a major step that deep down you don’t even want to contemplate is a sign that you’ve recognised there’s a problem.

A real problem that won’t go away by wishing and hoping.

Tony Abbott is there now.

He will have a reshuffle before Parliament resumes in the first week of February next year, probably as soon as practical after the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption hands down a report which will include at least commentary on the behaviour of stood aside assistant treasurer Arthur Sinodinos.

Abbott told 7.30 host Leigh Sales on Thursday he thought a reshuffle would happen between now and the election, due in late 2016.

“But this is a good front bench,” said Abbott.

“Scott Morrison has stopped the boats. Everyone thought that couldn’t be done.

“Julie Bishop has had a stellar year as Foreign Minister, remarkable performance at the Security Council.

 “Mathias Cormann has been an outstanding Finance minister, done magnificent work, unsung work negotiating with the cross bench in the Senate.

 “I could go through the list. Joe Hockey has been criticised lately, but I tell you what, I think Joe is going to be one of the great treasurers because he’s someone who bounces back and that’s what he’s doing now.”

In coded political language these are the people whose jobs are rock solid — and you can add Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss to this list (current health woes notwithstanding), Employment Minister Eric Abetz and Attorney General George Brandis.

Abbott is not going to touch his leadership group — and there is no way he will contemplate the calls to dump Treasurer Hockey.

In fact, the harder those calling for his removal — believed in Abbott’s office to be a mix of Scott Morrison supporters and News Corp executives — make their voices heard the more the PM will dig in behind his friend and colleague.

Beyond this all bets are off and the PM and his close advisers — ministerial, staff and extra-curricular — are considering not if or when but what.

 “Even if Arthur gets a rap over he knuckles for not knowing what was going on (when he was chairman of a water supply company involved in dirty deal and a senior official of the NSW Liberal Party, which took money from the water company), he can’t return as the guy who oversees corporate governance,” says one insider with close ties to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

“(Defence Minister) David Johnson won’t be punted but he will with ask for a new portfolio or make the ultimate sacrifice and go to the back bench, maybe on the promise of a job.

“(Health Minister Peter) Dutton has to be high on the list of candidates for a move, as will be (social security minister) Kevin Andrews.”

Any list of newcomers has to have a women at the top and the female junior minister looking like Cabinet material is NSW Liberal Susan Ley who has done a good job handling child care and related policy areas.

This reshuffle should be the reboot Abbott talked about but never quite achieved this week.

The last week of Parliament was another bad one for the Abbott Government which has had trouble matching what has been a reasonable year of some achievement with any recognition in the polls or a lasting perception of competence.

Abbott’s “small m and small c” mea culpa news conference at the beginning of the week was soon swamped by Education Minister Christopher Pyne’s messy failure to get his higher education reforms through the Senate and the final political death sentence for Dutton’s $7 Medicare copayment.

Government MPs met in a sullen mood, with the memory of the weekend election loss for the Liberal Nationals government in Victoria fresh in their minds and new poll showing Abbott is as unpopular as ever and the federal Coalition remaining in a persistent losing position.

Abbott’s failure to communicate had been put up in lights that morning — against a backdrop of actual blinking Christmas tree baubles — when he had a chat with Channel 9 breakfast host — and some time Abbott pal — Karl Stefanovic. ”Are you worried you might be a one term wonder?” and “No one is buying what you’re saying is the point” were the two sharpest Stefanovic lines.

Abbott looked stung and weak.

By the end of the week Abbott was even contemplating his political mortality, answering head on a question from the ABC’s Sales about stepping down as PM, if the polls wee still diabolical later next year.

“Well, that’s a fair question, Leigh. But I think one of the fundamental lessons of the last catastrophic (Labor) government was that you don’t change leaders lightly,” said Abbott.

Abbott has told a few malcontents that if they weren’t happy with him the alternative was Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

This is a straw man because while Turnbull would live the circumstances to turn his way they are unlikely to do so in this term of government.

Abbott’s observation also overlooks two very willing and credible options — Immigration Minister Scott Morrison and his deputy Julie Bishop.

In their own way they are seriously selling their talents to their colleagues and if the proverbial bus hit Abbott it would be a willing and close contest…..

“Elections are harder to predict and electorates will not indulge incumbents with a second term.”

Decoded, the MP is saying the only way to be in the hunt for a second term is to earn it.

This is the other lesson Abbott needs to accept and digest. He has not shown too many signs he gets it yet. At his 45 minute, longest in years, Monday press conference, Abbott said if the government communicated better the public would be more appreciative they had been so far, prompting some people to think the PM felt his plight was in part [t]he fault of the voters.

Asked about this, Abbott says no one likes being told they are living beyond their means before using the analogy of a bank cutting a person’s credit card limit.

It appears it is more deep seated that this. A new mood of the nation report by pollster John Scales is being released this weekend and it shows the public only really buys one achievement of the Abbott Government and that’s stopping the asylum seeker boats.

Apparently the political credit for that is diminishing the longer the time without an arrival — voters have pocketed the win and are looking for something else.

Scales also reports the government has not had any credit for repealing the disliked Labor mining and carbon taxes — this was expected and there’s no prize for it — and has comprehensively lost the budgetary and economic debate.

The Daily Telegraph 5 December 2014:

EARLY last year, Joe Hockey pledged “We’ll deliver a surplus in our first year and every year after that.”

For the eighth time, he committed that an incoming Coalition government would never preside over a budget in deficit. Every Coalition budget, Mr Hockey pledged, would be a surplus budget.

Fast forward a year, and the only thing in surplus is red ink. When the Coalition came to office, the Charter of Budget Honesty laid out the state of the books. This year’s budget deficit was forecast to be $24 billion.

So much for paying down debt. By the time Mr Hockey had delivered his first budget, he’d pushed this year’s deficit up to $30 billion. Now, most informed sources have it blowing out still further when the Mini-Budget is released in a few weeks.

Why is the deficit rising? Part of the answer is that Mr Hockey can’t resist looking after his mates. A billion dollars to multinationals, a tax break for people with more than $2 million in their superannuation accounts, and soon you’re talking real money.

Mr Hockey was fond of saying in Opposition that there was “no revenue problem”, but he sure seems to have created one since coming to office.

To make up the gap, Mr Hockey proposes cutting one in every five dollars of per-student university funding, and has already slashed needs-based school funding to states and territories. The result is that Australia’s meritocracy risks being turned into a mate-ocracy.

And then there’s confidence. Before the election, Mr Hockey said that the election of a Coalition government would be an ‘adrenaline charge’. He proudly said of the economy: ‘I’m not afraid to accept responsibility and I’m not afraid to be accountable. We will own it from day one.’

Instead, over the past year the government has produced more tantrums than a day-care centre at naptime — blaming the Opposition for opposing, the media for reporting instead of cheerleading, and the business community for failing to sell his budget.

The result has been a significant hit to confidence. Whether it’s the ANZ Roy Morgan consumer sentiment survey, the NAB Business Survey or the Australian Industry Group’s September Performance of Services Index, there’s consistent evidence that consumers and businesses are feeling sluggish.

Having a Treasurer trash-talking the economy is one reason why the promised economic adrenaline charge is turning out to be more like a dose of Valium.

The other is that this government’s regressive changes are directly cutting into consumer spending. Poorer Australians spend all their incomes, while the more affluent save about a quarter. So transferring money from the poor to the rich doesn’t just offend egalitarianism; it also hurts spending. If you’re a retailer, the last thing you need is a government that’s Robin Hood in reverse, particularly in the lead up to the busy Christmas period.

The Courier Mail 5 December 2014:

IMMIGRATION Minister Scott Morrison had a big win late on Thursday night, gaining enough crossbench support to ensure the Senate passed changes to asylum seeker laws, including measures to bolster the Government’s power to turn back boats.

He had been working flat-out for more than a week to get the numbers, at one stage even pursuing Clive Palmer to a function at the US embassy to continue the arm-twisting that eventually got Palmer United Party senators on side.

That Senate success was a rare high point for the Abbott Government in what was a shambolic end to a shambolic parliamentary year.

Yet just hours later, when yesterday’s edition of Sydney’s Daily Telegraph hit the streets with a front-page report on suggestions Joe Hockey could be dumped as Treasurer, some of his Liberal colleagues were pointing the finger at Morrison as a likely source.

“For God’s sake, Scott’s been virtually living with crossbenchers all week,” said a Morrison defender. “He had a merciless focus on getting this legislation through. When would he have had the time to dump on Joe?”

Other Liberals had different suspicions about the exclusive by journalist Simon Benson.

Benson is well connected and one of his most important connections is in the Prime Minister’s office. Because of that, according to a senior Liberal MP, “people will not assume it has been written lightly”. Another source says: “Directing attention at Joe could be an attempt to give some cover to the PM. He’s the one who’s been stuffing up lately.”

No matter who spoke to Benson or what was their motivation, the importance of the incident lies in the disunity and paranoia it exposes and the lack of trust at the highest levels of the Government…..

The Australian 5 December 2014:

THERE is a moment in the 2004 remake of The Stepford Wives when a smart, successful TV producer, played by Nicole Kidman, learns the truth about how her town’s evil mastermind, played by Christopher Walken, turns women into obedient housewives. “We help you. We perfect you,” says Walken. Kidman is aghast. “By turning us into robots?”

You can see why this movie came to mind when Coalition MPs gathered to hear from Tony Abbott on Tuesday. The Prime Minister’s message was that the year had been “rich in performance” and full of achievement. Nobody spoke to break the spell.

“Nobody wants to say what they’re thinking,” says one MP. “Everybody just had to sit there and clap.” The government’s achievements are real but its failures loom so large they overshadow all else. Abbott’s great political successes, like the repeal of the carbon tax, seem long ago.

The fumbling of major policies recently has been astonishing for a government that had such control earlier this year. The change has dismayed Coalition MPs, who have the hard task of explaining away their leaders’ clumsiness.

Abbott and his ministers are slow to confront the challenge they face. The Prime Minister talks of “achievement” at every opportunity even though it has become the trigger word for Labor MPs to respond with canned laughter.

Joe Hockey offers a tentative response to a dangerous slowdown in growth and a descent into bigger budget deficits.

The budget update the week after next will be the government’s opportunity to face up to its maladies. The $48.5 billion deficit last financial year — that is the final outcome, not a tricky forecast — will be followed by a deficit of about $40bn this year…..

The Guardian 5 December 2014:

Senior sources suggest blaming Hockey is a way to deflect criticism from the performance of Abbott himself as possible alternative future contenders, such as the foreign minister, Julie Bishop, are obviously raising their public profile.
When asked whether he would ever consider standing aside Abbott says no, because “the worst thing for Australia would be to have another unstable, short-term government.”
But based on its current performance and polling, that is exactly what the Abbott government appears to be.

The Age 4 December 2014:

Tony Abbott must already rue the decision to send Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb to Lima to hold Julie Bishop's hand in international climate change talks next week.

It is poor judgment in an area of policy in which Abbott has too often shown feet of clay and policy myopia.

It may well have longer-term implications for the Abbott-Bishop relationship and therefore the stability of his government.

The deputy Liberal leader and Foreign Minister reportedly did her nut - or went bananas - in Abbott's office after Fairfax Media reported the inclusion of her unofficial chaperone. This aspect has.

But whether it was a heated confrontation or a calm exchange, the meeting apparently took place and that alone reveals Bishop's nose was out of joint over what would inevitably be seen as a reflection on her abilities and/or her trustworthiness.

It is being surmised that the PM wanted the sceptical Robb along for the ride because the flinty negotiator is less likely to be swept up in growing international momentum towards tougher emissions targets.

Abbott was initially going to let the Lima conference slide by with no ministerial representation.

But having witnessed the partial hijacking of the G20 on climate grounds, and having read Abbott's post summit comments as portending a more progressive stance into the future, Bishop counselled in favour of Australia's top-level participation. Namely, her own, as the minister charged with such international negotiating responsibilities.

Abbott agreed but with one condition: Robb too. Both ministers were advised in writing by the PM last Thursday. 

Robb's performance stitching up three complex free trade deals has been one of the government's success stories. His effectiveness in international negotiations is now a given.

But Bishop has been the undisputed stand-out minister in this government - especially if popularity means anything, as it should to this mostly unloved administration.

The idea that the Foreign Minister might not enjoy the unqualified support of the PM is a serious one. Grave even. Just weeks ago she was good enough to chair the UN Security Council. Before that, she successfully wrangled the same notoriously riven body to unanimously adopt a tough resolution on MH17.

ABC The World Today 8 December 2014:

The Prime Minister says his government has kept the faith with voters, and he won't apologise for misleading them before the last election on policies like the GP co-payment and higher education changes.

The Sydney Morning Herald 9 December 2014:

Treasurer Joe Hockey woke last week to an unwelcome invitation from the government's most ardent supporter in the media, The Australian. Hand over to Malcolm Turnbull if you are "not hungry enough" for the job, the newspaper editorialised.

How things have changed since budget day 2014, just over six months ago.

Part One here.

Rupert Murdoch not squatting as securely on top of the News Corp dung heap?

The number of News Corp shareholders who do not unconditionally ‘love’ Rupert Murdoch appears to be growing if the 14 November 2014 statement to the United States Securities And Exchange Commission is any indication.

An estimated 31.30% of all eligible voters (or around 7 million more voters than last year) didn’t want Rupert Murdoch on the board of the company he inherited from his father, while 31.17% and 33.05% respectively didn’t want his sons Lachlan and James as directors either.

An estimated 46.05% of all eligible voters supported the dismantling of the dual class capital structure which reportedly gives Murdoch interests 39% of the company votes although his family owns about 15% of the equity.

* Broker Non Votes are: shares are held in a brokerage account, your broker is obligated to vote your shares as instructed by you. If you don’t give voting instructions to your broker, your broker’s ability to vote your shares depends on whether the item is “routine” or “non-routine.” The New York Stock Exchange decides whether an item is “routine” or “non-routine.”

Under the New York Stock Exchange rules, brokers may vote on “routine” items in their discretion on behalf of any customers who do not furnish voting instructions within 10 days of the annual meeting. With respect to “non-routine” items that come before the annual meeting for a vote, brokers would not be able to vote at all without first receiving voting instructions from their customers.

A broker “non-vote” occurs when the broker does not vote on a proposal because it is a non-routine item and the broker’s customer has not provided voting instructions. These broker “non-votes” would not be considered in the calculation of the majority of the votes cast and therefore would have no effect on the vote with respect to a non-routine item. [New York Stock Exchange]

** Dual Class Stock is: the issuing of various types of shares by a single company. A dual class stock structure can consist of stocks such as Class A and Class B shares, and where the different classes have distinct voting rights and dividend payments. Two share classes are typically issued: one share class is offered to the general public, and the other is offered to company founders, executives and family. The class offered to the general public has limited voting rights, while the class available to founders and executives has more voting power and often provides a majority control of the company.[Investopedia]

I do wish journalists would look at methodology before quoting surveys

The Sydney Morning Herald on 29 October 2014 published an article containing this statement:

The level of trust in the Abbott government has soared in three months as public attention shifts from the budget to a heightened sense of nationalism in the context of national security, a new survey indicates. 

In the middle of the year only 26 per cent of people thought the federal government could be trusted to do the right thing for the Australian people.

At the end of October the figure had climbed to 36 per cent - the highest level of trust in the federal government recorded since 2009 by the Mapping Social Cohesion survey. 

What the journalist failed to note about this survey was that:

The target for the project was to achieve n=1000 completed questionnaire with respondents aged 18 and over, who were born in Australia and whose parents were both born in Australia.

Now the 2011 national census revealed that almost a quarter (24.6 per cent) of Australia's estimated population of 21.5 million people were born overseas, 43.1 per cent of the population (or 9.2 million people) had at least one overseas-born parent and 15 per cent did not have citizenship. Approximately 84.5 per cent of the population at that time would have been 18 years of age and over.

What this indicates is that the Mapping Social Cohesion survey did not include the possibility of canvassing the opinions of large section of the Australian community.

Even living in regional New South Wales as I do, it would exclude a good many voters in the town in which I live.

All of which changes the weight readers might have given to this newspaper article if they had realized the demographic limitations it contained.

NSW Politics: who owns you, pretty baby*

You are a politician facing a state re-election campaign in five months time.

Your political party has just been through a gruelling time at a corruption inquiry.

A powerful multinational media corporation operates in Australia. 

It has a proven track record for corruptly making payments to police and government employees for information, for unlawfully hacking phones and voicemails to obtain material for news stories and gossip columns - with an editor and one of its former journalists gaoled, as well as multiple other employees arrested for their involvement in these activities.

This media corporation asks you to appear in an advertisement for its newspapers.

Do you say yes or no?

Well if you are NSW Premier Mike Baird you say - Yes!

And this is the result.............

http://youtu.be/3EkZR9f9mvU

I spoke with the Premier's office on 17 October 2014 and a staffer confirmed that it actually was him in the advertisement, but could not say if he had received payment for his appearance.

It would seem that along with Prime Minister Abbott, Mike Baird has decided that being joined at the hip to U.S. media mogul Rupert Murdoch is a good political move.

* With sincere apologies to The Four Seasons for mangling their lyrics.

Standard and Poor's has downgraded APN News & Media's debt credit rating

An interesting snippet from the AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER HISTORY GROUP NEWSLETTER No. 79 October 2014:

79.3.4 APN (2): Rating downgraded

Ratings agency Standard and Poor’s has downgraded APN News & Media’s debt credit rating after the media company canned a proposed offering of senior unsecured notes in the US bond market (Australian, 18 September 2014). S&P has lowered the publishing, outdoor advertising and radio company’s debt to BB from BB+. APN was expected to use the proceeds from the $US250 million ($270m) issue to repay its outstanding debt and to cancel commitments under a bank facility of $630m.

A BB rating is assigned when a company’s creditworthiness and ability to meet financial commitments is deemed to face “major ongoing uncertainties or exposure to adverse business, financial, or economic conditions”. APN abandoned the offering citing unsatisfactory “terms and conditions”, and said the decision would not impact debt level or maturities. The company recently entered into a new facility with a syndicate of domestic and international banks, and was carrying net debt of $482.6m as of June 2014. The debt downgrade comes as APN considers strategic options for APN New Zealand, which operates publishing assets including the New Zealand Herald as well as The Radio Network and the digital business GrabOne. APN has retained Grant Samuel to assist in the process.

The 73 million reasons why the Abbott Government is intent on crushing public broadcasting in Australia

American media mogul Rupert Murdoch and News Corp made no secret of the fact that they supported the Liberal-National Coalition gaining federal government and backed Tony Abbott's bid for prime ministership in the September 2013 Australian federal election.

This support was enthusiastically and sometimes crudely expressed:

www.reddit.com

In his turn Tony Abbott has kept his close links with News Corp since he became prime minister: for example attempting to change the racial discrimination act after a News Corp journalist was found to have breached this act; briefing Rupert Murdoch personally before informing his cabinet of a major policy initiative; attending The Daily Telegraph post-budget party; and  informing The Daily Telegraph before his parliamentary colleagues of changes to data retention policy.

In the Abbott Government's first budget this 'alliance' with Rupert Murdoch continued – funding cuts and loss of a media platform befell public broadcasting which co-incidentally happens to be a major player on the Australian media scene:

The full extent of the ABC threat to News Corp isn't clear until you closely examine their competing activities.

First there's television, and the years-long saga of the ABC's Asia Pacific service, a national vanity project costing tens of millions a year, which the Howard government begged Jonathan Shier to take on in 2001. After the ABC began producing a reasonable, if low-cost, service, News coveted it for Sky News (of which News Corp has an interest via its holding in one-third owner BSkyB) to improve its international clout at taxpayer expense and tried twice, in 2005 and 2010, to win it, getting knocked back both times, although for very different reasons the second time around.

Then there's ABC News 24, a direct rival to Sky News itself and to News Corp's half-owned Foxtel, which carries Sky News. News 24 reaches about 14% of metropolitan audiences a week, far ahead of Sky News.

And free-to-air: Lachlan Murdoch's Ten Network has been regularly losing its third spot in the evening television ratings to the ABC. The ABC pointed out yesterday that it had lifted its prime-time share to a 14.6 share, up 1 percentage point from 2012 and the best performance of any free-to-air network this year. Ten's share fell and in fact spent all of 2013 behind the ABC, consigning it to fourth in metro markets, while its regional performance was even worse. ABC management has simply outclassed Lachlan's conga line of executives. The former head of ABC TV, Kim Dalton, was behind the suite of programs that enabled the ABC to have programs that viewers wanted to watch when Ten imploded in August of 2012, and continued to slide this year. Lachlan Murdoch has removed two CEOs and is now on his third in three years. Ten's problems are as much his problems as those of the poor decision making by former management.

Lachlan Murdoch also slashed and burnt the previous Ten management's carefully developed news and current affairs presence, at a time when the ABC was strengthening its position as the most trusted source of news for Australians across radio and television, far ahead of commercial broadcasters and newspapers — with News Corp's increasingly biased mastheads bringing up the rear as Australia's least-trusted newspapers.

"Plainly there are good leaks involving government secrets, which embarrass the ALP, and bad leaks, which make life difficult for the Coalition."

The ABC's online iView service is also a threat. It's now the most popular TV replay source online, and it competes directly, and for free, with Foxtel.

ABC Radio also competes directly with Lachlan's DMG radio stations in each state capital; Nova FM only beats the ABC's metropolitan local stations in Brisbane and Perth. And ABC Radio is planning a development that will not be greeted warmly by News or Ten or DMG Australia. Fairfax won't be happy either. In an email to staff two weeks ago, ABC Radio head Kate Dundas revealed that, among a long list of changes and new ideas, were state-based online news editions planned for 2014, a new e-mag for Radio National, a huge revamp of the Triple J Dig multiplatform, and a second online music stream for Classic FM.

Probably the most important will be the first version of the ABC audio player — the audio equivalent of iView. Podcasts for programs such as Conversations (which attracts hundreds of thousands of listeners a month) and RN programs will move to this new player site. ABC Radio Multiplatform also has a lot planned for 2014, with mobile versions of key sites like ABC Rural, Dig Music and ABC Local news sites.

The suspicion arises that Tony Abbott will increase pressure on the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) whilst he has the power to do so. 

Given that on 20 August 2014 Crikey.com.au revealed a further motive for this pressure - the parlous state of News Corp in Australia:

Combined with the sharp earnings drop already reported in 2013-14, and with circulation and advertising revenues continuing to decline, the accounts suggest News Corp's Australian newspapers, including the national, metro and regional publications, will struggle to break even this financial year.

The confidential operating accounts for News Corp Australia have never been seen by investors and provide a detailed picture of a print business in rapid decline, with swingeing cost-cuts, cover price increases, new digital subscriptions and digital advertising failing to make up for the loss of revenues from advertising and circulation……

The accounts were produced last year just as Murdoch spun off his troubled print media assets worldwide from the profitable Fox film and cable television empire in the United States, in the wake of the UK phone-hacking scandal.

News Corp was spun out on June 28, 2013, from the renamed 21st Century Fox, and houses mastheads including The Wall Street Journal and New York Post in the US, the Times and Sun in the UK, News' Australian newspapers, plus book publisher Harper Collins, Foxtel and Fox Sports in Australia, and a 62% stake in ASX-listed REA Group, which operates the successful realestate.com.au website

Listed on the NASDAQ and the ASX, News Corporation, valued at $11 billion, goes to considerable lengths to avoid breaking revenue or earnings down by country or masthead, lumping its worldwide newspaper operations plus other businesses together into the "news and information" segment, which accounts for 71% of the group's total revenue, and only offering finer detail selectively.

Crikey can reveal that, amid a forest of negative brackets, revenue from News Corp's Australian newspapers fell 14% to $1.9 billion in 2012-13, with circulation revenue dropping 5% and advertising revenue falling 18%, while operating income fell 67% to $94 million.

Within the division, The Australian stands out as the worst performer: revenues dropped 20% from $135 million to 108 million in 2012-13, while operating income fell 41% from a loss of $19 million to a loss of $27 million. After depreciation, the masthead's operating loss fell to $30 million.

The profit drop in newspapers was only partly offset by growth in other operations like REA Group and Fox Sports, with total operating income falling 38% to $221 million. After income from investments including Foxtel, the group recorded a total profit before interest or tax of $367 million, down 28%.....

the heavy falls in print have continued if not accelerated through 2013-14. This is confirmed in News Corp's most recent quarterly earnings update and annual report, showing the Australian newspapers are dragging on recovering newspaper operations in the US and UK, as well as divisions reporting profit growth, such as book publishing.

News reported that earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation from Australian newspapers fell by US $67 million in 2013-14, or $73 million — which by Crikey's estimate represents roughly an 80% fall on the previous year, nearly wiping out the division's entire operating income. The division dragged heavily on the news and information segment, which reported a 16% drop in EBITDA in 2013-14.

The operating accounts show Melbourne's Herald Sun was the mainstay of News Corp in Australia, with the weekday paper generating revenues of $250 million in 2012-13, down 13.5% on the year before, and operating income of $35 million, down 41%. Revenue for the Sunday edition fell 17% to $75 million, while operating income fell 31% to $21 million.

Of the major tabloids the weekday edition of News' monopoly masthead in Brisbane, The Courier-Mail, suffered the steepest falls, with revenue dropping 18% to $158 million while operating income fell 68% to just $17 million. The Sunday Mail revenues fell 15% to $71 million and operating income fell 33% to $20 million.

The weekday edition of Sydney's Daily Telegraph was another weak performer, with the lowest profit margins at 5%, with revenue dropping 14% to $160 million while operating income fell 65% to just $8 million. The Sunday Telegraph revenues fell 15% to $94 million and operating income fell 53% to $7 million.

At that level Adelaide's Advertiser's weekday editions alone made a much stronger contribution than the Tele in 2012-13, generating revenues of $138 million (down 15%) and operating income of $22 million (down 47%) — without counting the Sunday Mail.

The financial performance of the newspapers has only worsened. In its latest accounts News Corp revealed that overall revenue from the Australian newspapers had fallen by another 18% or US $359 million in 2013-14, compared with the previous year, made up of US $314 million decline in advertising revenue and a US $45 million decline in circulation revenue. Of that, News said US $199 million — a bit over half — reflected the impact of a weaker Australian dollar versus the greenback, which pointed to an 8% decline in revenue in local currency to below $1.8 billion. [my red bolding]

Crikey.com.au 21 August 2014:

Adding the two divisions, to make the comparison easier, circulation revenue at Fairfax grew 13% to $327 million in 2012-13, and another 1% to $331 million in 2013-14. Ad revenue fell 18% in 2012-13 to $1,022 million, and another 15% to $869 million the year after. Total revenue fell 11% to $1,507 million in 2012-13, and another 12 % to $1,333 million in 2013-14. There was a moderate improvement in profitability, however, with EBITDA rising 3% to $269 million in 2012-13 and 1% to $273 million in 2013-14.

In 2012-13, Fairfax's Metro Media division recorded a 17% increase in circulation revenue to $222 million. Advertising revenue fell 21% to $634 million. Total revenue fell 12% to $996 million. In the Regional Media division, circulation revenue fell 4% to $98 million, ad revenue fell 13% to $388 million, and total revenue fell 10% to $511 million. EBITDA at the Metros fell 26% to $76 million and in Regional it fell 16% to $133 million.

In 2013-14, ignoring the restructure of Regional Media into Australian Community Media, the corresponding figures were as follows: Metro Media circulation revenue grew 9% to $228 million while ad revenue fell 14% to $460 million and total revenue fell 9% to $803 million; Community Media circulation revenue fell 7% to $103 million while ad revenue fell 16% to $409 million and total revenue fell 15% to $530 million. On the EBITDA line, the Metros reported a 41% increase to $121 million while Community Media fell 17% to $152 million.

In terms of percentage growth and/or declines, from year to year, the comparison shows Fairfax outperforming the News Corp papers on most measures, counting both revenues and earnings. [my red bolding]

Financial Review 22 August 2014:

The Blue Book showed the average cost of employees at The Australian’s print operations was $178,256. That included associated costs and actual salary, but that still seemed higher than most of the ABC journalists the paper had slammed as overpaid. By comparison, the average cost of employees for the Daily Telegraph was $141,214. The toilers at the Herald Sun made do with $131,944, $125,135 for The Courier Mail, and $90,990 for smaller titles like The Geelong Advertiser. [my red bolding]

APN News & Media Limited (APN) still cost cutting in regional media division and now advancing the aims of the Newman Government

Sadly, regional newspapers in the APN News & Media Limited (APN) stable are still in the grip of a cost cutting regimen:

Resilient local trading conditions assisted by a strong real estate pillar helped Australian Regional Media (ARM) to deliver an improved performance.

Revenue was down 8% to $99.0 million, with EBITDA down 17% to $10.5 million.

Consistent with the broader publishing industry, ARM was negatively impacted by the weak agency market, with National revenues down 20%. ARM continues to focus on connecting with its audience and has grown its weekly aggregate audience by 8% to 1.4 million since the beginning of the year.

ARM continues to effectively manage its cost base and delivered year on year cost savings of $6 million in the half.

[HALF YEAR FINANCIAL REPORT AND APPENDIX 4D:APN News & Media Limited and controlled entities for the period ended 30 June 2014]

Rather worryingly, in Queensland APN became involved in furthering the political aims of an increasingly unpopular government of the day, by participating in a skewed 'community consultation' campaign conducted by the Newman Government, the Strong Choices questionnaire.

The Guardian 23 April 2014:

If you're not interested in raising taxes, reducing services or selling off assets, then the Queensland government doesn't want to hear from you.

Queensland treasurer Tim Nicholls has declared the government's “Strong Choices” campaign a success after the first week of operation, with more than 16,000 people making submissions through the Strong Choices website on how to reduce government debt.

Using an interactive questionnaire, people can suggest raising taxes, selling or leasing state assets, and reducing government services to reduce government debt.

In a statement on launching the site, which is part of a $6m campaign, Nicholls said the aim was to canvass Queenslanders’ views.

“This unprecedented level of community consultation and communication will enable every Queenslander who wants to take part to have the opportunity to provide detailed feedback on exactly what their priorities for the state are and to make their own choices as to how they would reduce the state’s debt,” he said.

However, the questionnaire does not allow you to submit your results if you choose not to raise taxes, cut services or sell off assets. If you complete each page but don't reduce the debt by the approved amount, you're unable to continue on to submit your results and the section on prioritising government spending.

Screenshot of the error message on the Strong Choices site.

This ensures any responses collated by the Queensland government will only include those who agree with the premise that the debt must be reduced to between $50bn and $55bn, skewing the results.....

Not content with manipulating the range of possible choices respondents had, the survey also apparently botched a graph:

The graph used on the site also emphasises the “unsustainable” range of debt, as it mixes two different axis increments – the “sustainable” section increases in lots of $10bn, whereas the unsustainable section increases in lots of $5bn, and has a greater distance between tick marks.

Brisbane-based software developer James Ottaway posted this new version of the graph to Twitter, demonstrating how it would look with a consistent axis:

Closely aligning newspaper mastheads with the Liberal-Nationals coalition is not a way to increase newspaper readership and boost profitability one would have thought and, is a move more akin to News Corp's business model which sees The Australian losing money hand-over-fist year in and year out since 2008.

With The Canberra Times revealing this week that; Operating losses at The Australian widened from $19.3 million to ­$27.1 million against a budgeted loss of $7.56 million, according to the last weekly internal operating accounts for 2012-13. Revenue tumbled from $135 million to $108 million, versus a budgeted $133 million.