May the gods bless the Australian Broadcasting Commission.....

ABC News on Friday 26 November 2010:

The editor-in-chief of The Australian is threatening to sue a journalism academic over claims published on Twitter that he told a staff member what to write in regards to the paper's coverage of climate change.
In an article published on The Australian's website, Chris Mitchell says he will sue Julie Posetti for defamation because of tweets she made purporting to quote a former rural reporter for The Australian.
Ms Posetti tweeted alleged quotes made yesterday by Asa Walhquist at a journalism conference at the University of Technology, Sydney.
Ms Posetti posted: "Walhquist: 'In the lead up to the election the Ed in Chief was increasingly telling me what to write.' It was prescriptive."
In another tweet Ms Posetti claims Walhquist said: "'It was absolutely excruciating. It was torture': Asa Walhquist on fleeing The Australian after being stymied in covering #climate."......

ABC News has now published audio of a relevant section of Walquist's presentation to the 2010 JEAA Conference (on what I think is Day 2) which appears to support Julie Posetti:

Audio Part One

Audio Part Two

Since those tapes surfaced The Australian appears to be backing down from its hardline stance with this admission on its Media Diary Blog:
Her Tweets are a fair summary of what Wahlquist said.

Sadly (and probably due to those legal threats) the Twitter account julie_posetti appears to have been deleted by its owner, however I'm sure that this incident will make for great reading in Ms. Posetti's work-in-progress thesis The Twitterisation of Journalism.

Julie blogs at http://www.j-scribe.com/ and will be tweeting in future at JounTweet.

* Jonathon Holmes writing on this situation in 140 characters of legal nightmare

Update:

Julie Posetti's original Twitter account appears to be online once more.

Engel's word picture of the Australian Federal Parliament and Tony Abbott in 2010

Only the British media would approach the subject with this much bile, but there is more than an element of truth in Matthew Engel's article Up a Gum Tree in The Financial Times on 26 November 2010:

I have seen a few crazy parliaments. I have watched the Israeli Knesset, where one extreme would happily exterminate the other – and the Dáil in Dublin, the only known gathering of inarticulate Irishmen. I have seen the empty shell that constitutes the US Senate. I have done time at the Commons, and been appalled by the pathetic lack of individuality of the whipped curs. I thought I was unshockable. But Canberra’s House of Rep­resenta­tives is the worst. These curs only snarl as instructed.

Some of the kindly journalists in the Canberra press gallery asked me what I thought. This being a country that prides itself on candour, I told them. They looked at me as though I were crazy. “You should have seen it a few months ago,” they said. “It’s improved no end.”....

Unless they swing round, which Tony Abbott does all the time, turning his back on the PM to confer with his colleagues – especially when she is speaking, a gesture of contempt that would be recognised among primates. There is indeed something rather simian about Abbott: he is a hulking fitness fetishist-cum-exhibitionist, often photographed in the skimpy swimming trunks that Aussies call “budgie-smugglers”. The other week he was spotted running through the parliamentary corridors, past the coffee shop, in his tight black shorts: “It was like watching evolution in reverse,” said one latte drinker........

Under all the circumstances, Australian democracy is a kind of miracle. The country has a remarkable respect for the rule of law and a great sense of civic responsibility (greater than Britain’s, I would say). Quietly, good work does get done in parliament – speaker Harry Jenkins insists – although much of the legislative scrutiny is done by the less powerful Senate. The federal structure ensures that the decisions that affect people’s daily lives are largely made by the individual states.

The entire article can be found here.

Another wonderful Trioli blooper

Crikey and mUmBRELLA might have had it first after YouTube, but it's still worth another airing:



This clip now joins that other delightful gaffe from last year:

Cancún Climate Change Conference: yada, yada, yada

Right now in Cancún, Mexico, the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP16/CMP 6 is underway until 10 December 2010.

As national representatives get to their feet and (as they have done on so many occasions before) talk ineffectively of the need to address global warming, it is worthwhile looking at a visual representation of where Australia’s energy was being drawn from in November 2010.

These pie charts from The Climate Group's The Weekly Greenhouse Gas Indicator represent energy consumption in four of the eight states and territories over one 7 day period.

In descending order, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria:

Given that only South Australia has managed to consistently reduce greenhouse gas emissions below the 1990 baseline (10% below in this 7 day period), it is also the only state which could be said to be seriously addressing Kyoto commitments.

Victoria is 26% above the 1990 baseline, New South Wales 5.8% above and Queensland an almost unbelievable 109% above that same baseline.

Unfortunately, in Australia energy consumption is still predominately drawn from carbon-based resources and relies heavily on 'dirty' coal.

As the Gillard Government continues to drag its feet on an emissions trading scheme or carbon tax and the Coalition Opposition goes deeper into denial that global warming even exists, how is the average citizen going to respond?

I suggest that individual responsibility does not stop with reducing our personal carbon footprints, it extends to voting out of office every politician who blocks legitimate legislative response to global warming or seeks to water down bills addressing climate change so that carbon-reliant energy companies and industry can continue 'business as usual'.

Now I've heard everything! A Press Council LOL

Darryl Mason 28 Nov 10 5:23 pm
Considering The Press Council couldn’t even get Piers Akerman to publicly apologise after he said intellectually disabled people can’t understand “plain English”…no thanks.
http://tinyurl.com/y94fc5n

mUmBRELLA gives the cyberspace laugh of the week by reporting:
"Prof Disney suggested that the Press Council could seek to regulate bloggers . He said: “At present, only one of the Council members publishes solely on-line. The Council will continue to invite other on-line publishers to become members and thus subject to its regulation. This reflects a desire to avoid unnecessary duplication, inconsistency or gaps between the regulatory processes which apply to print and on-line publications in the area of news and current affairs. Consideration will also need to be given to the possibility of encouraging membership by serious bloggers who focus on the same area.”
I'm with Darryl Mason - when the Press Council begins to seriously address the ethical failings of paid professional journalists, then it can raise the possibility of extending the juristiction of its 25 member toothless tiger.

Call for Seven or Nine to commission a drama about a cricket team

Tweed Daily News has hit out at former Aussie cricketers who are the face of everything on commercial television.

According to TDN, It seems you actually can't turn on the television without seeing a former (or current cricketer) parading around on screen. Okay, fair enough it's cricket season so you would expect to see them out there in their whites or coloureds (depending on the type of game they're playing) but it seems they are no longer confined to the field.

Sure there are plenty of retired players in the commentary box, too, but the vast majority of them now seem to have branched out. They seem to be in about every ad on TV - hawking everything from Johnny Walker Whisky to mobile phones and motor oil. But in recent years they have also branched into television shows as well, and this is not only confined to Fox' Inside Cricket either.

I'm wondering how long it will be before Seven or Nine actually commission a drama about a cricket team?

I mean former Test opener Matthew Hayden has had his own cooking show, and at the weekend while everyone was discussing "what went wrong with day three of the Test match" Haydoss was on the Lifestyle Channel hosting a show about "Australia's answers to the Griswalds at Christmas".

Cricketers are no strangers to Lifestyle, with former spin bowler Stuart MacGill hosting his own wine show on the same channel.

But of course Nine has always been the home of cricket, and they brought out the big guns last week - Warnie. Shane Warne's new TV talk show came across as a cross between a toothpaste and hair re-growth ad with famous people thrown in. It received a luke-warm reception from the audience. But it is early days; I suppose - you don't always get a wicket with your first ball.

Actually, with all our famous cricketers busy with their TV commitments, it's little wonder our team is a bit "hot and cold" at the moment. The team might need some new blood, and where better to look than on TV. Well let's face it, with Warne and co taking the TV jobs, we need to do something with the out-of-work showbiz types. I mean I can see Andrew Denton bowling a flipper at the SCG, and I reckon one of those Packed to the Rafters guys would have a good turn of pace.

Maybe someone should have a word to Greg Chappell, Andrew Hilditch and the boys?

Credit: Tweed Daily News, 30/11/10

King Canute gets to his feet in the House of Representatives

The majority of residential and commercial development at Wooli is located along a narrow sand spit which separates the Wooli River from the Pacific Ocean. The sand spit has been actively subdivided and developed over the years, with a significant number of dwellings erected close to the beachfront. Approximately 90 dwellings, the public school, voluntary rescue and storage facility, public hall, playground and RSL cenotaph are located on land fronting the beach. Wooli Beach suffered severe storm damage in 1954 and 1974. Also, in the mid 1990’s and during the last few years, the frontal dune along Wooli Beach has been severely eroded leaving a high, steep escarpment along much of the beachfront. The escarpment has continued to recede during this time with successive ocean storms, in particular a recent storm event during late May 2009. [Wooli Beach/Village Review of Coastal Hazards Report]

I know I’m maligning the historical figure of Canute by playing to the error that he really did try to turn back the ocean, but that myth perfectly fits the Nationals Member for Cowper, Luke Hartsuyker who is trying to make political capital out of the woes of residents in the coastal village of Wooli on the NSW North Coast by promising the impossible.

This is his effort recorded in Hansard on 16 November 2010:

Another important issue I raise relates to the future of the village of Wooli in the Cowper electorate. Wooli is a small coastal community of a few hundred people, and it is confronting the challenges of sand erosion. After years of erosion, many houses are potentially under threat. The Clarence Valley Council has released a draft plan of management which proposes a progressive retreat from the site of the original village. The plan tables the option of allowing landowners in the foreshore area to swap properties for crown land near the Wooli sportsground. This proposal is causing grief in the Wooli community. I recently met with Bruce Bird from the Wooli Chamber of Commerce and Margy Hewetson to discuss their concerns. They highlighted to me how important it is that every effort be made to protect these threatened properties and retain the current village precinct.

If the draft plan is implemented, all land south of the Wooli Bowling Club could be sacrificed. That includes the Wooli Public School. As the residents explained to me, there are other options available which could protect properties in the area, and I believe it is incumbent on the council to thoroughly investigate all options. The residents are concerned that the erosion problem will not receive adequate attention, given the small size of the Wooli village. I believe that Wooli residents deserve treatment equal to that of other ratepayers in the area, which is why I welcome the opportunity to place this matter on record in the federal parliament. Wooli is a beautiful village, and the land is very valuable. All reasonable efforts must be made to protect the village from erosion into the future.

and this is what he said to the national media:

Mr Hartsuyker says he will not let people's homes fall into the ocean.

Will not let people’s homes fall into the ocean? How on earth does he expect to stop the relentless wave action erosion process and effects of storm surges, when at their basis are the increasing impacts of climate change?

Mr. Hartsuyker would be more believable if he had ever confronted his party and leader over the total lack of support for any legislative change which would effectively mitigate against global warming over time. According to Hartsuyker, his party’s lack of support is a win for regional Australia.

Elsewhere in the local media this wordy MP expressing dissatisfaction with the degree of hydraulic modelling applied to the problem – cheerfully ignoring Clarence Valley Council’s own commissioned 2010 Wooli Beach / Village Review of Coastal Hazards and the 2007 CSIRO study Projected Changes In Climatological Forcing For Coastal Erosion In NSW which specifically looked at modelling for Wooli.

The sad fact of the matter is that Wooli primarily built its houses on a thin strip of sand between two tidal bodies of water with predictable results.

Google Earth image of Wooli with a 1 metre predicted sea-level rise

From North Coast Voices in 2007: Clarence Valley Council admits there is little that can be done for property owners in the face of 'inevitable' coastal erosion