Our media 

Australia doesn't have a totally free press, but few in the industry are game to say anything. Our media is semi controlled by state and federal governments, and we accept it. “Controlled” is probably a little strong, but those within the industry know exactly what we mean.

It’s all very subtle, but when governments spend hundreds of millions of dollars on print, radio and TV advertising, that kind of money brings with it a certain amount of say in content when needed. We do have the ABC, but who owns that, and although they may shout independence, they are owned by government. Even the “independent” BBC shows considerable bias within it’s programming, depending on the needs of government.

I have seen too many high profile news stories suddenly go quiet, particularly when these stories could effect Australian standing, reputation or image. Other stories that are not given any or very little coverage due to the possible social unrest they could cause, a kind of “don’t rock the boat” attitude.

Nicole Kidman - making her own statement at a press conference. Well done.

Our media is so concentrated it doesn’t take much effort to have a quiet word with the Editors or owners to keep particular stories quiet, or promote stories that “are in our best interest” It's not so much what we see in our news and current affairs, it's what we don't see. 

It's not restricted to news and current affairs, with programs such as Sea Patrol having such heavy defense department editorial control it was a farce. Other shows such as Border Security and the new Police reality programs are all produced with "assistance" from government, and of course that also includes some editorial control.

To control people, one has to control the information they receive, hence controlling the media, and if one spends enough money on advertising, then how hard is that ?

Australian governments seem preoccupied with control of people and what they do, and this extends beyond the nanny state we currently live with. Keeping Australians compliant using draconian measures, supported by the all powerful health industry is now beyond a joke.

We also believe we have some brilliant journalists in this country, independent people, that must question the censorship of their own work from time to time. Their are those that would like to ask questions, but believe it's in their own best interest not to, or are told it’s in their own best interests. We should be fighting tooth and nail for a free press, without it we really have no freedom.

Although we bag the ABC for it's over the top political correctness, one of the best programs on TV is "Media Watch" pretty much hated by everybody in the industry, it exposes the poor quality of media in Australia, and is regularly taken to task by editors and owners, trying to present fraudulent, plagiarized and misleading information, then being caught out. Even this program was taken off air for 12 months by government, after they overstepped the line, and angered the powers of control, for being too truthful.

Click here to have your say

We would like to thank radio 2UE in Sydney and The George and Paul show for allowing us to have our say. 

We have now had many requests for interviews from print, radio and TV news asking our opinion, and all we can hope for is a more balanced presentation.