Groupthink

Posts Tagged press gallery

Sometimes it is like The West Wing

Jul 20

Posted by Spock... in Federal election 2010, Media | No Comments

Australian politics, and the Australian political media are by now well into election mode. It is all about the campaign and it’s probably all we will hear about for the next 6 weeks.

But as David lamented yesterday the Australian Media doesn’t seem too interested in discussing policy.

And so far the trend continues, as politicians roll on with their election campaigns, the press continues to ask questions, not about policy, but about campaign process, gaffes and MasterChef!

THE nation may be in the grip of an election campaign but even its political masters have acknowledged they cannot compete with their kitchen counterparts.

So much so that consideration is being given to either bringing the leaders’ debate forward by an hour, or delaying it until another evening so it does not clash with the series final of the hit show MasterChef

All the press wants to write about is process.

It was a dawn start in Brisbane and a long flight to Townsville to visit a little family in a new housing estate to drive home her message that we should “stop, take a breath and plan a sustainable Australia”.

And preference deals, and the price of coffee.

Gillard announces policy, the press asks about process and a “stage managed campaign”. Tony stage manages a campaign and do they ask him about his lack of policies (except that spending money is BAAAAAD *scary music*)?

It all reminds me of Josh Lyman’s line in The West Wing about getting the press to write about issues.

It’s gonna look like we screwed up the timing so the press is gonna write about process and not about issues, and getting political reporters to write about issues in the first place is like getting kids to eat their vegetables.

[...]

It helps if there’s nothing else on their plate.

Sometimes Australian politics can remind me a little bit of The West Wing.

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Asking the questions that matter #2

Jul 20

Posted by David in Federal election 2010, Media, Politics | 1 Comment

Prime Minister Julia Gillard spent part of the third full day of the election campaign in Richmond in Sydney’s west, to announce the national trade cadetship scheme to combat Australia’s skills shortage.

Under the initiative, students from years 9 to 12 would be offered the cadetship as an option under the national curriculum and would utilise the resources of the trade training centres being introduced to secondary schools around Australia.

Two streams of the national trade cadetship would be available including one stream which lays the foundation for further training and a second which focuses on achieving an apprenticeship in a specific area or trade.

“Currently around 220,000 students do study vocational education and training at school,” the Prime Minister said.

“That’s around 41 per cent of kids going into senior secondary certificates.”

This is an important policy, which addresses the skills shortages but also the educational needs of those teenagers left out by the secondary education’s emphasis on preparing for a university degree. So, which of the following questions did the assembled media pack ask when they got some q-and-a time with the Prime Minister?

A. Prime Minister, will the cadetship scheme be backed up with an increase in apprenticeship opportunities? For example will you offer incentives to large companies to recommence apprentice intakes that were common up until the 1990s?

B. Are community cabinets a waste of taxpayer dollars?

C. Are you running an overly staged managed campaign? When will you get out on the streets and shopping centres?

D. I’m wondering how you’re standing up under the campaign. Are you getting enough sleep?

If you guessed B. C. and D., you are correct.

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Asking the questions that matter #1

Jul 19

Posted by David in Federal election 2010, Media, Politics | 7 Comments

On the first full day of the 2010 election campaign, Julia Gillard went to Brisbane where she made a speech about population and sustainablity in which she expressed her desire to put the brakes on the fast track to a big Australia.

“I do not believe in the idea of a big Australia, an Australia where we push all the policy levers into top gear to drive population growth as high as it can be,’’ said the Prime Minister.

“The nation’s goal should not be a big Australia but a ‘‘sustainable’’ Australia that ‘‘preserves our quality of life and respects our environment’’.

‘‘One of the things Australians often say when we’ve spent a few days in a crowded, congested city in Europe or the United States: it’s a nice place to visit, but you wouldn’t want to live there.

‘‘Friends, I will not allow Australia to ever become a country of which it is said: it’s a nice place to visit, but you wouldn’t want to live there,” she said.’

So, we have some policy which, while being a little boring, is important especially to regional towns. So, which of the following questions did the assembled media pack ask when they got some q-and-a time with the Prime Minister?

A.“Ms Gillard, let me get this straight. Are you against population growth or do you just want to slow it down to better control it?”

B. “How will we combat the ageing population if we slow migration down?”

C. “Prime Minister, the reason why Australia’s cities are choking is because successive state and federal governments have been slow to keep up with infrastructure. You mentioned the Snowy Mountain Hydro Scheme, have you considered a similar grand project where we can build the much needed infrastructure to allow for more people? 

D. “Will you be campaigning with Kevin Rudd in his electorate?

 

If you answered D, you’re correct!

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