ABC Launches its Election Campaign

Agamedes claims to have heard the sound of the first kookaburra, laughing its head off as it announces the arrival of an election.

Do you need new -- lateral -- thinking for your own problems? email nick leth at gmail dot com. Need solutions? No worries. Now.

I was listening to AM this morning (1 Jul 2010), on ABC Radio. There was an article on the latest compromise on the new mining tax.

You know how radio is... An intro, such as, "The Prime Minister today said that X Y Z." Followed by a sound bite of the PM saying, "X Y Z." Then there are a few more sound bites from possibly relevant people, covering various aspects of the story. All linked by the ABC reporter adding their two cents' worth.

Today's mining story was different.

First, there was the intro: "The Prime Minister today said that...", followed by a summary of the latest deal. So far, very standard. The intro was followed by the expected sound bite, of the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announcing the compromise.

I waited for the reporter to offer interpretation, followed by a switch to various sound bits offering various views on the news.

I waited.

And I waited. And I waited.

After what seemed like five minutes -- at least in comparison to the standard five second sound bite -- I gave up.

What the ABC was broadcasting was -- as far as I could be bothered listening -- the full speech given by Gillard as she praised herself for forcing an agreement. This is not news. It is not even the standard AM magazine-style report and analysis.

ABC radio was broadcasting a party political broadcast on behalf of Julia Gillard and the Australian Labor Party.

The electioneering has begun.

Independent thinking & independent analysis of your problems by Agamedes Consulting. Support for your thought: email nick leth at gmail dot com