It's not a newspaper

The West Australian is no longer a newspaper. Half of its articles are opinions, not news. Half of what's left -- in today's paper -- is drooling and salivating over the sad details of the murder of three young women. Sick stuff.

Of course the bulk of the paper is advertisements. Nothing wrong with that, it pays part of the cost of the paper. Except that quite a few of the "articles" are really advertisements. Or biassed. There are plenty of stories which are really teasers for channel seven.

Of course there are also the stories that never get to print. The court case which channel seven lost, for example, where "reality show" contestants successfully sued channel seven. No mention of that case in the seven-owned daily paper.

A different tv channel had a minor upset when morning show presenters were moved on, walked out, were moved back...  The paper wrote several snide articles about those difficulties. There were also a couple of articles which were very sympathetic towards the female presenter... and guess what? Now she's working for channel seven. No surprise at all.

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Today there is an article -- another opinion piece -- about Qantas. Written by a man who does seem to know about marketing. His opinion is, that a Qantas 100-year birthday celebration could bore the average consumer. The writer has missed the point.

Qantas will spend all year celebrating 100 years of operation. You can bet that sick children and orphaned animals will be flown -- free -- all over the country. There will be non-stop flights from A to B -- with journalists writing loving articles about the joys of flying first-class. And yes, consumers will lap it up.

Meanwhile, a standard Qantas flight leaves me with my knees poking into the seat in front. On the non-stop flight to London -- with extra leg-room -- I still have no room to bend down. Drop the pillow? Too bad, it's lost forever.

Flights are cheap, Qantas shares paid a small dividend. But guess what? Maintenance is no longer done in Australia. Where are the people who used to earn a living maintaining Qantas planes? Overseas, bankrupt or on the dole, I guess.

Doesn't matter, at least the investors get a dividend. Not that that helps Australia. Qantas is no longer "the Australian airline", Australian ownership went out with the wings on the kangaroo. Not to worry...

None of the uncomfortable history will be reported in the daily paper. We'll have happy stories of airline journalists flying first class. Top chefs designing superb menus... for first-class passengers. Extra leg room... for first-class passengers. New flight records, new flight technology, continuing safety records (I hope) -- for the foreign airline which started -- 100 years ago -- in Australia.

It will be published but it's not news. It will be published because The West Australian in not, in reality, a "news"paper.

Nick Lethbridge  /  consulting dexitroboper
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"If we really did profit from our mistakes, I'd be rich" … per Ginger Meggs
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