The new media laws: a fig leaf to conceal bargains among thieves

There was some genuine improvised humour on Thank God You’re Here; Jamie Durie last week showed us AIDS victims in Uganda; one can enjoy some of 24 or Prison Break, but generally the picture on commercial TV is bleak.

Media Watch showed us recently how Nine’s morning show was busily inventing child care stories week after week to satisfy its child care sponsor. But the same pattern could be seen on the equivalent program on Seven.

Basically there is no real competition on the commercial media. Commercial TV is busy helping business make money and doesn’t give 5 cents for consumers. Score: 2 out of 10; must try harder.

What of the ABC? This is not the place for a thorough critique. But too often the ABC gives us slabs of British TV, sometimes in bewildering accents, with little relevance to Australians.

Too often we get predictable views of the world, echoing the safe views of the majority of academics. So we are told again that John Howard’s detention policies are flawed. Feminism is presented as holy writ. Aborigines are revered. Multiculturalism is wonderful.

This leaves angry white males (delinquent dads or naughty schoolboys) as the only people who can safely be attacked.

All these ideas need to be carefully argued for our judgment, rather than presenting the conclusions obvious from the first sentence. Too often, we are given a conventional opinion weakly challenged.

Having an independent ABC should not mean its journalists can rave fearlessly about people they dislike.

Thankfully there are exceptions to the ABC’s fake consensus. Lateline, Media Watch, Four Corners, Australian Story, AM and PM at their best show us the strength of the ABC. There is also substance to some of the interviews on ABC local radio.

Tony Delroy’s Australia-wide program, Nightlife, actually allows interviewees to say what they think for a change. Every gardener I know respects Peter Cundall’s program as far and away the best of its kind. Any Australian who writes a book is thankful that the ABC supports and publicises books.

It’s scary to think what Australian media would be like without the ABC. It’s just sad that Aunty can’t spend more money on making drama and current affairs and less on self-important bureaucratic pooh-bahs. Score: 5 out of 10; could do a lot better.

SBS shows the rest of the media what TV can be. Time and again I look with despair over all the other channels, only to find something fresh and thought-provoking on SBS. Global Village just by itself offers a superb view of the world. SBS travel programs show us real travel. By comparison how silly the commercial travel programs seem: the top half of Mary or Jenny in a bikini crowds the screen, while we struggle to see anyone in the background from Tahiti or Maccu Picchu.