Thursday, February 9, 2017

POLICE BLOTTER REPORTING AND INVISIBLE INK ; MEDIA COVERAGE IN NORTH QUEENSLAND

When  brave Captain Cook sailed along the  Australian coast an island caused  his  primitive  compass  to gyrate, so he called it Magnetical Isle , now known  as Magnetic Island , off   Townsville . In the case of  Townsville's  modern media, with all  its  electronic  devices   and  networks ,  Magnetic  Island  seems to  be  off  or  under  its  radar .

What media  coverage there is  of  Magnetic Island   leaves a lot to be  desired .   In  the case of the Murdoch owned Townsville  Bulletin  it  does   give  occasional   space to  typical  real  estate  articles  at   holiday periods  and gave front page treatment   to  a yarn about    Tiger Sharks  caught  off  the island  ;  not much can  be  said  about  the  Townsville TV stations .  Channel 7 ends  its  daily  broadcast with a  round up of fuel prices in the  viewer  area  which  never  includes   the  much  higher  prices on   Magnetic  Island, a  subject which  needs  investigation , as  does  the   fuel  price  impact on the cost of  living  and  building materials  on  Palm  Island .    

There  is  a  weekly  publication, Community News , which claims to be Magnetic Island's   local  newspaper  since 1989 that  contains a  regular  column  headed POLICE REPORT   in which crime  reports  give the impression of  being  highly  sanitised .   You  have to wonder  who compiles  the  column  as  it   is  obviously  not  written  by   an  inquiring reporter. Apart  from regularly opening with  a   statement   saying  it has been a busy week for  police , it  usually  then runs  extremely  brief   paragraphs  about   incidents,  hence  the  feeling  that it  has  been  compiled  from  a  New York  police  charge sheet of  yesteryear  . Some examples :

* Over the recent  festive  season  the  community  sheet  dutifully recorded that  police had  on December  29  "attended a  sudden  death  in Nelly  Bay "  and a report was being prepared for the coroner . No  name , no age , no  gender  - a local ? a  holidaying  southerner ?   No   follow up.  Not  picked up  by   Townsville  media . 
 
However,  while  the  death  on the island   may  have been  sudden ,  the  word is it was  not  detected  for  some  time .  Holidaymakers   complained  about  a  terrible  smell  and   were  told it  was a   problem   with   the  sewerage  system . From  time  to  time in  national  media there are  reports about  how  shocking  it is  that  somebody  died  alone  and  nobody knew  for  ages , this could have been a similar  situation .   

* Numerous  people  assaulted  on the roadway  near  old helipad  between  1am-1.30am  January  22 , another  small  island  item .   Surprisingly , no  follow up, no  further details.    Not  picked up  by Townsville  media .  Imagine  if  " numerous  people " were  assaulted  somewhere  in  Townsville,  Cairns , Sydney,  Brisbane , Washington , Bourke  there  would be  extensive  media  coverage , follow  ups . What  is  the  story  here ??????

*  At a time when  domestic  violence is receiving much attention throughout the nation , there are  not  infrequent ,  brief  mentions of  such events on the  island in  the police reports .  Not published  anywhere   was  the  recent   episode  where  a  woman , carrying a six weeks old  baby ,  another  young  child  alongside  her , ran  screaming  down  a street  calling for  somebody to call  the police .  Another  hearsay  report of  a man  regularly seen  "punching the shit out  of  a woman"in  a  residence.  A former editor of the Townsville Bulletin   was made  a member of  a  Queensland   domestic  violence advisory panel so you would think  that the paper would  have an interest in the  island situation , the facilities  and  services , if any , for women the victims of violence  on  the  island .  

* Not  covered   in  any  way was an episode  in which  an area was   rocked by shouting , screaming , and  a  person emerged  from a house  armed with a star picket  and  was  seen running down a street   shouting  at  a   man  that  he  only came  round  for  a  bong . Nearby residents were  told  by police following  day  to  lock  their  houses   like  fortresses  because  of  thefts , people  roaming about .

*Island  talk  is about  ice dealers ,  concerns that children are being exposed to drugs , trespassing on  properties ,  shoplifting , gas  bottles   being stolen , CCTV  being   installed  in   houses and  business premises , a vehicle fire bombed, a  couple leaving the  island  in  fear   over  an alleged  drug involvement , a  house  widely  regarded   as   containing  a  large number of  " druggies ."
 
 *  While police   carry out  what are   described as   "drug raids " in   the  Townsville  area   and  elsewhere,  sometimes with TV  coverage  and  full details ,  an  event such as  this  is  likely to be  described  in the  brief   island  publication  style  as  police  executed  a search  warrant on a house  and  people  were  charged  with   being  in   possession  of  dangerous  drugs .  
 
*  During a  break and  enter , a  snake was  stolen from an  enclosure. Not  picked up  by  mainland  media .  Imagine what the Northern Territory  News  in  Darwin , another Murdoch publication ,  would have done with  this  story...SNAKENAPPER  ON   ISLAND ! 
 
What is abundantly clear is that  the  Townsville  media  does not  read  the   Magnetic Island  Community News  otherwise  it would find   a  constant  stream   of   interesting   and   important  community  stories  to  flesh   out .