The present Territory political shoot out has revealed gangland –like tensions in the media world . And already there seems to have been a silent turf war which resulted in a prominent person being, to use a Chopper Read expression, rubbed out in a hail of red hot words.
As Little Darwin circulated in coffee dens , lurked about parliament and the Deck Chair Cinema premiere of the excellent film Balibo and associated launch of redoubtable reporter Jill Jolliffe’s book , the local fourth estate was often the subject of discussion.
Naturally , the part played by the Northern Territory News in the imbroglio loomed large in comments. In particular ,the “war” between the News and The Australian reporter Nicolas Rothwell over his involvement with Alison Anderson surfaced . The suggestion in a bitchy News editorial that Rothwell lives in a “ mansion” overlooking Darwin paupers raised some chuckles. There is , however, a possible Mafia type warning hidden in that pungent paragraph about the fanciful mansion. In St John, chapter 14, Jesus , shortly before being put to death, stated there were many mansions in his Father's house,that he would be taking up residence there, but sure to return because he had a Jetstar round trip ticket.
When asked by the News if he (Rothwell) had composed a media release sent out by Anderson on his computer , Nicolas elegantly replied that his style would have been more “baroque”, which probably sent the News scurrying to the dictionary trying to find out what he meant.
The News should not underestimate Rothwell as it seems he is adept with the tommy gun and 45 calibre pen and won a shoot out for control of the local patch with talented Darwin based reporter /author Paul Toohey. As a result, Toohey was to go to Jakarta for The Australian , but has reportedly resigned . Toohey, it will be recalled , last year wrote a cover article for the Quarterly Essay about the impact of intervention on the NT, worth rereading because of its relevance to the present political impasse, even quoting Rothwell in respect of his criticism of Trish Crossin and Warren Snowdon in their handling and attitude to indigenous affairs. Nicolas used another $10 word in respect of these two- "antediluvian"-and Anderson singled them out for comment in the past week.
Moving about the traps with a notebook and tape recorder , posing as a reporter from the Christian Science Monitor , Little Darwin picked up some other intriguing media yarns . A journalist , who once worked at the News, name and address withheld by request, deplored its trivialisation of major news and the placement and treatment of stories . He pointed out that the paper excelled itself on Saturday , August 8 by filling most of the front page with a story about a teenager suffering from acne and unrequited puppy love giving the News the finger.
This when the major story for the NT was the fact that a vote of no confidence in the government would kick off on the following Monday. You had to turn to page 4 for that info , racecourse fashions getting a bigger write up. Surely, he opined, this trivial front page salute would rate another mention on the ABC’s Media Watch .
Warming to the subject , another scribe made the surprising statement that the NT News has caught “the British disease”. Eh? Please explain . Instead of people now being arrested in the Territory, he said , they are being “nicked”, a Pommie expression, frequently used in the NT News. What a quaint observation. Taking up this theme of alleged Pommiefication of the local blat , another journalist said it was probably due to the fact that its chief reporter, Nigel Adlam , had worked on Rupert’s London tabloid , The Sun ,a fact about which he apparently loves to tell people. It was postulated that Adlam misses his glory days back in the Old Dart and , feeling homesick, watches The Bill on TV where miscreants are regularly nicked . Chuckles ensued. While it was agreed the expression “get nicked” was part of the Aussie lexicon, being “nicked” by Territory coppers was ,well,un-Australian, certainly not patriotic . Somebody should compose an illiterate text message with an expletive and send it to editor Julian Ricci signing it ,mother of 10, Qld , urging the paper to say nix to nicks.
A refined damsel of mature age said she would “ scream “ if she saw another “bloody crocodile “ on the front page of the paper. From a veteran observer of local business with a capitalist’s keen interest in cash flows came the suggestion that the way the paper is run it was good news for commercial TV stations on the revenue side. He continued by saying the advertising content in the paper would hardly pay for some editions. (God bless real estate , the last white hope for newspapers , and the reason why media owners fawn over real estate agents /developers ).
Then it was pointed out the paper is coy about revealing its Audit Bureau of Circulation figures , front page statements thanking Territorians for making it the most read paper in the Territory, but not stating the actual figure.
To be fair and balanced , some said they did not mind the newspaper’s obsession with saurians, UFOs, beaut predictions of apocalyptic cyclones, the xenophobic attitude to “ southerners “ and the dislike of soy milk café latte drinkers. These unfortunate individuals probably receive regular attention from a latte slurping shrink.
The most entertaining contribution ,however, came from a person who said he had heard what amounts to mutiny in the ranks . Several reporters , name and address withheld , relaxing after a hard day in the News office , were heard muttering over their beers that this town needs another paper!!!. In the days of that bully boy , Captain Bligh, this kind of mutinous talk would see you keelhauled , tickled with the cat then fed to the crocodiles following in the wake.
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As Little Darwin circulated in coffee dens , lurked about parliament and the Deck Chair Cinema premiere of the excellent film Balibo and associated launch of redoubtable reporter Jill Jolliffe’s book , the local fourth estate was often the subject of discussion.
Naturally , the part played by the Northern Territory News in the imbroglio loomed large in comments. In particular ,the “war” between the News and The Australian reporter Nicolas Rothwell over his involvement with Alison Anderson surfaced . The suggestion in a bitchy News editorial that Rothwell lives in a “ mansion” overlooking Darwin paupers raised some chuckles. There is , however, a possible Mafia type warning hidden in that pungent paragraph about the fanciful mansion. In St John, chapter 14, Jesus , shortly before being put to death, stated there were many mansions in his Father's house,that he would be taking up residence there, but sure to return because he had a Jetstar round trip ticket.
When asked by the News if he (Rothwell) had composed a media release sent out by Anderson on his computer , Nicolas elegantly replied that his style would have been more “baroque”, which probably sent the News scurrying to the dictionary trying to find out what he meant.
The News should not underestimate Rothwell as it seems he is adept with the tommy gun and 45 calibre pen and won a shoot out for control of the local patch with talented Darwin based reporter /author Paul Toohey. As a result, Toohey was to go to Jakarta for The Australian , but has reportedly resigned . Toohey, it will be recalled , last year wrote a cover article for the Quarterly Essay about the impact of intervention on the NT, worth rereading because of its relevance to the present political impasse, even quoting Rothwell in respect of his criticism of Trish Crossin and Warren Snowdon in their handling and attitude to indigenous affairs. Nicolas used another $10 word in respect of these two- "antediluvian"-and Anderson singled them out for comment in the past week.
Moving about the traps with a notebook and tape recorder , posing as a reporter from the Christian Science Monitor , Little Darwin picked up some other intriguing media yarns . A journalist , who once worked at the News, name and address withheld by request, deplored its trivialisation of major news and the placement and treatment of stories . He pointed out that the paper excelled itself on Saturday , August 8 by filling most of the front page with a story about a teenager suffering from acne and unrequited puppy love giving the News the finger.
This when the major story for the NT was the fact that a vote of no confidence in the government would kick off on the following Monday. You had to turn to page 4 for that info , racecourse fashions getting a bigger write up. Surely, he opined, this trivial front page salute would rate another mention on the ABC’s Media Watch .
Warming to the subject , another scribe made the surprising statement that the NT News has caught “the British disease”. Eh? Please explain . Instead of people now being arrested in the Territory, he said , they are being “nicked”, a Pommie expression, frequently used in the NT News. What a quaint observation. Taking up this theme of alleged Pommiefication of the local blat , another journalist said it was probably due to the fact that its chief reporter, Nigel Adlam , had worked on Rupert’s London tabloid , The Sun ,a fact about which he apparently loves to tell people. It was postulated that Adlam misses his glory days back in the Old Dart and , feeling homesick, watches The Bill on TV where miscreants are regularly nicked . Chuckles ensued. While it was agreed the expression “get nicked” was part of the Aussie lexicon, being “nicked” by Territory coppers was ,well,un-Australian, certainly not patriotic . Somebody should compose an illiterate text message with an expletive and send it to editor Julian Ricci signing it ,mother of 10, Qld , urging the paper to say nix to nicks.
A refined damsel of mature age said she would “ scream “ if she saw another “bloody crocodile “ on the front page of the paper. From a veteran observer of local business with a capitalist’s keen interest in cash flows came the suggestion that the way the paper is run it was good news for commercial TV stations on the revenue side. He continued by saying the advertising content in the paper would hardly pay for some editions. (God bless real estate , the last white hope for newspapers , and the reason why media owners fawn over real estate agents /developers ).
Then it was pointed out the paper is coy about revealing its Audit Bureau of Circulation figures , front page statements thanking Territorians for making it the most read paper in the Territory, but not stating the actual figure.
To be fair and balanced , some said they did not mind the newspaper’s obsession with saurians, UFOs, beaut predictions of apocalyptic cyclones, the xenophobic attitude to “ southerners “ and the dislike of soy milk café latte drinkers. These unfortunate individuals probably receive regular attention from a latte slurping shrink.
The most entertaining contribution ,however, came from a person who said he had heard what amounts to mutiny in the ranks . Several reporters , name and address withheld , relaxing after a hard day in the News office , were heard muttering over their beers that this town needs another paper!!!. In the days of that bully boy , Captain Bligh, this kind of mutinous talk would see you keelhauled , tickled with the cat then fed to the crocodiles following in the wake.
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STOP PRESS : The Territory media brawl continues . Our scoop about the St Valentine's Day Massacre which saw Paul Toohey measured for a wooden coat was finally picked up by the NT News on August 12 . In its obituary for Toohey , the News again revealed its xenophobic attitude to them thar southerners (spit), denigrating two experienced Sydney journos as "juniors".
That fabulous Nicholas Rothwell luxury apartment also received another snide mention in the paper. Little Darwin has been inside this alleged potentate's ornate abode and thinks a writer for Home Beautiful would describe it as more of a modest Kew Gardens design than one of Saddam Hussein's glittering palaces . How many luxury apartment blocks fly a cheap Asian made paper eagle outside the main entrance in a vain bid to frighten away the noisy stone curlews from the nearby Botanical Gardens which shriek their heads off at night and make it hard to sleep and hear the TV? Aboriginal legend has it that the curlews are crying for lost children .
