Months ago, a former longtime Townsville Bulletin employee , Doug Kingston , announced he intended to start up , at his own expense, an online challenge to the paper to provide Townsville with balanced and fair reports on major local issues . Clearly , this was an indication of dissatisfaction with the paper for which he had been closely involved .
Ever since Kingston announced his intention to challenge the Bulletin no other local media organisation appears to have religiously followed up the subject , which you would expect , another insight into the obvious shortcomings in news gathering in the balmy tropics .
Tired of waiting for the media to get its act together , this blog asked a basic reporter type question of Kingston : what is the latest on your proposal? It appears a second player also keen to challenge has entered the scene and they are likely to join forces . The Bulletin is vulnerable on many fronts as there is obvious growing discontent with the paper , especially over its handling of the highly contentious proposed Adani Carmichael coalmine and its fulsome support for the Townsville City Council mayor , the council's proposal to give Adani $18.5 million for a FIFO airport.
It was recently announced that the Bulletin editor, Ben English , who had only been in Townsville for 18 months, was leaving and going to another Murdoch paper on the Gold Coast . As no replacement editor was named , it was seen as bad PR , a snub for Townsville .
A constant critic of the Murdoch Townsville Bulletin , of course, has been another ex Bulletin reporter, Malcolm Weatherup , who successfully brought a defamation case against the media empire .
Weatherup in full flight
The Undertaker says:Ever since Kingston announced his intention to challenge the Bulletin no other local media organisation appears to have religiously followed up the subject , which you would expect , another insight into the obvious shortcomings in news gathering in the balmy tropics .
Tired of waiting for the media to get its act together , this blog asked a basic reporter type question of Kingston : what is the latest on your proposal? It appears a second player also keen to challenge has entered the scene and they are likely to join forces . The Bulletin is vulnerable on many fronts as there is obvious growing discontent with the paper , especially over its handling of the highly contentious proposed Adani Carmichael coalmine and its fulsome support for the Townsville City Council mayor , the council's proposal to give Adani $18.5 million for a FIFO airport.
It was recently announced that the Bulletin editor, Ben English , who had only been in Townsville for 18 months, was leaving and going to another Murdoch paper on the Gold Coast . As no replacement editor was named , it was seen as bad PR , a snub for Townsville .
A constant critic of the Murdoch Townsville Bulletin , of course, has been another ex Bulletin reporter, Malcolm Weatherup , who successfully brought a defamation case against the media empire .
Each week , Malcolm Weatherup produces the well read onliner The Magpie , which in recent weeks has included strong criticism from readers about the Bulletin, the Townsville City Council , Adani , the last rites performed on the paper by one on October 8 at 11.14 am...
It is with great sadness that I announce the death of journalism in Townsville. Actually the profession died a couple of years ago when “The North’s Own Paper” rolled over and put advertising revenue ahead of quality journalism. I remember a time when advertisers got only one thing for their money – space to spread their message.
On numerous occasions big advertisers tried to use their ad spend to hush up embarrassments such as drink driving charges and court appearances. Back then they were politely shown the door and the story was published big and bold. But, following a dramatic fall in circulation, advertisers became more important than journalism. It started slowly at first, with advertising messages disguised as stories.
After scores of quality journalists lost their jobs to protect profit margins, investigative journalism became a thing of the past, replaced by the publication of media releases. If those media releases happen to come from a big advertiser, no questions are asked for fear of losing revenue.
I suspect that scratch-my-back deals are now the norm – agree to a substantial advertising spend and you get to tell only your side of the story. The Townsville Airport passenger levy and the continuing Adani public relations exercise are obvious examples.
Then there is the cosy relationship in which the Townsville Bulletin is a preferred supplier to Townsville City Council. How much advertising spend is involved here and what does the council and the mayor get in return, apart from ad space? Those who are hoping a change of editor will mean a return to quality journalism will be disappointed, because cash is now king.
Any new editor who upsets an advertiser won’t be around for long. As has been suggested by others in this blog in recent weeks, the Townsville Bulletin has abandoned its role as watchdog for the community and is now a lapdog. It appears that if you spend enough money you can now get away with anything. Sad.
Weatherup's October 21 edition of the The Magpie kicked off with the pungent heading : The Ratepayers Revolt But The Voice Of The North Gets Laryngitis . The opening paragraph pointed out that ratepayer's were so furious about the Townsville City Council's $18.5million gift to Adani that an online protest petition , calling on council to rescind the action at its next meeting and make available all documents related to the deal be made public for scrutiny, had been ticking over faster than the calorie counter of Gina Rinehart, now more than 44,000. Poets , obvious scholars and rude chaps , apart from Malcolm, contributed items to the lively ongoing edition .
UPCOMING : What is wrong with the Townsville Bulletin?
