The way forward is alternative

My latest freelance article for Online Opinion details the failure of the Australian mainstream media is question the increasingly corporatised and corrupt connections between government and big business. Solely relying on the Murdoch, Fairfax or Packer press is no longer a viable option for objective journalism. Alternative sources are therefore essential.

I'm currently writing a book on Israel/Palestine for Melbourne University Press and to gain generally insightful analysis on the Middle East conflict is almost impossible in the Australian media. Israel's Haaretz becomes essential. Furthermore, any kind of discussion about the Jewish or Arab community's relation to Israel is virtually taboo here. Can anybody seriously imagine a blog like Gorilla in the Room getting traction in Australia?

In terms of domestic politics, the major broadsheets virtually all lined up behind John Howard during last year's Federal Election. Fairfax's editor-in-chief of metropolitan newspapers, Mark Scott, allegedly claimed that Mark Latham wouldn’t be good for business. Mark Latham's Labor was hardly a viable alternative, to be sure, but the importance of truth in the media establishment died the day the media moguls proved that impending changes to media ownership laws was more important than diversity of viewpoints.