"Don't forget, Mr Howard, that if ever there is a terrorist attack in Australia, it is you personally who must take the lion's share of the blame for it as a result of your rushing to support George Bush in the Iraq war."
Former Federal President of the Liberal Party, John Valder, in a letter to John Howard.
The current terrorist hysteria proves, once and for all, that our corporate media has become an extension of the government and its various agencies. "Imminent attack foiled." "A massive terrorist attack on Australian soil has been narrowly averted." Maybe. Maybe not. We will never know the full truth, neither from the government nor the media. The Murdoch press is boasting of its impeccable contacts within government though I would have thought the leaking of national security matters would be a concern for the government. Not so, says the Attorney General.
The presumption of innocence and proportionality seems to have been lost in the hype. By all means, prosecute people if they pose a real threat. But don't tell me that the Sydney Morning Herald needs to give the story five pages of coverage, as it does today. This story has a long way to run and somehow I wonder whether the initial media hysteria will have been justified. If I'm wrong, I'll be happy to say so, but the inherent acceptance of intelligence, government and police spin shows a public and media too afraid or gutless to question "reality."
Former Federal President of the Liberal Party, John Valder, in a letter to John Howard.
The current terrorist hysteria proves, once and for all, that our corporate media has become an extension of the government and its various agencies. "Imminent attack foiled." "A massive terrorist attack on Australian soil has been narrowly averted." Maybe. Maybe not. We will never know the full truth, neither from the government nor the media. The Murdoch press is boasting of its impeccable contacts within government though I would have thought the leaking of national security matters would be a concern for the government. Not so, says the Attorney General.
The presumption of innocence and proportionality seems to have been lost in the hype. By all means, prosecute people if they pose a real threat. But don't tell me that the Sydney Morning Herald needs to give the story five pages of coverage, as it does today. This story has a long way to run and somehow I wonder whether the initial media hysteria will have been justified. If I'm wrong, I'll be happy to say so, but the inherent acceptance of intelligence, government and police spin shows a public and media too afraid or gutless to question "reality."
4 Comments:
I'm tearing my hair out here... thankfully I have copious amounts. With the timing of a Hollywood script, the saga has moved from leak of draconian laws, to vague alleged terrorist threat requiring new legislation, a muffled backlash from State and Federal police, and now, finally, an alleged crackdown on numerous terrorist plotters.
Now there is a prospect some of these people were plotting an attack. What is unclear is whether the Federal Government's recent brinksmanship (and faithful shadowing by the State Governments) compelled Police and security officials to mount raids, lest the people they were surveilling pick up shop. Instead of following this (where is Australia's version of Seymour Hersh??) the media has bought the whole story. It's all very exciting I suppose.
Dangerous times for all of us. For today it may be Muslims. Tomorrow it could be Tamils, or anarchists, or some other group. The problem is that a situation often only stops appearing absurd when it's too late.
Iqbal, your concerns are indeed valid. The media's collusion disturbs me perhaps the most. Little questioning. The SMH said today 'we must trust the govt.' Really? Why. I see no reason why on past form.
Some of the accused may well be suspect, who the hell knows, but the lack of critical investigation is yet another sign that our democracy is, well, broken.
Also, what media org, like the ALP, wants to be accused of being 'soft on terror'? The Murdoch/Packer press long ago forgot what journalism was about and the Fairfax press aren't far behind.
So you are saying is that religion has nothing to do with this Edward?
Edward, so you agree that religion is a factor yet you don't feel it worthy of mention in the papers? Interesting.
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