Introduction:
Nothing is as it seems. The mainstream media do not present balanced news, they present biased opinion. The publishers, like Rupert Murdoch, use their positions of power to manipulate the men and women we elect into government. In short, democracy in Australia is a charade. The lobbyists headed by the media proprietors are continually looking at tax breaks and other financial rewards in exchange for "favours". (Consider the amount of tax payer funded government advertising that goes into supporting The Courier Mail each year. It amounts to millions of dollars). In the case of state politicians cosy deals with the media relate to favourable reporting which equates to votes and another four years in office.
Consider these facts related to the shredding of the Heiner documents:
Why have the mainstream media in Queensland not stepped up to the plate and alerted the wider community about the criminality of the decision by the Goss Cabinet to shred the documents?
How have the Beattie and Bligh Labor governments got away with refusing to have allegations about this criminality investigated?
Why has Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's role as Wayne Goss' chief-of-staff at the time of the shredding been ignored?
Why have senior editors at News Limited called Kevin Lindeberg, the whistleblower, fanatical, obsessed and tried to denigrate his campaign by (knowingly) falsely reporting that it is promoted by right wing extremists?
Our corrupt mainstream media:
There are some serious and fundamental issues here for you to get your heads around. Understanding that politicians and the mainstream media have a very incestuous relationship will give you a firm foundation on which to build your project.
This undemocratic relationship is allowed to be fostered under Editors like Chris Mitchell (seen right). These handpicked Editors are nothing more than Rupert Murdoch's lieutenants in his drive for global power. Mitchell was the Editor of The Courier Mail in the 1990s when the paper refused to publish anything on the Heiner Affair that would damage Peter Beattie. In 2004 Mitchell was promoted by Murdoch to Editor of The Australian newspaper which, in the weeks leading up to the 2007 Federal Election, ran an article attempting to smear Kevin Lindeberg, the whistleblower behind the shredding of the Heiner documents. Mitchell did this by trying to suggest that Lindeberg's campaign was supported by extreme right radical elements - throwing Scott Balson's name into the loop as one of these "extremists". (Balson's only "crime" was to maintain the original webpage exposing the Heiner scandal since 1996). Balson took The Australian newspaper to the Australian Press Council and, in February 2008, the Press Council upheld his complaints against The Australian.
In short what you read in printed newspapers by News Ltd is overtly political and not to be believed. The cover up of serious issues like the Heiner Affair by The Courier Mail and the blatant attempt to smear Lindeberg years later by Mitchell at The Australian reflects the serious issue of too much media power in the hands of too few as well as the dangers of Brisbane being a one newspaper town. Thankfully the Internet has opened up new channels for news and views to be freely discussed undermining the hold that the mainstream media have over what we hear and believe. The politicians and mainstream media feel threatened by the Internet and are currently looking at ways to restrict your freedoms of discussion.
Many senior editors and reporters at The Courier Mail, even today, were once media liaison officers for Members of Parliament. David Solomon, until recently a senior editor at The Courier Mail, is an excellent example.
Some facts about David Solomon:
- David Solomon was a former (Labor) Gough Whitlam staffer (1972-75) and had close personal and business ties to the Labor Premier Peter Beattie. During the time Solomon was a reporter
The Courier Mail refused to report objectively on the shredding of the Heiner documents.
- Solomon was a senior editor at The Courier Mail until he retired in 2007, his appointment by the Bligh government into a position of power followed soon after (link below).
- Bligh puts Solomon, a trusted friend, in charge of a review of the state's Freedom of Information laws
- It was David Solomon who, earlier in July 1999, vexatiously called for Scott Balson to be arrested in The Courier Mail on the day of his arrest for exposing Labor MP Bill D'Arcy as a paedophile.(Scan of the original article at this link.) Ironically The Courier Mail breached the same act in the week Solomon wrote his "feature" article yet Balson remains the only person or business charged under this obscure 30 year old act. Despite blatant power driven intimidation like this Balson has, in the public interest, kept this page on the Henier Affair online since 1996.
(NOTE: Balson published the book "Murder by Media" in January 1999 exposing The Courier Mails lack of ethics resulting in the paper's personal backlash. The courts found Scott Balson not guilty of any wrong doing and he went on to sue The Courier Mail and the State of Queensland for a malicious prosecution in the Supreme Court. This was never reported on by the media. While Balson was out of pocket for thousands of dollars in legal costs over his political arrest paedophile D'Arcy was allowed to keep his tax payer funded superannuation of nearly one million dollars thanks to Premier Beattie's goodwill to his former colleague)
Compromised "reporters" at The Courier Mail still have the ear of their well-placed friends and provide an effective but informal gateway between Murdoch and his editorial staff with Members of Parliament. They are effective lobbyists for the financial interests of their publishers.
So why has The Courier Mail refused to take on the government over this scandal? One day we might find out - your challenge is to be informed so that you understand the dirty little secrets played out behind closed doors.
| FACT: The first thing Kevin Rudd did on being chosen leader of the Labor Party in 2007 was to fly to New York to meet personally with Rupert Murdoch, an American citizen who is CEO of News Ltd and whose family company owns The Courier Mail. Ask yourself why and consider what was discussed. |
The Rule of Law (the basis of democracy)
One of the casualties of this immoral association between media and politicians is the public good. Important issues are deliberately kept under wraps by the media and the rule of law is knowingly compromised by the Labor Government under Beattie and Bligh. The rule of law dictates that every man, woman and child will be treated equally regardless of their position in society. This is not the case here because all senior appointments in judicial departments in Queensland today, such as the DPP, have been handpicked by the politicians.
The shredding of the Heiner documents and its unresolved status after twenty years clearly reflects an imperfect and abusive system. This has been created by covered-up corruption resulting from a stage managed merging of political and media power aimed at mutual benefit to the ultimate detriment of your best interests, the citizens they both purport to represent. This immoral partnership supported by the Queensland's Public Administration - the Legislature, the Executive, the Judicary, result in both these parties being above the rule of law.
Consider the fate of reporters in Queensland who have stood up and upheld their code of journalistic ethics:
Australian Broadcasting Corporation reporter Andrew Carroll and the University of Queensland's head of journalism Professor Bruce Grundy are two rare exceptions to the rule when it comes to reporting integrity. Both lost their jobs as a result of their outspoken position on the Heiner Affair (shredding fiasco) - the message to journalists is clear. Conform and allow your ethics to be compromised or lose your job.
Related quote on Grundy:
Senior journalist Bruce Grundy, who lost his job with Queensland University because he refused to stop looking at corruption within the Queensland Government, says the rewriting of history in the corruption State has been shameful.
Source The Daily Telegraph - full article at this link
In closing...
If the Queensland media reported with balance and ethics and were not compromised by political expediency the shredding of the Heiner documents would have been investigated years ago as a result of media coverage and the resulting public outcry. The media haven't, the scandal hasn't and the public remain in the dark. Most reporters today do not investigate they comply while Chiefs-of-Staff edit stories seen to be outside the publishers terms of reference. And who can blame them with unethical Editors like Chris Mitchell only answering to his "Master's" call (see the video clip from ABC 7.30 Report below). As a direct result it is easy for politicians to cover up serious issues like the Heiner Affair which should have been aired and acted upon twenty years ago.
Australian Press Council - Point four in Statement of Principles:
News and comment should be presented honestly and fairly, and with respect for the privacy and sensibilities of individuals. However, the right to privacy is not to be interpreted as preventing publication of matters of public record or obvious or significant public interest. Rumour and unconfirmed reports should be identified as such.