Censorship applied by Head Office
Press release by Kim Sara - 12th February 1999
Kim Sara, One Nation candidate for Port Macquarie is concerned that a book written just after the 1998 Federal elections has been pulled off the shelves of Dymocks Stores, under instructions from Head Office in Sydney. There appears to be no need for a Government Censorship Board as book chains now decide what people will read. Australians should be very concerned at such actions.
The book called "Murder by Media" written by Mr Scott Balson is a professionally written first hand account, of the real power driving Australia into the future. Mr Balson "documents the many accounts of mainstream national media bias in his book, which reflects what is wrong with having such a polarised media ownership in this country". The book describes "how the Packer/Murdoch families set and control the Australian political agenda".
Much of the book concentrates on the various "tricks" used by major city media against Pauline Hanson's One Nation before and during the 1998 Federal Election. All the material is well referenced. There has been no query as to the veracity and integrity of Mr Balson's book.
Angus and Robertson never carried the book, to our knowledge, but Dymocks carried Murder by Media on its shelves for a short while.
Yesterday, contact was made with the local Dymocks store in Port Macquarie, as to why the book was no longer available from them. We were told they had received a fax from Head Office, and were told not to display or sell the book as there was Legal Action Pending.
Contact was made with the author, Mr Scott Balson. He was unaware of any Legal Action. We then contacted the Dymocks store again today, Friday. We were told that they had received a further letter from Dymocks Company Secretary mr John Millard, which basically prohibits Dymocks Franchisees from selling the book. There was, and is, no legal action at all to date.
One Nation candidate for Port Macquarie Ms Kim Sara said she is disgusted with Dymocks management in Sydney, but puts the blame on the local franchisees who have always endeavoured to carry such book where they can.
Murder by Media is not a violent book, it is not a pornographic book and it does not glorify harmful pursuits, unless the pursuit of truth can be called harmful in the late 20th Century. Murder by Media is a book written to make us think, to consider the world we live in and the forces around us that we are exposed to, in the Media. These are the sorts of books these days that are being censored, not by the Censorship board, but by the large book Chain Managements.
Kim Sara said she would like to know from Dymock's Head Office the exact reason for pulling such an excellent book off the shelves in such a manner. Was Dymocks management in Sydney leaned on at all? Was it a personal individual choice by the manager? Who protects the public's right to access to controversial books, if not book store managements?
Kim Sara urges people not to allow this undemocratic state of affairs to continue. She urges them to write to: Mr J Millard, Company Secretary, Administration, Dymocks Head Office, Level 6, 428 George Str, Sydney 2000 Australia.