Wednesday 25 January 2012

Australian Journalism 101: Never let the facts get in the way of a good rant


A published letter to The Daily Examiner editor by Holly Shiach on 23 January alerted me to the many errors packed into so few lines by one notorious repeat offender employed by the APN regional media group.
See how many factual errors you can spot in the opinion piece below after reading a little about Greenpeace.

Whale of a PR machine by Graham Orams on Page 8 of The  Daily Examiner,  16 Jan 2012:  

WHALE activists aren't doing themselves any favours with some of their antics.
Greenpeace activists are losing a lot of support among the mainstream public because of their eco-terrorism approach to this matter.
For a start, despite its ostensible outrage, Greenpeace would have been rubbing its hands together when three of its crew members were detained on board a whaling ship recently.
In fact, I wouldn't mind betting that was the plan all along.
After all, a big PR firm like Greenpeace needs to constantly find new and exciting ways to get media attention.
That's not to say whales are not worth saving; it's just funny how activist organisations like Greenpeace never seem interested in saving endangered spiders, for instance.
That type of endeavour would unlikely stir the public's emotion enough for them to donate money (cynical, aren't I?).
And having to send an Australian rescue team to bring the "captured" activists back to Western Australia hasn't gone down well with many in the community, who are less than impressed at the cost to taxpayers.
Now we hear anti-whaling activists are throwing acid at Japanese whaling boats to get their message across.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Greenpeace claim to care about the environment?
I'm no marine biologist but isn't it bad for our oceans to have acid poured into it?
No matter what I say, though, there are many people who believe the means justifies the end.
But all too often that attitude amounts to hypocrisy.

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