One of the things you're taught as a young journalist is that you have responsibility for writing the "first cut" of history. Now with the benefit of experience, hindsight and a tad more maturity, I'm embarrassed to admit that when I was a young journalist, I didn't always take this responsibility as seriously as I might have. At one stage my colleagues even christened me with the nickname "Beat Up Bruem". I think it related to a particular story in which I made the NSW regional road toll sound like some sort of sporting contest. "The central west looks set to beat last year's record road toll…" My friends have never let me live down that particular intro from 1988.
Now, with the benefit of more than a decade "on the dark side" (as journalists unfairly describe the public relations and corporate affairs) I have the highest regard for journalists who consistently make an effort to report fairly and accurately. Working in media relations for Telstra, you get to meet hundreds of journalists around Australia and the world at every level and you can get a good appreciation for those who go the extra mile or those who can't be bothered.
Presenting a story that is fair and accurate while meeting tight deadlines has always been one of the key challenges for journalists. The arrival of the internet age (which didn't exist when I was a working journalist) has made the job even tougher by shortening news cycles even further.
Thankfully, from a consumer viewpoint, the internet has also provided us with the ability to search various news reports of particular issues and even to download transcripts and other original sources so we can make up our own minds. (I couldn't go a day without Google News (news.google.com.au) and its alert services)
It was interesting to observe reporting of Phil Burgess's landmark speech to the Australian and New Zealand School of Government on April 30th. I challenge anyone to actually read the speech and not come to the conclusion that it was a thoroughly well-researched and thoughtful piece of work. It examined some of the key issues we as a society should be thinking about and debating - in particular, the appropriate interrelationship between private and public sectors. Indeed the Prime Minister himself was on the same track last week (www.theaustralian.news.com.au).
Most of the media relied on AAP's "quick and dirty" report of the speech which basically cobbled together all of the hot points in Phil's 45 minute address, leading to headlines such as "Telstra Executive slams Australia" (news.smh.com.au). Of course there is nothing we Australians hate more than Americans coming here and criticising our country!
By the next morning Melburnians awoke to hear the top-rating shock jock Neil Mitchell calling for "the gorilla" (Phil) to be deported. (Mitchell is the same bright spark who refers to Sol Trujillo as "the Mexican Bandit")
Thankfully, not everyone in the media took the report from AAP's Adam Gartrell (theland.farmonline.com.au) as gospel. Some took the time to actually read the speech and appreciate it for what it was (www.news.com.au). But sometimes even journalists with the best intentions and respect for accuracy can come to very different conclusions about 'what's what' - as TV reports of last week's closure of the Telstra CDMA network showed.
Both the ABC and SBS went to Peak Hill NSW to speak to a farmer about the performance of the Next G™ network and came away with completely different stories.
- SBS World news - End of the line (WMV - 5MB)
Running time: 2min. 44sec. - ABC 1 News - Last call (WMV - 4MB)
Running time: 2min. 07sec
How could this happen? Well it seems SBS just spoke to the Farmers Association representative, while the ABC's Philippa McDonald did her interview while the man's wife was in earshot. Contrary to what her husband wanted to say, she reckoned coverage was better than ever.
The two different stories say as much about farming marriages as they do about journalism and wireless coverage.