“It helps them if they exaggerate things”: Michelle Grattan on Alan Jones, Ray Hadley and Andrew Bolt
A panel of Australia’s top journalists gathered on Saturday night to discuss, amongst other things, the rise of “brand” journos who prefer to voice their own opinions and “exaggerate things” rather than sticking to the facts.
Grattan, chief political correspondent at The Conversation, told the audience: “We’re getting into more and more opinion journalism, and people who make their reputation on opinion. People like [Alan] Jones, [Ray] Hadley and [Andrew] Bolt.
“Their whole cache is not only to reflect grievances but also to have distinct views. It’s all black and white, and they are people who provide answers with not too much complexity. In a sense, it helps them if they exaggerate things rather than deal with facts.”
I worry we only agree because they exemplify the brand we like.
In my view it is a bit rich and hypocritical Gratten ,Oakes, Fergurson and Ray Martin to critize Hadley, Jones and Bolt for expressing their opinion when Gratten, Oakes and Co are always expressing their opinion in the name of so called Journalism plus it is also very elitiest of Oakes and Co to assume they dictate and determine what the facts are when they spend most of the time quoting Labour Party statitics questionable as they are and not really a strong foundation to base an case or arguement enough said!
Absolutely. Sounds like a Left versus Right argument and of course the left, sanctimonious as usual. Hadley and Jones dominate the radio ratings and for my money Andrew Bolt is one of the most ”common sense” commentators on the box. But never let democracy get in the way of the leftie agenda.
@ Pete
Troll?
Oxford dictionary definition.
Angling, To draw, Baited line, often from a comment.
Conclusion. Troll.
Hear! Hear!
The bile you read in The Australian is frightening. It is now not a newspaper but an agenda paper that allows subscribers to throw more bile in the comments page. If The Australian edited the more repugnant comments they’d lose customers. Great business model – feed their base a healthy dose of anti feminism,anti ABC, anti Fairfax, anti SSM, anti Turnbull, anti climate change theory, anti ALP, anti 18c, anti muslim, anti immigration and let them rip. Don’t get me started on The Tele, 2GB ( you’re lucky Melbourne) and Sky. As for Tim Blair.
People of Jones’ ilk are opinion-makers and shapers who mould any facts to their aurguments. They should not be confused with journalists.
Sounds like the lame stream media to me, always pushing for their leftist views on everything, So pathetic.
If only we DID have some left wing media as opposed to centrist, right-wing and brownshirt ultra-right wing.
Neither Jones or Hadley are journalists by training or vocation. Bolt started in journalism but has moved into the commentator verging on entertainer space of the other two. The journos quoted do not generally inject their own views over the top of the news and when they do comment it is based on some knowledge unlike the three amigos who present as experts on everything with, as was observed, simplistic solutions.
You can pick and choose to consume the opinions of the above mentioned journos, presenters and announcers, left or right. What is more concerning is the general quality of news on our major commercial broadcasters and digital mastheads. 7, 9 and 10 news, commercial radio news and the homepages of our major news sites are all horrendous. This should be what’s debated, not the styles of a handful of “brand” media people.
The point us not about bolt etc. it’s about all media. All we get are opinions and very little reporting of news. Some are blatant like the guardian editor who uses the first person singular very frequently indeed – as if we care about her preferences. All the newspapers suffer from an excess of columns, ranging from the bullying in the AFR rear window column to the ranting of the Oz legal editor (who hates icac among other prejudices).
I’m with ferguson. Let’s starting slapping the brand builders and applaud the news reporters. Might first have to sack the hywoods and millers of this world but that’s inevitable anyway.
Opinion reporting crept into journalism in the 70s when editorial policies changed. Prior to that one could only get a byline on a story, if it was worthy of one, but you were still not able to express an opinion in the story (only report the facts). Opinion reports were confined to the editorial pages, where they should be today. Sadly, many people cannot distinguish facts from opinion.
Looks like the Fake News Mutual Admiration Society on their thrones above. The day before the US election, Fairfax ‘journalists’ were writing articles on why Hillary Clinton would definitely be elected. US lame-stream media were reporting a 97% chance of Hillary being elected. When she didn’t win the new scoop was ‘the Russians did it’, even though they said the elections were fair when they thought she would win.