Back to Unreality

The News of the World hacking scandal exposes the worst of contemporary journalism.  But Britain still has first class newspapers to give some sort of balance.  It was, after all, the dogged journalism of the Guardian that finally brought to light the extent of the problems of the Murdoch tabloid.  Returning to Australia I have been once again reminded of how our lack of media diversity and a public appetite for national discussion of issues as if they were  football matches have combined to drag journalism down to less scandalous, but just as disappointing, depths.  And the fact that the owner of News of the World controls 70 per cent of the metropolitan newspaper market in Australia, while its only major competitor Fairfax is struggling to survive, is no source of comfort.  To put this British affair into an Australian context readers will find this site illuminating The Failed Estate


Update: There is a very interesting article in Crikey today by Margaret Simons