Brands pull ads from 2GB show following Alan Jones ‘died of shame’ comments about PM’s father
A number of advertisers have moved to distance themselves from comments made by 2GB’s Alan Jones about the reason for the death of Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s father.
The inflammatory comments – that Mr Gillard had “died of shame” were made by Jones at a political gathering and taped by a journalist from the Sunday Telegraph.
Opponents of Jones used social media including Twitter, Facebook and change.org to target advertisers on 2GB.
Woolworths issued a statement saying that it was not a recent sponsor of the show, but that it had suspended any ads that might run. Freedom Furniture said it had suspended ads on 2GB and Mercedes-Benz said it was telling its dealerships not to advertise on the show. Woolies, Freedom Furniture and Mercedes announced their decisions via their Facebook pages.
I’m going to say this, for good or bad because at times like this very few people tend to say it….
Look, what Alan Jones said was disgusting and offensive and he has ‘apologised’ but we are rapidly approaching a very slippery slope around free speech.
At the end of the day shit content and insensitive views/comments are just that, shit and insensitive and in most cases they should simply be ignored and not given any oxygen. But at the end of the day, who is the judge of what is shit, insensitive or offensive?
And who is the judge of whether his apology is sincere; me, you?
Is what Jones said any more or less offensive than the recent YouTube video which offended some people, more so in Islamic communities? In that case the mob mentality and fear is to immediately censor free speech but where do we draw the line and where is the perspective? Even the leader of the ‘free world’ and his government (USA) came out and requested the YouTube clip to be pulled down but why aren’t the same actions taken around content like ‘The Life of Brian’? (and no they are not comparable in quality but I’m pretty confident many Christians / Catholic’s find if offensive!)
I personally think what Jones said was very insensitive and offensive but do I have a right to curtail what someone else says just because I personally think this way? *I do however agree with stopping hate speech but hate speech is very different to speech which some might find insensitive or offensive.
Hate speech is reasonably clear cut but what constitutes ‘offensive’ to one person might not be to another and where do we draw/cross the line at comedy, parody and black humour?
I highly recommend people watch this great video ‘Punchlines for Progress: Why Jon Stewart is one of the most trusted men in America’ https://vimeo.com/8718480 The majority of the key comedians in this video were subject to persecution, arrest and censorship in the USA, a so called ‘free speech society’ simply because some part of the community thought their comments were offensive. *And no I am not comparing Alan Jones to these guys, I’m just drawing an analogy around how dangerous all these mob, knee jerk reactions are to any censorship of differing views.
At the end of the day listeners will vote with their feet or in this cases their ears and so will advertisers. However, I don’t want to live in a society where everyone thinks the same and the thought police control what I can think or say – except for hate speech.
I personally now vote around policies and not personalities and definitely not based on ideology. Bill Clinton said, “The problem with any ideology (left, right, green politics, religion) is it gives an answer before looking at the evidence”.
All I can think of right now is the book and movie Faranheit 51. Everyone just needs to take a big deep breath and put things into perspective……
And I forgot to say that Jones made those offensive comments at a private function and not on radio, TV, newspapers or magazines….(whether this makes any difference or not, to what and how people can make comments, I don’t know)….
Alan Jones has plenty of free speech. Just as much as the people who exercise their ability to boycott sponsors and complain about his behavior. No one is suggesting he be put in jail, locked up or fined for his comments. We will all judge what we consider offensive and act accordingly but I don’t think there would be many people who would argue that what he said was okay. There is a broad concept of what we consider as a society to be acceptable and Jones crossed that line. Can you find a single person publicly saying that what he said was okay? People just have the ability now to easily register their feelings on these sorts of things. Advertisers can decide if they want to give financial support to people like Jones. They have that right. Woolworths has the right to employ a guy who donates a chaff bag to a young liberals auction. Likewise I have the right to shop at Coles.
Great comment Martin…….i can’t help but think the feeding of a rabid mob (of any flavour/creed/colour/belief) has become the media’s new charter. Offensive comments/images are now multiplied way beyond their original audiences and this has the effect to outrage more people/get more coverage ad infinitum. Witness how the (global) media fuelled the rage about the anti-Islam video – no-one would have seen it had the media not picked it up and run with it.
Personally i don’t like Alan Jones and i can’t believe he stooped so low, but then I don’t listen to his show and I wouldn’t pay to attend a dinner where he is the guest speaker. I’d suggest those that would attend such a dinner got exactly what they paid for. And to be fair to the guy, he didn’t use these comments on his widely broadcast radio program, so he is showing some restraint.
The right of politics will get their turn when someone sneaks a recording device into a trade union function or the next meeting of the international socialists. On it goes.
When we rush from one side of the political divide to the other to jump on the latest ill-advised comment broadcast way beyond it’s originally intended audience all we do is rock the boat from side to side and fail to pay attention to where we are actually headed.
The media are becoming less reporters of events going on in our world and more like instigators of those events.
Martin – we dont need an essay or philosophical analysis to know what is true: saying a person’s dead father died of shame is a horribly cruel, rude and insensitive thing to say. There is no excuse for it and there is no way a comment like that can be defended by the “free speech” argument. Imagine if he had said to the liberal party boyos “you shoudl all go out and r-pe women to tach them a lesson”. Would that be OK because its a “private function”?
Get a grip my friend and join the real world
Martin Don’t you think Jones comments where made out of hate for the Prime Minister. I would call what was said a hate speech.
Jones is notorious for inciting hate. Cronulla riots is one great example of his work. I support free speech but I do not support speech who’s sole purpose is to defame another. His apology is some what week given that his apologised before and still has not learnt.
The power of social media has proven what free speech can do who campaigned for these company to drop Alan Jones and lets hope gags this man for ever.
@mmm What a preposterous anology – “You should all go out and rape women….” He didn’t say anything like that. Given he made some very distasteful remarks but let’s not detract from the relevant comments.
Martin seems to be doin a nice apology for that nasty little man. Tickets were publicly available for this fundraiser. Lets not forget his bullshit about trucks being stopped by police at Yass so they could not be at his carbon tax rally. If i remember rightly he is a convicted felon guilty of taking $$$$ for comment.
Sadly, everything will blow over, as it always does. Look at Kyle, he lives to offend again, even if it is on a short leash. Earlier today I read an article by former Austerero programmer, (http://www.radiotoday.com.au/g.....jones.html). His basic point was, he got his message out, and in doing so, did a number on the media.
But you’re responsible for what you say.
It doesn’t matter where, or to whom.
If it offends people, you are responsible.
If there are repercussions, you are responsible.
That’s all there is to it.
I’m so sick of hate mobs mobilising around a few dozen people to write to sponsors and pressure them to cancel their relationship with shows. Yes it’s terrible and there should be an apology… but really these hate mobs continually want blood…. blood… blood.
When you are in the public eye you are supposed to be responsible. Regardless of who you vote for, Jones’ comments were lower than low.
No wonder our children have little or no respect when you have public figures opening their mouths with such garbage or little regard to decency.
You are past it Jones, retire and disappear.
“Hate Mobs Want Blood” “A Few Dozen People”….Dear Dabug and others have you any idea the nasty spiteful hate filled vitriol that Jones spews out on a massive scale to near 800,000 listeners every day of every week.The fact that people be a handful or in their millions rally for what they believe is decent and right is a long way short of the mindless nonsense and hyperbole your pushing of “blood blood blood”…..As for Martin as noted by others before me his overview is some over bearing bloatedanalysis of a scenario that isn’t even tenuously connected to the issue at hand.How about this for objectivity Jones is a filthy little hypocrite a bully a man who demands pious standards that he himself cannot keep.
Another assault on free speech by the Left. You don’t like someone or something so you bully the advertisers. It isn’t even original. It was pioneered by the religious Right in the US in the 1980s. It just goes to show that the left is far more hateful and toxic than the Right could ever be.
@Dabug.
No I don’t want blood. But I do want sponsors to know that they will lose my business if they continue to associate themselves with hate.
What’s going on here? Why the hysteria? Big names pulling ads? Come on, guys! We all know Jones is a loudmouth who thrives on controversy. We know he’s a joker who hits below the belt. He’s a stirrer and an attention grabber but he has a habit of ringing loud bells. He deliberately dropped a facetious comment at a private function. A reporter picked it up, it’s a no-news day so a news editor, smelling a potential stink, prints it and the jungle drums go wild with indignation! Canberra goes ape; shock-horror hits the streets. The media screams: Roll out the tumbrels and wheel Jones to the chopping block! The raw truth is even more sensational: The Jones profile has taken an upward curve, the topic has become smoking hot, 2GB is laughing and the news editor is the hero of the week. The comment in question was masterfully snide. It’s the kind of cheeky off-the-cuff remark any Aussie Smart Alec would make just to get a laugh from his mates in the pub. Now let’s see how long the alleged advertiser boycotts last: ‘Tomorrow is another day,’ said Scarlett O’Hara, knowing full well that most of today’s bonfires are gone with the wind next week when the publicity caravan has departed. Meanwhile, Julian Assange rots in a tiny foreign embassy in Knightsbridge, held captive at UK taxpayer’s expense, and our PM refuses to interfere…or worse still; accept a call from Mr Jones so she can tell him, person to person, to grow up and get a life!
Leaving out the reference to Gillard’s father, everything else Alan Jones said was true. Gillard is clearly a pathological liar.The outrage in the press should be against Labor for the disgraceful behaviour of all its ministers in the outright lies they spout every day to the Australian people
However we feel about what Jones said- freedom of speech etc there is a large section of the population who listen to him and other similar low lifes just to be titillated and to save themselves from having to think!
Sadly, even if this latest event were to cause the demise of Mr Jones, nothing would change because shock-jocks are like sharks teeth – they’d just move one seat up and a new one would take the empty chair. Ray Hadley would become the new bully king and the cycle continues.
Media has great influence over the way people behave in our society – as do our politicians. It sets the tone, and broadcasting (using publicly owned airways to distribute your message) carries enormous responsibilities – a burden that Mr Jones, Hadley, Sandilands, Francis, Bolt, et al have demonstrated they’re either not up to or interested in meeting.
The only way to cut the head off the monster is to starve it of the oxygen and money it craves. While an individual cannot directly influence the former, they can certainly do something about the latter – and putting pressure on the companies that sponsor their words is the best way to go about it.
Alan Jones has a right to be a misogynistic, hateful, obnoxious old man – but he doesn’t have the right to broadcast it over public airways.
@MartinWalsh
“And who is the judge of whether his apology is sincere; me, you”
Oh come off it: Jones is a consumate talker, that’s his job and he thinks that when he opens his mouth, it’s worth listening to.
Fact is that Jones has been talking for so long now that THERE IS NO SINCERITY
IN ANYTHING HE SAYS.
That’s why this so-called apology simply became vintage spruiking.
It’s like John Laws’ surprise when told about his cash-for-comment, because Laws had lost sight of the universal morality that requires that a person “owns” what they say. Instead, Laws had been happy to be just a hired mouth, and that was the offence.
There is something similar here with Jones. Because Jones has become used to being paid to gabble away at the microphone (and at podiums), he thinks that whatever he says is somehow OK. That’s how come the press apology conference turned into a political attack on the ALP, his emenies, etc etc. And Jones didn’t have the sense just to shut up.
Sincerity just isn’t in this man’s emotional arsenal. It’s all about effect: the man is a hollowed out freak (evidence the abstract “a daughter” instead of Julia Gillard, and his own need to invoke continually his own father).
Jones has moved so far away from the common values of what ought not to be said that now he lives in his own “talk island.” He clearly thinks that if the words keep coming out of his mouth then that is enough. He can’t stop talking long enough to actually reflect on what he’s doing. There is no interior person here any more: it’s an exterior gab-fest, done for effect.
ENOUGH.
Methinks this one marks the end of Alan Jones …. & for the general health of the people who live in this society, it comes not a moment too soon.
Didn’t take long, did it? All the Jones Jealouses and never-even-has-beens come out of the woodwork to bag the most successful broadcaster in Australia. I was waiting for someone to drag up the Cronulla riots misquotes – Jones did NOT incite people to riot at Cronulla, in fact what he said (and it is on the record) was exactly the opposite.
You don’t have to agree with everything he says but to demand he resign and demand that advertisers pull the plug is way, way over the top.
People have lost sight of the fact that Julia Gillard is the worst prime minister in history and she tells lies as a matter of course. Right now she’d be celebrating at the heat being taken off her by her nemisis.
I’m finding the disrespectful and offensive comments towards others on a topic about someone being disrespectful and offensive, hysterically ironic….
Alan Jones appologised?? its a fake apology ,, WHY CANT HE SAY SORRY????
However inappropriate Jones’ comments, let us celebrate the fact that we live in a country where he can still make them, and his critics can criticize him, and a healthy robust debate ensues. Argue, debate, yes – but silence? No.
There are those in the middle class left who seek to curtail free speech in this country, who seek to treat “offence” as a crime rather than something to be countered, and who seek to silence dissent from leftist orthodoxies.
This is not new. Their ideological forefathers, from Stalin to Mao to Eric Hoenecker and more recently the Kims of North Korea, provided the techniques to follow. But because these online luvvies sip lattes and live in inner city hipster comfort, don’t think that they are any less dangerous, and a serious threat to our freedom of speech.
To all of the above commentators – you are bloody marvellous
If Jones has issued an apology he has admitted he was wrong so all the comments supporting him (effectively saying he wasn’t) will presumably add their apologies too.
I look forward to it.
What really infuriates me advertisers such as Mercedes-Benz, Freedom Furniture, Woolworths et al – you can’t fund a shock-jock as spiteful & horrible as Alan Jones as part of your business strategy 364 days of the year and then one one day pull your advertising – as if you have some kind of moral compass. You don’t! You shouldn’t be fuelling his obscene existence at all – advertisers like you keep poison like Alan Jones on air. Okay – deep breath; rant over.
People don’t want to silence him because of anything to do with free speech. It’s simply because what he says is repulsive.
@Martin Walsh
You’ve got to be farkin’ kidding Martin.
Your implicit support of Jones “beggars belief” to use the shock jock’s favorite. “Who is to judge what is offensive?” you say. What you’re inferring by that is that Jones’ comments about Mr Gillard could possibly not be offensive to certain people. Who are you suggesting these people might be? Can you give us an example? We’ll take any thing Martin? Mmm?
All I can think of is Singo’s 2GB (2 Gillard Bashers). And by the way, when is magnate’s mate John Singleton going to step from the shadows? He owns 2GB. He publicly stated that only employs people who share his opinion. He’s assembled this Gillard bashing committee of Jones, Hadley, Smith and the rest of them.
These guys rip into Gillard with the kind of creepy persistence you’d expect from pedophiles. They’re obsessed. They’ve demonised her in their little heads. What is it about Julia Gillard that they’re prepared to put their careers on the line?.Jones is finished. He will not survive this because Australians are essentially decent people.
John Singleton created this nasty lynch mob. Maybe he can answer that questions.
/ What is driving them? It’s only politics guys. You seriously should get help.
Interesting…The article on the Adnews site covering this story doesn’t have a single comment? Who’s pissing in whose pocket I wonder.
In my eyes what Jones said has been taken out of context by many media outlets, also how can this be the first story on the news on many channels, surely their are more important things to report on.
I mean Robbie Farrah said Julia Gillard should “go buy a Noose” in a Tweet, how much media coverage was this given, apart from 10 seconds on the news.
Hmmmm, I have to say Martin Walsh’s comments make a lot of sense.
How did his show rate today? Highly I expect. Alan is just Alan, yes he hates Julia and Labour, but they mostly deserve it. The reference to her father was inappropriate but note it wasn’t said on air. Some bloke recorded it at a private dinner.
Note Kerry Stokes called into to Alans show this morning, sending him his support. I dont think Alan is going anywhere, except north in the ratings.
Can we all go back to kicking that pig Kyle Sandilands?
gee I hope your cheque is in the mail Martin Walsh
This comment thread is starting to read like a talk back transcript…
The comments are unacceptable, even trying to understand why anyone would think like this is difficult. Let alone say them out loud and in such a charged environment. So I draw the conclusion that he did appreciate fully what he was saying.
The damage is done, and he needs to move on. His brand is beyond repair in any meaningful way. The wider community has spoken and we all need to take notice and this includes every political party and politician.
Lets just try to be a more decent bunch.
It might be worth pointing out the Martin currently works for Barry O’Farrell.
Goodness me Martin. So much effort; so little return. Like your hero, you talk a lot without saying anything. As his chief apologist, you’ve long ago learnt how to say sorry to someone while sinking the knife in again. If it was up to me, I’d put you and your hero in a hessian sack and drown you both in the ocean. Locked in eternal bliss together. And I hear drowning’s very peaceful.
@Martin, I think the point in all of this that has been missed is that in the past it had been easy for people in a position of power in the media to not be challenged on their commentary. In this way, only one side had access to speak freely and be heard.
Alan can and should be able to say what ever he likes.
In just the same way, members of the community who previously had no cause to comeback can also attempt to retort.
I don’t necessarily believe that these campiagns are very effective in the long term. But, people are improving at rallying around a cause and I do think the effectiveness will grow.
It is GOOD for free speech to slowly see a balancing in the access of everyday people to have thier say and brands will need to assess whether riding on the back of shock jock audiences will still deliver the numbers if they keep ending up on the ‘boycott’ list as well.
This isnt about free speech for all, this is about an overly powerful man who feels he can say anything..anytime and until now has been able to get away with it.
This is an opportuntity for all people in the media to realise that they are no longer free to make inappropriate comments and get away with it. This is not just about the “father” comment, its about years of pent up frustration from a voiceless majority who are discovering a voice.
oh, and the “apology”.. that just compounded things, if the man does not have access to a PR company to assist him, i recommend he get one fast!
Given Jones history of plagiarism, especially passing off others works of fiction as fact (Frederick Forsyth anyone?), isn’t it all just a bit ironic that he calls Gillard a liar.
Anyone who doesn’t buy space on the Jones show right now is a dill. His listenership must be bigger than ever.
Alan Jones has “apologised” for one statement, though it sounded like he was more sorry for getting caught out.
He hasn’t apologised for being the highest bidder on the “chaff jacket” at the same event, compounding his hideous earlier comments. Or for his many other mean spirited and anger filled pronouncements.
This isn’t about a storm over one statement – it is a protest about an ugly, shameless and venomous spray that is outside the standard that a decent society sets for itself.
Alan Jones has never been held accountable for taking secret commissions, disclosed in the cash for comment inquiry. He’s not been held accountable for anything.
There is no restriction on his free speech – he has more airtime than most.
But, finally, the public are saying: we expect better from public debate and, as a society, we are better than this.
Why isn’t the integrity (or lack of) being questioned of the journalist who didn’t declare himself (when asked) at a private function of the liberal party. You can bet that what would be said at an ALP function would be as ferocious about the LIbs.
I think this is in the same vein as the photographer who snapped e topless photos of Kate Middleton. No one thought that she was fare game. Why is Alan Jones fare game?
A frightening indictment on free speech….
How long is it before advertisers realise that keyboard warriors are rarely the demographic they were targeting in the first place? Do you honestly think any significant percentage of the people who signed petitions for Jones or Sandilands were listeners to begin with? It’s madness.
As for the “spiteful hate filled vitriol that Jones spews out on a massive scale to near 800,000 listeners every day of every week” — have you ever considered that there may be 800,000 or so people that may agree with what he says, however nasty it may be, or do you consider everyone who listens to the radio a lemming that cannot make up their own minds?
I will defend Alan Jones’ right to be on the air in order to excercise my right to tell Alan Jones to GTF off the air.
@Dabug – you might need to recalibrate mate. Your ‘few dozen’ are now over 80,000 people who have signed a petition against Jones. The man has form and I’m glad he is finally being held to account.
Wots going on here? Looks like Andrew Bolts blog has merged with Mumbrella !
How many of the commenters above have never visited Mumbrella before? This is a truly bizarre thread.
@ Jim P
“It’s the kind of cheeky off-the-cuff remark any Aussie Smart Alec would make just to get a laugh from his mates in the pub.”
My mates certainly wouldn’t laugh about anyone’s father dying – whether the person is in the public arena or otherwise. Please tell me the pub you drink at so I can avoid it.
Jones says he was in the wrong. The Liberal Party says Jones was in the wrong. Abbott says Jones was in the wrong. The Labor Party says Jones was in the wrong. Gillard says Jones was in the wrong. Over 70,000 people have signed a petition saying Jones was in the wrong. The truth is Jones was in the wrong and everyone pointing that out is right.
The thing about free speech advocates is…….
…..they don’t seem to realise that asking advertisers to boycott the show is itslef an act of free speech. Or that aadvertisers doing that are actually speaking.
What’s good for the parrot is good for the gander.
When free speech warriors denounce the denouncers….they smell like liberty, but taste like hypocrisy.
“FREE SPEECH ” defense of Jones is nonsense……The mans had and got a democratic cake walk of free speech and in the digital age we can now all voice our own version of “free speech”‘It’s our right to challenge and demand better from people in the media who have had it too good for to long.The cyber age has revealed a whole generation of people that now have platform to express their views and Jones and Co better get used to it….These people in the media are deluded…their audience are controlled zombie like while network peers and colleagues are sycophantic drones.You don’t need the imagination of Wizard to picture the back slapping that goes on with these media organizations. Voltaire once proudly stated and I para phrase “I disagree entirely what you said but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it”…..Now it’s my turn to have my say as well as 100,000 of others…..Jones has a microphone and I have a keyboard ….He can say what he wants and I will remain as equally vigilant to maintain “THE RAGE” against his nasty backward opinion
@43 spot on.
it is like the herald sun comments section (I suggest following Herald-Sun readers on twitter) https://twitter.com/heraldsunreader
“The Alan Dawn”
Jones in person is a sad figure. I’m sure he lives in a fantasy world, where his mates (have a look back over time at that list) and the beneficiaries of his love inhabit a world constantly bombarded by nasty people. Curiously, all the mates have some sort of power or are sports stars. Strangely, all of the beneficiaries are people who for various reasons need emotional support. The man wants power and craves dependencies. He never admits to error on his own part and never considers anything like a sense of community. In another era he’d be handy to a Stalin or a Mao or a Mussolini.
The fact is he has only ever had success through adopting extreme views. Another fact: Australians generally don’t like extremes of any kind.
I hope he keeps it up and I hope he makes Gillard a winner. Not because Labor deserves to hold Government, but because this stuff is out of hand and Jones is leading the race to mayhem.
An unqualified apology is what it sounds like: “I apologize”
What Jones did is say “if I offended, I am sorry. to the extent I offended, I am sorry” and then some more. more bile. more vituperation. more ‘blame the victim’
its not an unqualified apology. its a highly qualified, argumentative, self-justifying pile of shit.
All the hype around this event is justified, he’s an extremely dangerous git, sad thing is the more hype generated by it all, the more he would actually be loving it all, he’s the news now!
When they look at next ratings figures they will be back
I will repeat what I said, I wasn’t defending Alan Jones and I said I agree that what he said was offensive. Read my comments…..
The irony of some of the comments on here beggars belief……people actually being offensive and disrespectful on a topic about someone being utterly offensive and disrespectful! Breathtaking…..
Says a lot about the hypocrisy of many loud voices…..do as I say, but not as I do……
if only the ‘j’ in his surname was an ‘i’ – then Anal Noise would be a perfect anagram! Anal Nojse just doesn’t have the same ring to it
These consumer advocate campaigns are awesome – “lets force companies to not be successful in a free market!!”.
Jones has a huge audience (likely to be larger now with all the publicity about him) that is very loyal and has money to spend – they are cashed-up baby boomers probably buying a car every few years, perfect for insurance, financial products and services, holidays, funerals etc etc.
This audience will stay with him, and if say Mercedes pulls back its ads, BMW (or someone else) will sniff an opportunity and sneak in quietly after the overwrought outrage has died down…..i give it a week.
I think the funniest thing is that most of the loudest critics are skewing young and decidedly left – not the best demographics for a lot of marketers to go after.
Do your best folks, but reality is it’ll be for nothing.
I don’t want blood and yes, Mr Jones is entitled to voice his opinion. I just want his microphone taken away so that his ability to spread his bile is limited.
This man contravenes every principle of ‘even-handed’ broadcasting every day.
Oh well… at least the viciousness that propels his agenda (as well as its massive influence), has finally been come to national attention.
The question is:
Can we allow this individual to continue remaking our country in his own small,
rather craven image?
Well, can we?
Three cheers to Mumbrella for the diversity of this commentary! If this were a Fairfax or ABC blog, most of the comments would have been censored by the bourgeois lefties who tolerate no opinion but their own.. Mumbrella, you’re shaping up as a true forum of public opinion.
@ Paul Mortimer the answer to your question is decent, thinking people with a soul can’t. Lets hope we are not outnumbered.
I just wanted to say that a good linguistic analysis of Jones’ apology would easily show that what he said was no apology at all. And while we’re at it, why on earth is the ABC going to you PR folks for your opinion rather than a university linguistics or media department. Sorry but I don’t really see how you are qualified to talk about anything other than marketing marketers.
Perhaps Alan Jones should put his mike in the correct location. Thats right. Up his arse where his pea brain is. If he can speak his mind so can we. An apt example of an imbecile is none other than Alan Jones ! Put a trumpet up your bum, Alan Jones ! And just blow away !
My comment has hit the nail right on the head ! Or perhaps his genitals ?
Wow, amazing to see that Mumbrella through this topic has now attracted some intellectually bankrupt trolls who apparently can’t read…..
In what Universe do my initial or subsequent comments in any way shape or form support or defend the offensive comments Alan Jones made about the PM’s father?
Unlike toads like @Tigger and others I don’t post online anonymously as I have nothing to hide. I don’t work for the Liberal party, I hate politics, I can’t stand commercial radio after having worked in it, I’ve never listened to Alan Jones or any shock jock and I listen to Triple J.
Are you saying that everyone of the 330,000 people who works for the NSW Government (I’ve been in my new role as Director Digital for 2 weeks) votes for the Liberal Party? How about all those who work for the Federal government, are they all Labor hacks? I’m also a film producer so what has that got to do with anything in relation to my comments which clearly call out that what Alan Jones said was offensive? I’ve also said on Twitter repeatedly that what Alan Jones said was offensive.
Trolls who can’t read, ROFL…..
What Alan Jones said is definitely wrong. No excuses. But really, there are bigger problems in the world right now that is getting less of our attention. We should move on. And let’s not forget the big picture here – Labor, Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd are still responsible for all the wonderfully expensive and failed policies which we’ll all be paying fo many years to come. They are the master of spin. Wouldn’t be surprised to see the PM’s approval rating go up…
Can you imagine the pitchforkers (young liberals) who attended the dinner where mein fuhrer Jones spoke? They would have been beside themselves with glee, star struck, in ore of the foul mouthed un ethical ranter! (Pitchforkers love a bit of foul…)
Can you imagine the conversations that go on between the pitchforkers on a day to day basis? Hatred, blinkered, mindlessness; “me, me, me…”
American and Australian conservatives have something in common in 2012. They are hicks! Abbott and Romney are two wannabe leaders. They just know what they want (power). They are not leaders. I know a few pitchforkers personally and they don’t like me calling them pitchforkers. I have said to them that I will stop referring to them as pitchforkers, once the party they support and it’s media and corporate supporters stop behaving like tyrants.
As the world grows smaller and people gain access to more information than ever before, it will be interestingh how the tyrants will continue to manipulate the naive.
I notice all the left wing trolls go nuts after Alan Jones but stay quiet on the ABC journo and presenter who gets a woefully small sentence for some horrific child pornography offences.
let’s be real, Jones is unpleasant. But there are many many more deserving recipients of online bile.
@Nick – there is a big difference between a millionaire bully who has never been held accountable for his actions and the case of Andy Muirhead who will do time in jail and will probably have trouble ever gaining employment in Australia. We’re all commenting on the Mumbrella article on Jones remember? Mumbrella is a marketing publication – the connection with Muirhead is spurious.
Hi Kevin,
thanks for your response.
I don’t think the connection is spurious in the context of this debate, because most (not all) of the anti Jones aggression above is ideologically driven and personality based rather than linked to marketing.
We all have a limited amount of time in our days after work, family and other commitments have been satisfied and in the context of something to rail/rally against, everybody has to be judicious with their time and…pick their particular hobby horse.
My point is that there are more deserving targets of online bile than a couple of odious conservative media personalities and the fact that there is somebody in their own industry whose crimes are far more disgusting than anything Jones or Sandilands have ever committed.
My secondary point is that I don’t believe it is a coincidence that part of the reason Muirhead has been ignored by the online hate brigade is because he represents the same side of politics as the people making most of the ideologically driven comments.
Thus, my point is that this online rent a mob’s anger for Jones’ disgraceful comments is more driven by an agenda to get rid of conservative media commentators than specific outrage at his words.
In the case of Muirhead, I will be delighted if he doesn’t work in Australia again. The linkage between consumption of child pornography and the future committal of physical offences on children is very strong, not to mention the molestation involved in producing the material in the first place.
He deserved a fair longer sentence and far more online shaming than he is getting.
best
OK, who left the door open and let a nutbag like Nick in?
I am disgusted at Muirhead’s behaviour, and would comment as such if that was the thread under discussion. Raising Muirhead simply reveals Nick’s idealogical hatred of anyone who stands for reason in public debate. It is a false syllogism that If you don’t agree with him them you are a ‘left-wing troll’. Utter balderdash that reeks of a Parrot-like squawk.
@Nick Williams.
Nick you are quite evidently a Pitchforker aren’t you? I am surprised you haven’t called for Muirhead to be burned at the steak?
As Kevin points out this thread is about Jones. He has dug his own hole here (it is pretty obvious to see.) I attended a charity ball last year where Jones was a speaker and he couldn’t resist and decided to go into a political rant, for which part of the mixed crowd gave him a well deserved “boo”.
Muirhead is in jail. Should Jones continue on the radio?
Oops “stake”
Alan Jones is just one of those idiots who likes the sound of his own voice. Which matches his flatulent problems too. If you want to hear from Alan Jones, what should you do ? Fart ! Alan Jones thinks with his genitals and wanks with his brain.
JG – really? where’s my ideological hatred for public debate? I’m engaging in it aren’t I?
Voter….think it would be stake not steak?
I can’t stand Alan Jones but I’m happy to let the market decide whether he goes or stays.
Muirhead should be in jail for a lot longer but there’s no outrage at all for this and that’s my point here. I care more about harsher sentences for people who sexually exploit children than I do about what idiot talkback hosts say and I want to bring attention to it.
my comments are something of a sidetrack but not a complete one – the point that some of the posters could find more deserving recipients of their bile is relevant to the thread and the repellent child pornographer Muirhead is the most current and relevant example because he is in the same industry as Jones and his ‘crime’ has come to prominence at the same time but has received substantially less column inches and online trolling.
that’s my piece. I wish you all the best of luck
http://bit.ly/Hr4YQq
Nick your calling commenters here “left wing trolls” and “online rent a mob”, completely discounting their justified anger at an entertainer who has undue sway over political parties in our democracy is a very good example of trolling. As to your arguments about Andy Muirhead, the law has dealt with him, and who are you to be saying that he should be receiving any further punishment as a result of his actions? Personally I think Jones’ influence on public policy to be dire and destructive. You can think what you like, but Muirhead’s case has nothing to do with this. Stop trolling, sport.
Nick Williams there is a very good chance that Muirhead’s experience in jail won’t be a good one. Rock spiders are not the favourite people of prisoners whose own kids are out there in the world. Meantime you say you are happy to “let the market decide whether he (Jones) stays or goes”. Are you not part of the market, and is it not your duty as a human being to add your disgust to the opinion pool here?
If I was in charge I would put both there gentlemen in the same cell.
@Nick
Alan Jones has shouted, shrieked, waffled, ranted and spilled his one sided sentiment to his flock of ignorant pitchforkers for a very long time. He abuses, trolls, bullies and shouts ad is Australia O’Reilly factor. People choose to listen to the “nauseating goblin”, thank goodness. This thread is about Fuhrer Jones and how this apparently intelligent man has stated to a group of pitchforkers how the Prime Minister’s late father (a well respected gent) died of shame. Sick talk from a so called intelligent man. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jone’s is spotted next dressed up in a white gown with a pointy hat…
What else would you expect from someone who bases their climate change and ecology ‘facts’ on plagiarising a Frederick Forsyth work of fiction?
a lot of people on here need to go here http://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/
prime example’s everywhere Nick you are especially guilty of these two
http://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/strawman
http://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/ad-hominem
There is definitely a bit of schadenfreude going on but it’s understandable after Jones has gotten away with so much for so long. Who knows what the long term effect will be but as we speak there are thousands of people harassing advertisers of Jones’s program and 2GB generally. Macquarie Radio Network’s share price is down 16% since this happened. Pretty amazing people power.
Singo is not going to be happy!
Jones didn’t apologise in my view. His so called “apology” was sanctimonious and arrogant. It came across as a performance for the advertisers only and not because he was genuinely remorseful of incredibly bad behaviour. He has the moral compass of a newt.
I see the hypocrites are hard at work but not one of them finds Peter Slippers comments offensive. Alan Jones made one tasteless remark other than that how come no one can spell out anything else he has said which is wrong. The complainers are clearly Labor toadies with no regard for the truth. Slippers text messages are infinitely more offensive tan anything Jones has ever said yet the low life’s in the Labor Party, the Greens and a couple of Independents say he is a fit and proper person to represent Australia. What kind of ratbags are they?. Even the Bulldogs were fined for comments against a reporter which were tame compared to Peter Slipper. Where are the jornailists now and are the people who arranged the petition against Alan Jones now going to attack the companies and Unions which give financial support to Labor? If they don’t they prove my point!
Apart from being irrelevant to this thread you troll Michael, I think you find that those repugnant remarks of Slipper were made before he was voted in (unanimously) as Speaker and when he was a member of the Coalition.
People are talking about Alan Jones because that is what the thread is about Michael. And it’s newsworthy here because it’s not just one tasteless remark, but:
a) one of many tasteless remarks (cash for comments, inciting riots at Cronulla, hopelessly inaccurate climate change comments, calling assylum seekers vermin etc)
b) led to an unprecedented campaign of people power resulting in at least 70 sponsors leaving Jones/2GB
c) this is a marketing publication and we are all interested in factors affecting communications, branding and the entertainment industry
So take your pathetic political bleating elsewhere please. There are plenty of forums for that type of commentary. Perhaps you’d like to start your own Facebook page? Destroy the joint have topped 16,000 likes so there’s a target for you.
ps. Your spelling and grammar are of typical troll standard
pps. The Peter Slipper matter is due to be heard in court – consult your lawyer before making comments there
Tony
Chico,My comments are quite relevant to the thread as they highlight the falseness and political agenda of those behind the attack on Alan Jones. It is irrelevant when Slippers comments were made as the vote to support him was current.He is either a fit and proper person or he isn’t. If you think Labor did the right thing then you too are endorsing the vile comments which Slipper made against women.
And if Slipper’s vote from the cross benches is accepted … does that endorse Slipper’s vile comments? Hello, guess who just accepted his vote. But as pointed out earlier, this thread is about Alan Jones, 2BG and advertising. Please go and troll elsewhere.
@Michael. I mean this in the kindest possible way, but; Please shut up!
Far out, there really are some utter time wasters on this interweb thingy!
Chico, you may consider me a troll but that isn’t much of a concern as you clearly lack the capacity to understand the issues so I will try and explain them to you in very simple terms . Labor’s support for Slipper was directly related to his text messages about women and his fitness to be Speaker of the House ,no more no less..As regards the issues in the thread the credibility and integrity of the antagonists is at the heart of the issue. Forgive me if I troll out loud!
Chico, don’t feed the troll
http://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/false-cause
Sage advice AndrewL – especially after reading the post directly above yours. Thank you.
@Michael
How many people who HAVE to vote in Australia vote for the ‘Liberal’ Party based on the name, thinking they are “liberal”, however not knowing that they actually far from it and are a bunch of hay fork waving, Gina Reinhart loving, Clive Palmer adoring, greedy bank like acting, right wing, rednecks?
(Sorry all, I might have just fed the troll…) 😉
“are actually…”
100% agreement Michael.
this thread and much of the anti Jones lobby is driven by a far left agenda looking to have a victory over an ideological enemy.
I hate him and disagree with what he said, but there are dozens of current issues far more deserving of this kind of outrage and action and anybody with a balanced and informed perspective can see this.
but…chico, Andrew and the rest of their cohorts don’t have a balanced perspective – they want conservative blood, so rather than accepting this, it’s easier to accuse people of trolling.
Slipper’s comments were on a private email. Jones’s were spoken to a room full of people. Slipper’s were just foul language. Jones were foul to the core. It’s politically desperate, and pathetic, to even compare the two. And to all those people who believe that an apology is always enough, it isn’t. What’s to stop Jones re-offending when he knows all he has to do is say a sentence with the word “sorry” in it? One sentence for that vile comment ! What kind of deterrent is that? The campaign against 2GB’s clients is a good start, but doesn’t go far enough. The lack of any attempt at balanced commentary on controversial subjects is enough to rip up John Singleton’s licence to hire these people to spew out his right wing politics. Let’s maintain and the rage and take this to its only logical conclusion.
@fleshpeddler
“I hate him” Blimey, why the anger and hatred fp?
@ Fleshpeddler, I promised myself I would stop feeding but…
http://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/ad-hominem
how can I be in cohorts with people I have never met, I haven’t represented my political agenda on this thread (I don’t have one), so how would you appropriate that I lean one way or the other.
For the record, I believe that choosing sides is idiocy, each debate should be assessed on its merits rather than left/right liberal/labor.
Alan Jones has represented this
http://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/tu-quoque
in his apology
This topic is about brands pulling ads from 2GB it has nothing to do with either political party in Australia or your feelings about them other than the comments about Gillard’s father being the catalyst for the change.org campaign.
Andrew,
yes, ‘This topic is about brands pulling ads from 2GB’.
My main point is that the people supporting the cyber pressure being put on brands to pull their ads from 2GB are motivated more by their ideological opposition with Jones’ conservative viewpoint in general than with his revolting comments in particular. The comments simply provide an open goal because they are indefensible.
I and others have compared this reaction to Jones’ comments with other current behaviour or news centred around the behaviour of left leaning public figures which is comparatively more revolting but has received substantially less reaction to prove this point.
but you know that.
over and out
AndrewL, of course you have a political agenda, you rabid left-leaning small ‘l’ liberal communist loving conservative basher. It’s patently obvious you do (as do I) because fleshpeddler said so, and it’s clear that what he says is always true, and there can be no other interpretation or opinions – especially when you stray off the thread of this post.
Chico,
careful….he’ll have a link to your logical fallacy for that.
Have removed myself from receiving emails on this thread as it has gone off topic and is troll-tedious in the extreme. Time to close the door moderator.