The public don’t care about journalists or journalism
From 7.30 this morning at Martin Place, around 30 Sydney Morning Herald and The Sun-Herald journalists stood around in the cold and the drizzle, collecting signatures as part of a demonstration against cost cutting measures that will see 82 production staff lose their jobs. They wore ‘I love The Herald’ t-shirts and held banners that read ‘save quality journalism’ and ‘Future Proof Fairfax’.
The night before, we had received a media alert from the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, informing us that “a flash mob of Fairfax journalists will take Martin Place by storm to show the people of Sydney that they were willing to fight for the future of their newspapers.”
The whole thing was a strange experience.
Five days earlier, on a bright Saturday afternoon, I had passed the same spot, and struggled to get through the crowds as people protested about the treatment of Christians in Egypt. Five days later, on a cold Thursday morning, thin streams of people scurried about on their way to work, clearly in no mood to be stopped by people with clipboards, apparently unsympathetic to the plight of journalists and journalism.
When the Fairfax mob gathered in a line to shout “What do we want? Quality journalism! When do we want it? Now!” there wasn’t quite the conviction that might be expected of a street protest. And as the public streamed passed, there might even have been a hint of embarrassment about their plea, as a Sky News cameraman stood patiently by, text messaging, waiting for something to happen.
But signatures were collected, and some people were prepared to stop, listen and chat. One elderly lady talked passionately and at length about how the newspapers she loved, and what a good job they were doing to reliably inform the public. And there was a touching, and perhaps a little unsettling moment, when a journalist helped a lady in a wheelchair sign the petition by holding the pen for her.
Meanwhile, strong words were spoken by the likes of Matthew Moore, the Sydney Morning Herald’s freedom of information editor, Doug Anderson, the Herald’s TV reviewer, and Christopher Warren, federal secretary at Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance. They talked about the consequences of “ripping the heart out of quality journalism” and slammed the “brainless” move that would see a thousand years of journalistic experience lost to an outfit called Pagemasters, which ironically Fairfax owns part of.
But most people rushed passed without stopping – including (I didn’t see this) Fairfax CEO Greg Hywood, who was on his way to work. He was apparently “hurt” by the protest, although no official word has been given from Fairfax yet.
‘The public’, I sensed, didn’t understand what the fuss was all about. They didn’t have a clue who these people were. And they were mildly irritated at being interrupted so early in the morning, as they rushed off to their desks to sip their coffee, probably to read stories written – and subbed – by the people they had just ignored.
Robin Hicks
By comparison hundreds turned out to a ‘Save Our Mercury’ rally in Hobart a few weeks ago to voice their concern against cuts to the Mercury newspaper: http://www.themercury.com.au/a.....-news.html
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I’m not sure I agree with the headline “The public don’t care about journalists or journalism”. See chapter 3 of this report – but maybe 40% don’t really care:
http://www.thefutureofjournali.....rt_vii.pdf
However, you’d be right to state that in general the Australian public doesn’t trust journalists. According to Roy Morgan Research, 89% don’t:
http://www.roymorgan.com/news/polls/2011/4655/
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Maybe they should have talked to their marketing friends to organize something a little more effective?
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We PR’s love journalists – especially Fairfax ones. If they showed us the same adoration we may have joined them this morning (provided they bought us a coffee).
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Plus, most people don’t get what sub editors do and therefore don’t care who does it.
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Good luck with your newspapers.
I love real cutting edge news. I always have. But, I must confess I’m not getting it from newspapers anymore paper or digital. It’s called Curation.
Information now fly’s at me from all directions, Twitter, Facebook, RSS feeds from a dozens of blogs and the incessant buzzing of Google alerts, it’s getting harder to keep up. What’s worse, all this stuff has turned me into a screen hopping, headline-skimmer who has all but lost the pleasure of reading in the race to keep up. At least I have some Ritalin.
But I like many have found my saviour the cacophony of stuff. My drug of choice is called ZITE, but others prefer Flipboard, Storify or Pulse .
If you have not succumbed yet to the digital revolution all of these things are Curation based news apps for the iPad, but to say ZITE or any of the others is just an app, would be to say the iPad is a just a PC. Each is actually a game-changing publishing platform that has already revolutionised how media is syndicated, presented and consumed.
I work with no less than 5 screens simultaneously, iPad, 2 Mac Book Pro’s, iPhone and often Samsung plasma. My friends call me a Cyborg, and I may well be, but one thing is for sure, a few quick finger swipes across ZITE and I’m plugged in, tuned in and have no fears of being a dropout.
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Funny, I don’t trust journo’s either. Should have mobilized support via internet first. Sign of the times, wheel turns, farewell etc. When news became infotainment all cred went anyway. Obviously there will be more, deeper cuts to come. I won’t be paying for news on my phone/ipad either.
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maybe if ‘journalists’ actually reported about real news, instead of the sensationalist headlines they so love (and are fed by government or other institutions with hidden agendas), people would be more sympathetic to their plight. Maybe if Journalism in general did more to inform the public and less to placate shareholders and editors people would have more sympathy. True journalism in print media has gone the way of the dodo… Where are the perspectives? Where is an acknowledgement of views other than those espoused by Stokes or Murdoch or Packer personally?
There is a reason journos are not trusted… It has something to do with their jobs in general and something to do with the manner in which they undertake their jobs.
If you make a living based on the misery of others expect people not to like you….
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I think half the problem is that journalists usually hate covering protests – they are so staged and boring…so to be involved in one themselves – well let’s just say it would be hard to a) muster the conviction necessary and b) keep their dignity intact.
Also, couldn’t the collective genius of all these scribes come up with a better war-cry than the old “What do we want” line? Come on people!
Finally, even though journalism IS an essential service, the general public don’t see it the same way as, say, nurses’ jobs being lost.
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Who is going to do the jobs of the 82 production staff who are losing their jobs.
Read the Future of Journalism report from the Walkley Foundation and see how the media is changing http://www.walkleys.com/future-of-journalism
I remember a thick Saturday Age and Herald Sun, what is happening to our newspapers… stand up for people in the media – you all watch and read the news – don’t you? Who out there are Fairfax shareholders? Maybe all of us Journalists should buy some shares in Fairfax and then maybe we could run Fairfax how it should be run
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Robin wrote: “And as the public streamed passed, …”
Robin, you need a sub.
Not just for that literal, but to get some basics sorted.
1. It wasn’t drizzling or raining, as you write, but it was cold.
2. There were many more than 30 journalists there, about 45, although at 7.45 perhaps your figure was about right. The protest lasted from 7.30-9.
3. Yes, many people were not interested, or in a hurry. But who’s to say they were interested in anything? Quite a few people were interested and supportive.
People’s lack of interest isn’t a reflection on the campain; the point was to raise awareness. Yes, more time would have allowed for a more stunning concept, it’s true.
Still, I’d say at least 1000 signatures were gathered, maybe many more. And there was significant media coverage, even on ABC local radio early on in the event. Also in the Oz and Crikey, Mumbrella and so on.
Thanks for turning up early to cover the event early on a cold morning!
@savethesmh
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I saw my typo! Campaign, rather than campain……. #irony
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Tim, well done on the appointment of Robin. The guy can write (I mean that with all sincerity – sometimes you need to clarify that on these comment threads)
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I was struck by the idea of all the Journalists (unsure why the word acquired a God-like capitalisation) acquiring Fairfax shares so it could be run as it should be run.
So I had a little dig around.
In the Fairfax 2010 Annual Report (page 94) it is listed that as of June 27 2010 there were 2,351,955,725 Ordinary shares. At close of trading today those shares were trading at $1.045. So to get over 50% of the shares you’d need around $1.23 billion. If all MEAA members (I know they are not all journalists) could stump up around $50k each then you could be onto something. Next plan?
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Maybe we all have too much on our plates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7VgNQbZdaw
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When the Fairfax mob gathered in a line to shout “What do we want? Quality journalism! When do we want it? Now!” I’m surprise members of the public didn’t also make the same request.
Quality journalism? At SMH? Pfffft! I’d like to see that.
The online version is Americanised celeb and marketing trash. Case in point: https://mumbrella.com.au/matt-moran-losing-it-fake-as-hell-45994
Go to ABC News for well rounded world news, not Fairfax.
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So much cynicism from people who don’t understand journalism and predictably call for the demise of the tabloid (unless they already think it dead). As a former journalist now PR, I’ve got total respect for the work that journos do, even if I don’t always get the omnipresent focus on celebrities.
But if you look at the top five trending topics at the bottom of Fairfax online papers, they are mainly celebrity or quirky stories, which shows what the public wants to read about. ABC targets a different market, so comparisons are not that fair.
And unfair of Jane to say Fairfax doesn’t produce quality journalism, guess she’s never read anything by Andrew Rule, John Silvester, Nick McKenzie, Carol Nader….
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At 7.30 in the morning I think most people can be forgiven for not caring about anybody.
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