CT takeover complete

Jounros don’t take press releases as gospel, they just sometimes don’t have time to write someting more in depth, so they regurgitate what has been provided – it is quick and easy.

I like the local news in the CT. I was disgusted by the half page front cover shot of N Kidman and co at the Sydney show the other week – meanwhile the Folk Festival was on up the road – surely they could have got a good cover shot out of that? I actually wondered if they canned their front cover story at hte last minute, and had to replace it with ‘our nicole’.

Judy Horacek is great – you can buy originals of her work at several local galleries – Helen Maxwell in Braddon is one.

Onlooker is right about the glory days, I think. The Canberra Times has some talent, and Pryor features highly as does Warden when he appears. Geoff Page and Frank O’Shea produce good literature in the form of literary criticism. Notwithstanding my concerns about his character and manners, Waterford can write. So can Crispin Hull, but I got really tired of reading his media-centred views on defamation and privacy. The current opinion people (notably Barnett and Haussegger) are so predictable that their columns could be written by a photocopier. There are thousands of people in this town who should be invited to put in opinion pieces.

But we need the Times to be a bigger version of the Chronicle like we need public telecasts of the ACT Assembly. Some people might be interested, but not many. There are a few good local stories and the Canberra Times tries too hard to find more. The CC column is a pain most days.

I’d like to see some slightly more serious writing (of the Roebuck/Masters variety) on sport and something similar on other cultural activities. A quality website would make the Times more immediate and responsive. But I really think a Canberra Morning Herald with some local content dropped into the SMH would be better.

A return to the glory days of the CT would be a good thing. It’s always going to be a difficult balancing act to serve such a small community and to make an economic go of it. They need to ask themselves why circulation has dropped off.

A bit of independent thought and critical and balanced assessment of the policies & practices of the folk on the hill as well as the local bunch in the Assembly would be a good start. Putting the Canberra community news upfront (eg as a 12yo friend said “Why do we have to have a large picture of Nicole & Co at the Sydney Easter Show spread across our paper – as if we care”).

A more informative website with good archives would also be an asset to the community.

It amazes me that journalists allow themselves to be the bovine mouthpieces of the PR practitioners & Spin Doctors. They look upon Press Releases as received wisdom. Television journalists seem incapable of cutting through the evasive answers that politicians dish up to them. They have no strategy to counteract the broken record or stone-walling techniques that the pollies are so skilful and practised at using. In fact, I doubt that some of them even realise that they are being stonewalled.

Well researched articles on topics of national and international importance is also high on my list. Tap into the hugh talent that we have in this community – in our universities, research industries, business and the public sector.

I am a great fan of cartoons and regard Pryor as one of the best. I was surprized to learn from last week’s Stateline that Judy Horacek is a Canberra resident. She is also one of the best – in fact way up there.

Chin up Kieran, you’re beginning to sound like a broken record. Most photographers can’t even spell their own names, let along get facts right. Newspapers, all of them, are riddled with errors – you just don’t realise until they do a story on something you know well. Then the errors become very obvious. Paintballing’s not something most people would be interested in reading about anyway. (All abuse gratefully received.)

All the more reason to advertise on RA, Kieran.

G’day all, yep still waiting for the CT to get back to me…and I will make every effort to redress my greivances with them.
I must have a nemesis at the CT.
When I first opened in April 06, I advertised with them at considerable cost, and they responded by publishing my fields as their ‘eyesore of the week’ because of my spray painted signage on shade cloth surrounding the fields. I spraypainted my own ‘signage’ so that a. vandals would not find it worth grafittiing and b. so that thieves would not take it (had over a km of shade cloth stolen from old site!). Not only is it run in the Sunday CT but in BOTH versions of the Chronicle. They then proceed to ring me up periodically attempting to get me to advertise in various feature pages eg adventure, kids activities over the holidays etc. I don’t because I am still pi$$ed from their last effort.
A guy from the Chronicle rings up, goes the hard yards, so i agree to advertise in their ‘huge 16 page’ Adrenalin special liftout. I put my ad in and pay up. They ring me after cut off date to tell me , sorry no one else had advertised in the feature, but as I have paid they will still run my ad. Great. The 16 pages becomes a half page. Great exposure there! And now this latest incident.
CT is no longer my preferred advertising medium!

Kieran

Kieren – that was terrible. The only good thing is that the Canberra Times has generally been pretty quick and fair about acknowledging errors and taking responsibility for them. Have you thought about asking them for a bit of contra (some free or discount ads, perhaps) to soothe your hurt business?

Sue them, Kieran.

G’day Cameron, Yes I did ring the CT editorial department and they said that the photographer would get back to me. I must chase up their process eg
step 1 Pack camera.
Step 2 Drive to Paintball field, turning left at the sign that says Adventure Paintball and past the signs that say Adventure Paintball.
Step 3. Meet Paintball staff who are all wearing Adventure Paintball uniforms.
Step 4. Listen to safety brief welcoming everyone to Adventure Paintball.
Step 5. Take photos.
Step 6. Get back to office. Completely disregard the name of the place you drove to, including what state/territory/country the place is in.
Step 7. Make up some totally inaccurate information because you a. forgot where you spent the entire afternoon or b. are so geographically inept that you can not determine the differance between Tuggeranong and Michelago (hint 45 mins travelling time!) .
Step 8. Sleep well knowing you have yet again brought your outstanding journalism skills to another day of servicing the Canberra community.

Kieran…

Kieran – I hope you called the CT and gave them a spray – that is pretty ridiculous, yet totally unsurprising unfortunately.