The Beast this morning was awash with furious agreement on how wonderful the Canberra Times is and old dinosaur Jack Waterford was in to lament the future loss of his long boozy lunches (aka “quality journalism”).
So as a part of the pernicious new media tearing down the model I’d just like to say YIPPEE!
Waiting for the cut announcements at the Canberra Times is a bit like Christmas around here.
We started this site 12 years ago in part because we thought the Canberra Times did a terrible job.
(And while we’re here I’d like to say that in 8 years in the parliamentary press gallery I was constantly struck by the laziness, ignorance, and self indulgence of the Fairfax newsrooms where you could safely fire a shotgun most mornings before midday)
We don’t think it’s improved. The plummeting circulation suggests the public agrees with us.
Frankly what 80 editorial staff do out there is a mystery for what they produce.
Yes we do link to things that paper does. (Lucky we do as they periodically nuke their content leaving only our quoting for posterity).
When we do we acknowledge our source.
They lift a hell of a lot from us too, but at best refer to us as “the internet” or “a canberra website”. And we’re not the only place they steal from.
There is an inherent dishonesty at the heart of australian print journalism. The internet has allowed the public to see the report, the media releases, and the transcripts, and come to see that inherent dishonesty.
We all deserve better than that.
The cosy club of powerful people used to controlling absolutely what you were allowed to know will bemoan the passing of the ancien regime.
Roll on the future for the rest of us.
UPDATE 20/06/12 14:23: Christmas deferred it seems. The announcement is going to be next week.
But the CT to remain a broadsheet.