26 August 2015

#QandOffensive?

25 August 2015 | Marcus Paul

I haven’t checked the calendar yet, but I’m reading about Q&A, so I think it must be a Tuesday.

Everyone is talking about ‘that’ tweet. You know, the one from a Twitter user with the handle @AbbottLovesAnal, which slipped past ABC moderators on last night’s show.

Was it crude? Certainly. Offensive? Probably. Is the outrage warranted? No way.

This writer has already had a couple of social media spats with those gunning for conservative blood. “If we are allowed to be bigots and offend anyone, he’s included,” and this gem: “Confected outrage ensuring it’s seen by everyone.”

Live broadcasting will always have scope for imperfections. This was obviously a simple oversight. If it was deliberate, someone feels so strongly about Abbott that they’re willing to risk their job to make a statement. If so, I say a big ‘welcome back’ to Aussie larrikinism.

Again, ABC boss Mark Scott has found himself apologising to the PM.

In yet another sequence of events that is becoming all too common, Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull phoned the ABC’s managing director early this morning to tell him there needed to be better supervision of Q&A.

“In what felt like a Groundhog Day moment yet again in the early hours of Tuesday I spoke with Mark Scott about another unedifying incident at Q&A,” Turnbull said.

“The tweet should obviously never have been put on the screen and the fact that it was underlines the need for better supervision of the program.”

This program constantly lets viewers know it receives a massive volume of tweets each minute, which all adds to the overall flavour of the discussion.

I actually don’t mind Q and A – the concept is great, and it can genuinely add to the news cycle the following day.

Whether intentional or not, is this kind of thing acceptable – are we getting so down and dirty in the discourse that anything goes?

It’s no secret the business of politics is a dirty old game. Just ask Commissioner Hayden.
Of course there is room for robust debate, and so there should be. However, do we need to lower it to the car crash that is Mark Latham?

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rubaiyat4:25 pm 27 Aug 15

Maya123 said :

rubaiyat said :

watto23 said :

Abbott stood in front of a banner, it was pretty big and pretty obvious. Unless he walked onto the stage backwards, I find it pretty hard to believe he’d have not seen it. This is the issue, you are blinded by your political faith and ideology and thus cannot accept that perhaps someone of a different political party may actually be right. This is why the liberals are in the situation they are now. they are too arrogant to negotiate solutions and believe that they are the only people with valid opinions and that is just not true. They stand for free speech as long as it agrees with them!

I was booth captain at a recent ACT election where we had international guests observing the proceedings. Everyone should do it to really see what a wonderful democracy we have. The guests were extremely impressed and wished they had the same.

This was the one where the liberals were posting illegal mega size posters around the suburbs. At least they didn’t print and letterbox forged Labor election material. Not this time.

The Liberal’s much vaunted Laissez Faire attitude seems to be most evident with the tenets of democratic process.

I saw a general good natured interaction between the people handing out material at the polling booth, with the exception of the two Liberals.

The elderly extremely expensively dressed lady was quite fearful of everyone else and it took her all day to even thaw to the point of speaking to anyone else and that was only after I got her a cup of tea and biscuit with a chair to sit down. She was still very wary but at least finally spoke to me. All I got was thank you and that she was diabetic so couldn’t eat the biscuit.

The younger male student was interesting. He would talk but only in set piece party slogans and soundbites, and seemed to be somewhat embarrassed by the whole proceedings. He reminded me somewhat of many of the students I met when I was at university, not much life experience and thinking for himself was a novelty.

I have given out how to votes several times, for more than one party actually, as my opinions changed over the years. They were interesting experiences. I found most people giving out friendly and they all spoke and chatted to me, although the Liberal and the Labor people were not speaking to each other. (I have given out how to votes for one of those parties in the past and voted at different times for both those parties, before anyone tries to put me in a slot.)
I once also applied to work as a voting official, but was never called in for an interview. A friend who put in at the same time was and got to work on election day. We had discussed doing this and we thought it would be an experience and so then both of us submitted applications. He had some degrees and he commented that most people working were school teachers, and we figured it was because I don’t have a degree I wasn’t considered. He also commented that some on duty were inefficiently slow and shouldn’t have been there, and kindly he said he, knowing me, he considered I would have been much better at the job than some who got the job, and I should have been considered, as he thought I would have been good at the job. I certainly can usually find my name upside down much quicker than those on duty can find it right side around. But these days degrees are everything, even there it seems to me.
I would recommend giving out how to vote sheets for the experience, and if you have a degree (at least in Canberra) having a go at being a polling official for the experience.

Parties are not for me.

I am certainly not at home with the partisanship and group think required.

They have been a truly unfortunate corruption of the democratic system, but I understand how they evolved and even some of the necessity for them. But essentially they are a tool for a small number of people to control the thoughts and actions of a much larger group of people.

Even inside parties you get the factionalism, outer cabinet, inner cabinet and the Captain’s extra special mates and handlers. Which all explains how clear and direct instructions from the voters to the politicians gets turned and subverted into what a small influential and usually rich elite want instead.

Maya1232:01 pm 27 Aug 15

rubaiyat said :

watto23 said :

Abbott stood in front of a banner, it was pretty big and pretty obvious. Unless he walked onto the stage backwards, I find it pretty hard to believe he’d have not seen it. This is the issue, you are blinded by your political faith and ideology and thus cannot accept that perhaps someone of a different political party may actually be right. This is why the liberals are in the situation they are now. they are too arrogant to negotiate solutions and believe that they are the only people with valid opinions and that is just not true. They stand for free speech as long as it agrees with them!

I was booth captain at a recent ACT election where we had international guests observing the proceedings. Everyone should do it to really see what a wonderful democracy we have. The guests were extremely impressed and wished they had the same.

This was the one where the liberals were posting illegal mega size posters around the suburbs. At least they didn’t print and letterbox forged Labor election material. Not this time.

The Liberal’s much vaunted Laissez Faire attitude seems to be most evident with the tenets of democratic process.

I saw a general good natured interaction between the people handing out material at the polling booth, with the exception of the two Liberals.

The elderly extremely expensively dressed lady was quite fearful of everyone else and it took her all day to even thaw to the point of speaking to anyone else and that was only after I got her a cup of tea and biscuit with a chair to sit down. She was still very wary but at least finally spoke to me. All I got was thank you and that she was diabetic so couldn’t eat the biscuit.

The younger male student was interesting. He would talk but only in set piece party slogans and soundbites, and seemed to be somewhat embarrassed by the whole proceedings. He reminded me somewhat of many of the students I met when I was at university, not much life experience and thinking for himself was a novelty.

I have given out how to votes several times, for more than one party actually, as my opinions changed over the years. They were interesting experiences. I found most people giving out friendly and they all spoke and chatted to me, although the Liberal and the Labor people were not speaking to each other. (I have given out how to votes for one of those parties in the past and voted at different times for both those parties, before anyone tries to put me in a slot.)
I once also applied to work as a voting official, but was never called in for an interview. A friend who put in at the same time was and got to work on election day. We had discussed doing this and we thought it would be an experience and so then both of us submitted applications. He had some degrees and he commented that most people working were school teachers, and we figured it was because I don’t have a degree I wasn’t considered. He also commented that some on duty were inefficiently slow and shouldn’t have been there, and kindly he said he, knowing me, he considered I would have been much better at the job than some who got the job, and I should have been considered, as he thought I would have been good at the job. I certainly can usually find my name upside down much quicker than those on duty can find it right side around. But these days degrees are everything, even there it seems to me.
I would recommend giving out how to vote sheets for the experience, and if you have a degree (at least in Canberra) having a go at being a polling official for the experience.

rubaiyat12:49 pm 27 Aug 15

watto23 said :

Abbott stood in front of a banner, it was pretty big and pretty obvious. Unless he walked onto the stage backwards, I find it pretty hard to believe he’d have not seen it. This is the issue, you are blinded by your political faith and ideology and thus cannot accept that perhaps someone of a different political party may actually be right. This is why the liberals are in the situation they are now. they are too arrogant to negotiate solutions and believe that they are the only people with valid opinions and that is just not true. They stand for free speech as long as it agrees with them!

I was booth captain at a recent ACT election where we had international guests observing the proceedings. Everyone should do it to really see what a wonderful democracy we have. The guests were extremely impressed and wished they had the same.

This was the one where the liberals were posting illegal mega size posters around the suburbs. At least they didn’t print and letterbox forged Labor election material. Not this time.

The Liberal’s much vaunted Laissez Faire attitude seems to be most evident with the tenets of democratic process.

I saw a general good natured interaction between the people handing out material at the polling booth, with the exception of the two Liberals.

The elderly extremely expensively dressed lady was quite fearful of everyone else and it took her all day to even thaw to the point of speaking to anyone else and that was only after I got her a cup of tea and biscuit with a chair to sit down. She was still very wary but at least finally spoke to me. All I got was thank you and that she was diabetic so couldn’t eat the biscuit.

The younger male student was interesting. He would talk but only in set piece party slogans and soundbites, and seemed to be somewhat embarrassed by the whole proceedings. He reminded me somewhat of many of the students I met when I was at university, not much life experience and thinking for himself was a novelty.

watto2312:16 pm 27 Aug 15

dungfungus said :

watto23 said :

Of course even if it wasn’t broadcast on TV, everyone following the twitter feed would have seen it.
It was juvenile and not needed that is for sure, but i think there is a lot of over reacting. But I thought the same about the other incident and in fact showed the government in a bad light the way they reacted. I’m sure someone will lose their job for allowing the tweet to air. Won’t be anyone important within the ABC though.

That said this is no different to say Abbott standing in front of a “Ditch the Witch” banner. Also poor judgement, but in that case he had control over it. This instance despite the humourous jokes about who sent it, was outside the control of either political party and whoever pushed the button to send it to screen is the one who will be held at fault.

It’s the forum that allows these inane Tweets who are at fault.
Can you verify that Abbott deliberately stood in front of the ditch the witch sign? When you are facing a crowd it is impossible to see what is going on behind you.
Easier to confect a myth and keep repeating it I guess.

There are plenty of inane tweets, the TV show is not the problem The problem is the right have this idea if you don’t agree with them, you must be a left wing extremist and are not willing to accept that other people who don’t agree with them, might have a good idea.

Abbott stood in front of a banner, it was pretty big and pretty obvious. Unless he walked onto the stage backwards, I find it pretty hard to believe he’d have not seen it. This is the issue, you are blinded by your political faith and ideology and thus cannot accept that perhaps someone of a different political party may actually be right. This is why the liberals are in the situation they are now. they are too arrogant to negotiate solutions and believe that they are the only people with valid opinions and that is just not true. They stand for free speech as long as it agrees with them!

rosscoact12:08 pm 27 Aug 15

dungfungus said :

dungfungus said :

fabforty said :

I find Tony Abbott more offensive than just about anything

Would you give examples of why because I can’t think of any.

I was expecting a deluge of examples; come on all you Abbott Haters!

Perhaps they think it’s axiomatic as he is deliberately and enthusiastically divisive.

Me? I’m just disappointed.

dungfungus9:53 am 27 Aug 15

dungfungus said :

fabforty said :

I find Tony Abbott more offensive than just about anything

Would you give examples of why because I can’t think of any.

I was expecting a deluge of examples; come on all you Abbott Haters!

neanderthalsis8:27 am 27 Aug 15

fabforty said :

I find Tony Abbott more offensive than just about anything

But the alternative is Bill Shorten! A man of no substance, no policy, the charisma of a dead plague rat and a man who would negotiate below award wages for his own granny if the nursing home promised to sign her up to the AWU.

dungfungus6:55 pm 26 Aug 15

rubaiyat said :

dungfungus said :

Maya123 said :

HenryBG said :

dungfungus said :

“I actually don’t mind Q and A – the concept is great……”
What is the concept of Q&A, really?

An unrepresentative audience, often stuffed with LaRouchians, and the amazingly dopey idea of broadcasting tweets on live TV.

As to your confidence regarding Abbott’s tastes….surely somebody with their gaydar in good operational order could set you straight…

“An unrepresentative audience,”

I noted the political voting pattern of the last audience, and you are no doubt correct. The highest percentage were Liberal voters. (Followed by Labor voters, then Green voters.)

How do you verify someone is a Liberal/Green/Labor voter? Just because that is what they put on their application means nothing.
That make up of the Q&A studio audience is totally false.

Yeah, they are all climate scientists paid millions by the ABC to fake the crowd..

The only (climate) scientists you will see on the ABC are the celebrity ones (Suzuki, Flannery etc) who generally take the opportunity to flog their latest book.
They are paid and sit on the panel. They wouldn’t mix with the rent-a-crowd riff-raff that poses as an audience.

dungfungus6:49 pm 26 Aug 15

fabforty said :

I find Tony Abbott more offensive than just about anything

Would you give examples of why because I can’t think of any.

rubaiyat5:57 pm 26 Aug 15

Nilrem said :

rubaiyat said :

dungfungus said :

Maya123 said :

HenryBG said :

dungfungus said :

“I actually don’t mind Q and A – the concept is great……”
What is the concept of Q&A, really?

An unrepresentative audience, often stuffed with LaRouchians, and the amazingly dopey idea of broadcasting tweets on live TV.

As to your confidence regarding Abbott’s tastes….surely somebody with their gaydar in good operational order could set you straight…

“An unrepresentative audience,”

I noted the political voting pattern of the last audience, and you are no doubt correct. The highest percentage were Liberal voters. (Followed by Labor voters, then Green voters.)

How do you verify someone is a Liberal/Green/Labor voter? Just because that is what they put on their application means nothing.
That make up of the Q&A studio audience is totally false.

Yeah, they are all climate scientists paid millions by the ABC to fake the crowd..

Yep, Australia for them is one brief stopover on their taxpayer-funded, all expenses paid, five star party tour of the planet that has been running for years, and which they will orchestrate to continue for the rest of their careers.

Thanks Rupe for including that in your busy 8 star tour of the planet, running for years, at the expense of all your shareholders and bankers.

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