A prominent Water For Townsville Facebook member’s fury and legal threats draw Ben Bogan out of his bunker for an grovelling apology …
… and we discover an historic newspaper apology from elsewhere doesn’t quite ring true …
Trump’s tragic triumph, or triumphant tragedy? We wait to see …
The State of Origin alphabet challenge …
But first …
After 146 Years, Proof That P.T Barnum Was Right – There Is One Born Every Minute
Yes, historical coincidence in Washington DC this very day …
The United States of America now has a ‘pussy’-grabbing, preening, egomaniac wrestling-promoter as it’s 45th President. Which some people mysteriously think is a good thing, which is the proof of P.T’s pudding … there is a sucker born every minute.
But history can provide its own exclamation marks in the most unexpected way. In the week Donald Trump was inaugurated, it was announced that Ringling Brothers/Barnum & Bailey circus – ‘the greatest show on earth’ – is closing after 146 years. Hanky wringing animal rights pests forced the show to retire its elephants last year, and ticket sales went through the floor. But Bentley doesn’t think that was only reason for the closure.
Seems the three-ring spectacular has now shrunk to a single oval … as in Oval Office. But P.T wasn’t the only visionary proved spectacularly correct overnight. H.L Mencken, one of the most under-rated social predictors in American history foresaw this weekend 96 years ago.
And that day is today. But as America goes, so goes Australia, and we are yet to see if PM Talkbull follows the example of British PM Theresa May, as envisaged by the Guardian razor sharp Steven Bell.
But We Need Special Media To Cover The Media
And if you think that’s absurd, what do you think of this? While waiting for something to happen in Washington, the media’s herd instinct resulted in this ludicrous scrum when a rubbish bin caught fire.
But looks like at least one bloke had the right idea.
Spot on, buddy, it wasn’t fake news … it just wasn’t news. But there’s a job waiting at the Astonisher for any of this lot. But speaking of fake news ….
A WFT Member Cries WTF At The Astonisher … AND GETS AN APOLOGY FROM THE EDITOR.
The instant popularity of the Water For Townsville (WFT) Facebook site has caught everyone by surprise, it has thousands of followers in just a matter of weeks, and many of those weeks over the traditionally inactive holiday break. Needless to say – how could it be otherwise – it is highly critical of the non-answers to reasonable questions it puts to Mayor Jenny ‘What Water Crisis? Hill, to the point where it appeared Ben Bogan and the Astonisher had to come to rescue of their ‘premium content’ darling of Walker Street.
Dipping into the classic Labor playbook, it is suspected that Jenny – more likely Dolan Hayes, another Astonisher favourite and chief Jenny-Whisperer – decided on the tried and true tactic of using outright porkies to politicize those people by whom they feel threatened.
TB reporter Kieran Rooney
Enter reporter Kieran Rooney, who, despite working for the community paper of record (ha! just The ‘Pie’s little jest), decided to try a Magpie-style bit of dog-whistling scuttlebutt with a piece about prominent WFT activist Margaret Moon.
As ever, every headline has to be a weak pun – so tedious – but one that has helped raise the ire of someone who was otherwise mentioned only in passing. Ms Moon, a respected primary school teacher and tutor from the North Shore, was distinctly underwhelmed, burning up the keyboard in response.
‘I am publicly declaring that the Townsville Bulletin has deliberately chosen to publish FALSE AND SLANDEROUS information about me, in what I believe is an attempt to intentionally sully my name and/or the reputation of this Group,’ she wrote. But she was just warming to her task.
‘I find this appalling and unprofessional IN THE EXTREME. I am awaiting a full retraction of this ridiculous, outrageous article and a personal apology from the Townsville Bulletin. This is not journalism; this is an attempt to smear my integrity and connect my name with an ideology that is totally out of line with my own values and potentially damaging to my professional reputation. If necessary, this will be followed with legal action.’
Scores of people have responded in support to this cri de coeur which you can check out yourself at the Water For Townsville Facebook link above.
When something is organically popular like WFT – a relatively well run and civil page (albeit inevitably attracting some ratbags) – the Labor playbook says ‘link it to politics to suggest a hidden agenda’, which WFT founders have been at pains to stand apart from. Hence the One Notion mention. However, Ms Moon’s threat of possible legal action, while probably not realistic, and the storm of angry support for her stand, was enough for this Facebook message to be posted just before 5 o’clock this afternoon – The Magpie has edited it for length.
Hi everyone. …I’ve had a chance to talk to Kieran about the piece and and how it was put together. I’m sure everyone concerned has read Kieran’s apology to Margaret and I would like to add my own. Sorry, Margaret. It was not my nor Kieran’s intention to upset you or anybody else who has joined WFTAG. I can tell you Kieran’s story was based on information from three separate sources. They have clearly been misinformed. (‘Pie’s emphasis) Kieran is a highly professional and scrupulous reporter who I am proud to have on our team at The Bulletin. He also has great integrity and I know he is mortified at the thought of upsetting Margaret. Ultimately, as editor, I am responsible for everything that we publish. We do our utmost every day to get it right. It appears that was not the case with this item today so I apologise. We’re happy to set the record straight in Monday’s paper. Best Regards, Ben. |
Another commenter on the post suggested he had good information that Rooney’s informants were from TEL. Jenny Hill is deputy chair of TEL. Joining dots appropriate here? But who knows? And by the way, Ben, if as you claim that you do your utmost every day to get it right, you ought to be sacked for outright incompetence. And Mr Rooney should have his arse kicked until his nose bleeds. If he hasn’t already.
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE
Monday Jan 23 2017
TOWNSVILLE Bulletin editor Ben English apologises for sloppy journalism.
This article is from the January 23 issue of the Townsville Bulletin Digital Edition.
AN ITEM in the NQ Confidential section of Saturday’s Weekend Bulletin (January 21) under the headline, “Hanson shoots for the Moon” , reported on a rumour that Margaret Moon, a local school teacher and an administrator of the Facebook page “Water For Townsville Action Group” , had been approached by Pauline Hanson’s One Nation to consider nominating for preselection for the party ahead of the upcoming state election. Ms Moon and One Nation have denied having met or discussed any such proposal and the Bulletin accepts that it was misinformed. Ms Moon has stressed she has no link with any political party and that she and the other organisers of the WFTAG page are apolitical in their push for a long-term water solution for the region. The Bulletin apologises to Ms Moon for the error.
Copyright © 2017 Townsville Bulletin
The ‘Pie apologises if he’s breached your copyright, Boan, but community interest and all that, you know. Err, you do know, don’t you? Community interest? A concept you should quietly contemplate a little more.
But did The Magpie inadvertently have a role in this highly uncharacteristic (but laudable) back down? Any threatened legal action would face a hurdle or two and be expensive all round, and News Ltd has good recent reason to be wary in this area. Ben Bogan’s conciliatory post and promised apology in Monday’s Bulletin has perhaps saved them losing another bundle in legal costs, a circumstance with which they are recently familiar. (See Weatherup v Nationwide News, Supreme Court of Queensland).
All that said, Ms Moon would’ve been up against it if arguing that she was defamed. Around this bend in the river, any prospective One Notion membership would likely trigger a mass dropping of banjos on the verandah and a hitchin’ up of the overalls in the rush to give her a congratulatory message on that computer thingy the kids use to play Moonshine Runners on.
‘In Black And White’ Means Something Different At The Astonisher
Latent casual racism is alive and well in the unthinking world of Astonisher journalism. Even a usually steady hand like Victoria Nugent misses this particular point. See if you can spot the problem in the following.
Two years for assault on indigenous student in Townsville
VICTORIA NUGENT, Townsville Bulletin
January 18, 2017 12:00am
premium_icon (NB The Magpie just googled it and got it for free)
Subscriber only
AN ACADEMIC adviser from James Cook University’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Centre has been sent to jail after raping an indigenous student.’
What, pray tell, is the relevance of the victim being indigenous? And if we’re to go down this path, in both headline and body copy, why is it not mentioned that the perpetrator is a white grub (the tell tale photograph isn’t on all stories) … not doing so leaves it open to assume through nudge-nudge-wink-wink journalism that he was indigenous, too.
Now The ‘Pie in not being so naïve as to not realize that many people, no doubt including many of his own readers, will shrug, mutter ‘bleeding heart’ and move to the next item because ‘it doesn’t really matter, does it, mate?’ Perhaps not to many an average person, (but it should – rape is rape, and is neither intensified or diminished by race) but it certainly should matter if you have a public voice in the community’s sole newspaper, a paper which regularly pays mealy mouthed deference to modern sensitivities about race and sexual abuse.
Not bad, Astonisher, bullseye on multiple targets in the one story. So did you do your utmost to get that one right, Editor English? Eh? Eh?
As If Being A Journo Isn’t Hard Enough
Conspiracies by nature are supposed to be subtle, but it seems some sort of political collective has found a way to get back at the media .. find the trickiest names for leaders. First we had …
Qld Premier Anna Palaszczuk
… Anna Palaszczuk in Queensland (The Magpie’s ‘Premier Anna Alphabet’) and now NSW is about to go one better with Mike Baird replacement Gladys Berejiklian as the new premier down there.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian
Ms Berejiklian’s elevation has met with the severe disapproval of the tired old queen with the cat’s bum mouth, Alana Jones.
Alan Jones
Well. he’s never been big on female politicians (it is surely a certainty he’s never been ON a female politician), although in his 2UE days, he did confide to The ‘Pie his weakness for Benazir Bhutto. Alas, his unrequited ardour was blown away in Rawalpindi in 2007.
For the record, Berejiklian is an Armenian name, which according to Nameslook.com, means ‘loving’, ‘dedicator’ and/or ‘respectability’. And Jones is a Welsh name, a race the late A.A Gill described as ‘ loquacious, dissembler, immoral liars, stunted, bigoted, dark, ugly, pugnacious little trolls.’ The UK Commission for Racial Equality declined calls to prosecute Gill, deciding he did not intend to stir up racial hatred – although The ‘Pie thinks he was a bit hard on trolls.
Tea And Sympathy?
An interesting newspaper cock-up and correction has recently come to light from the archives of the English edition of The Guardian.
Personally The ‘Pie thinks Sir Jack was a quick thinker, and bluffed his way out the shit.
And Finally …
The ‘Pie knows this has been floating around for a while … perhaps even appeared here before … but the old bird still gets a wincing laugh out of it. Hope you do, too. It’s called ‘the cat that prevented a house fire’.
Why not join in the comments which get a lively run right across the week … any topic, and any name you choose. And feel free to kick in a sorely needed donation to help keep The Magpie aloft – how to donate button below.
