junk journalism

it may seem trivial, but the press should have some sort of responsibility. For instance I was reading this article which asserts that the Government in Australia has undertaken big spending and had poor results. I'm tempted to accept that argument as it stands, but then the author (Stephen Kirchner) starts down a seemingly unrelated topic and discusses a speech by the Secretary of the Treasury who makes a statement and quotes Ken Henry:

But he went on to suggest this expansion "has never been reversed and I think I can safely say that it never will be"

Not so fast Ken!.

So it seems that he wants to disagree with this and sets up an elaborate argument. But you know he doesn't once say why he thinks it is unlikely that the expansion of Government will be reversed.

So either Stephen gets carried away with his discussion on spending issues and looses the point, or the Editor has chopped it. So the Jury is out for me ... is he

• a dickhead just setting up a strawman argument to make his personal points
• a victim of editorial interference
• or incompetent

dunno, but either way it is just another example of the poor journalism that the Australian seems to be filled with these days.

Like this one, where the headline appeals the the ordinary persons fear that by defending themselves a criminal will go unpunished and they will be punished. But when you read past the headlines you find a different case which is clearly no longer defence and perhaps not even burglary either.

What happened was truly horrific, and my heart goes out to the victims, but the significant departure from the ordinary (and the headline grabber) is:

What followed was described in Reading Crown Court as self-defence that went too far.

[the victim] ... escaped after throwing a coffee table and getting his brother Tokeer, 35, to help chase offenders down the street, bringing one of them to the ground.

Walid Salem, one of the intruders, suffered a permanent brain injury after he was struck with a cricket bat so hard that it broke into three pieces.

Neighbours saw several men beating Salem with weapons, including a metal pole.

I just shake my head that the Australian tries to contort this into something else and then goes on to leave so many very disturbing issues alone and unanswered.

poor journalism