When will The Australian defend human rights?
Rupert Murdoch wields unprecedented power over
shaping public opinion throughout the world, but even though the majority don't
agree with his support for the Iraq debacle, they deserve a newspaper chain
which at least defends the right of habeas corpus. On this subject, if The
Australian is an example of the rest of the empire, News Ltd. is sadly
derelict.
The whole sorry litany of Guantanamo Bay, Abu
Ghraib, renditions, illegal wire taps and the cowardly murder of innocent
families from missiles and fighter planes, ought to be enough for any newspaper
worthy of the name to be screaming about the injustice of it all in their
editorial pages, but not The Australian. It would be easy to assume that these
subjects are not covered at all, unless one trawls through obscure back sections
of the paper. Where a newspaper worth it's salt ought to be covering such issues
of course, is in it's editorials. This space is just as likely to be devoted to
attacking the one independent voice we do have in this country, the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation, partly because the ABC chooses to put more than one
side of the debate on issues such as the incarceration of asylum seekers, or the
justifications for the invasion of Iraq. I suspect that the editorial rantings
against the ABC are somewhat more personal. ABC's Media Watch for example, has
consistently exposed hypocrisy and bias in The Australian. You will never find
an argument against Guantanamo Bay in the Oz editorials. You will never see any
doubts about the invasion of Iraq. You will never see any questioning of the
US's god given right to apply rendition and torture in editorials. You will
never see advocacy for the Aboriginal side of land rights, history, stolen
generations or early deaths. You will never see any criticism of the Howard
Government, unless the issue has become so large, so gross, so improper, that
mild criticism cannot be avoided. Howard's opponents are all 'Howard Haters'
those against the debacle in Iraq are 'rabid anti war advocates' and the
overwhelming evidence on global warming gets befuddled and cursory treatment.
For a media empire with so much clout to have so few principles and morality is
a disgrace. Given the huge capacity to shape public opinion, and to provide
educated and enlightened views on all sides of the questions, it is a great pity
that The Australian chooses to be so limited in its approach, and that it
provides daily blogs for right wing apparatchiks. It is a bloody
disgrace.For a classic example of the
atrocities committed by the US and ignored by The Australian, see this article.
Posted: Thu - September 21, 2006 at 04:37 PM
