Reporters 'told who they had to back'

The Advertiser: Reporters 'told who they had to back' :

"The well-placed source said 'journalists were directed to write anti-Rory stories'.

'It was made clear we should be focusing on the attributes of the local Liberal candidate. It's a disgrace.'"


I hope this isn't true. I know papers have to have their line and take on things but not representing the news is not in anyone's interests. People are fed up with public figures being sacrificed because we don't have that many people who can keep replacing them and , even if we did, when you go in for character assassination then all you get is ...tell me. Nothing. No one talks. No one says. No one lives. People are people and how they do the job and whether they do the job is important. Cutting them down is not helping us as a nation develop some diversity. Maybe that is the intention, that no one wants to be a politician or whatever, but the truth is, we'll run out of people. We always had a good, broad range of politicians to choose from. People can judge. Papers just need to give us the facts. If media are used to change opinion the effect is to skew the real world and it hurts. Better to let things evolve and I hope no news paper would want to cut down perfectly capable people. The ramifications for us and the individual would be long standing.