Seven ‘News’ and the Herald Sun

February 17, 2005

I am really over the crap ‘news’ that the Australian media expects us to take in. My particular beef is with Seven News and, to a lesser extent, the Herald Sun. Now this is nothing new to people, they are hardly the source of credible information, but last night watching Seven News really cut it for me. The whole ‘Mum in the boot’ saga is just getting plain ridiculous. Last night’s feature on Seven was the fact that they had ‘exclusive’ photos from inside the victim’s hospital room, where she lay on the bed surrounded by her family (at least the ones that aren’t under arrest). The same photo turns up on the front page of the Herald Sun this morning, and they choose to run a piece on the fact that the husband was reading his horoscope (from their newspaper) as he was driven away by detectives. They printed both a reprint of the horoscope and an article (which also repeated the horoscope) about it. Let’s not forget that this is the guy that, allegedly, waited with his girlfriend in the garage, strangled his wife and drove her to the Shrine of Remeberance where she was in the boot for four days. She is now in a coma and may or may not have permanent brain damage from the incident. Ooh, but what does his stars say? And how grief-stricken are the family around her bedside? Now they’re the real questions. And don’t get me started about the ‘startling revelation‘ that the couple had registered on Adultmatchmaker.com and she listed herself as ‘bicurious’. C’mon, it’s a farce and it’s insulting to the viewer/reader. I could go closer to understanding if they were trying to boost ratings or readership, but noone really cares enough to have an effect. It’s a media circus in the exact sense of the phrase. Journalists, such as those on doing Seven’s reporting, are much more suited to calling a professional wrestling match than trying to convey ‘news’ to the public. They could also do with a proof-reader to stop people looking for a ‘causasian male’.
This rant also goes for the way that suddenly Delta’s new film clip, X’s new fashion line, Y&Z’s engagement or any other trashy gossip is ‘newsworthy’. And I’m not talking about the feel-good last story of the night either. Pathetic.

Example: Here’s a quick update from the Seven News website: “Keep up to date with the progress of super-cyclone Olaf and how to control your pet’s weight.” Deadly weather event vs. pet health….

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