Mikeyc

I hope you're not serious! lol

Mikey

Notts_bloke

Ok I made that one up.

Kooky.

Regarding the news in Oz being a tad parochial, I just chuckled to see this as the top story in The Australian's "Breaking News" section.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...-12377,00.html

(Hmmmm, if it's from NZ does that make it "World News" )

purple rain

I am sure we all needed to know that and the best way to ensure that we do.....yep put it on breaking news!!!!!!!

manc1

I hear they photographed his penis from all sides so that they would recognise him next time.

Kooky.

Mate, he'll be on Google Streetview before he knows it.

Hutch

I watched a fair bit of the olympics yesterday because the bloke I was doing a job for had it on his TV. Given what I saw I have come to the conclusion that you're all talking bollocks. Firstly - yes, you live in Australia - of course they're going to give precedence to Australian athletes. What do you expect? In-depth coverage of Trinidad and Tobago in the ladies doubles badminton? Australian people have interest in Australian athletes, but the coverage was no more myopic than that found in any country. Did they cover other athletes and other countries? Yes. Later on, I flicked between 7 and SBS and it didn't strike me as being any different to the BBC's efforts, which I listened to and watched on their iPlayer.

Check out the British media and you'll find that prior to the games people like Tom Daley, the diving prodigy, were getting the old 'Henmania' treatment ... although the coverage tailed off a bit when he came last of course.

As usual - the same people - the same invective.

manc1

[QUOTE=Hutch; What do you expect? In-depth coverage of Trinidad and Tobago in the ladies doubles badminton?


That would be a start.

Notts_bloke

[QUOTE=Hutch;6674207] I flicked between 7 and SBS and it didn't strike me as being any different to the BBC's efforts, which I listened to and watched on their iPlayer.

QUOTE]

Apart from the obvious gulf in the standard of commentary. Having said that SBS aren't too bad but have limited sports to cover.

Cheetah7

I am ashamed to say that I have found it quite refreshing not keeping up with the news since I arrived in Australia.

In our local paper in London, there was always someone being mugged or something depressing in it.

Now I am fully aware that all these things are probably happening right under my nose in Fremantle before anyone reminds me, but I quite like opening up the paper and seeing the front page news being 'Whale sighted in Freo' kind of thing instead of the usual headlines I was used to in West London.

I know it goes on, I just don't feel a need to read about it and I am amazed at the effect that has had on me, I feel cocooned in my own little world and after years of reading about it, it is nice to be selective.

Naive? Yes you bet but I am enjoying some blissful ignorance for a bit and I am sorry for all the murders/stabbings/muggings that may/may not occur in Fremantle but lets just say that self preservation has kicked in and it is suiting my mental health considerably to read about Whales/dolphins/carnaby cockatoos instead.

Nu-Shooz

Yeah i agree, what you don't know doesn't harm you.

Only thing for me is that i feel a tad thick when people start talking about the happenings of the world and i haven't a clue what they're talking about

Hutch

I'm a news junkie. I read the Australian press, the American press, the British press. I watch the ABC news, BBC World and CNN. I'm very aware of the fact that crime's a global issue, but it doesn't make me feel nervous when I'm walking down a street late at night. The world's always been a blood-thirsty nasty old place, the only difference now is that we choose to dwell on it.

Mikeyc

Let’s have a look at how other countries report it should we?

Australian Channel 7 coverage

Australian rowing legend James Tomkins received an important text message....
Australia's first Beijing gold medal winner Stephanie Rice will be looking to add...
The Australian equestrian eventing team has claimed an Olympic silver......
It all comes down to one match for Australia as they take on Ivory Coast...
The Australian wrestling team will begin their Beijing campaign....

UK BBC coverage

US face Argentina in the men's beach volleyball on day five in Beijing.....
Grimm wins Germany's first gold .......
Martikan wins gold for Slovakia .....
Japan's Tanimoto takes judo gold .....
China's Zhong takes sabre gold

USA ESPN Coverage

North Korea's Pak earns gold in 63kg weightlifting
South Korea's Jin holds on for 50-meter pistol gold
Grieving Israeli swimmer sets national record
Slovakia's Martikan captures canoe singles gold
Britain derails Argentina in women's field hockey
China picks up fifth weightlifting gold of Olympics
German riders win individual, team eventing gold



It’s clear to see that Australia thinks only 1 country is participating, they even think an athlete receiving a text message is headline news. Another thing to notice, the majority of TV stations in the world place the Olympics in their “Sports Section” of the news (where it should be), Australia has Sport as headline news and then repeats it again in the sport section – even when the Olympics are not on!

Mikey

Cheetah7

I told Dad about a whale that had been sighted and how it made the front page. Dad was astonished and said 'There are more serious goings on in other parts of the world that make the news' and then went on to tell me about Iraq and other such affairs.

I shall stick to my whales/cockies and dolphins.

hoofie2002

News is OZ is parochial and invariably aimed for the lowest common denominator. The local paper here, the West Australian, tries it's best I suppose, but it's a bit of a comic [although it has been the only opposition to the government recently as the official opposition has been non-existent].

The Australian is a good newspaper, but it's daily edition is pretty light - stories are good but not many pages. I really miss reading The Times every day and would kill for a copy of the 'real' Sunday Times [or god forbid even a Guardian].

On the TV side, SBS news and ABC news is good, but they really heavily on stories from foreign TV companies [BBC especially]. Sky News is average, but no where near as strong as the UK Sky News.

One interesting thing - there has been a big financial scandal going on in WA with a company called Firepower who purported to sell a fuel saving pill. Lots of people [especially sports stars] have lost a LOT of money. However, the local press only picked up on the scandal very recently whilst Gerard Ryle in the Sydney Morning Herald has been running excellent stories on it for the last couple of years pointing out the obvious problems with the whole thing. Isn't it funny how no-one in WA picked up on that story about a WA company, sponsoring a WA rugby team ?

I think it comes down to one thing - the UK has a very, very long history of strong journalism with a very, very competitive news market - it's not the same here and the newspapers, websites and TV stations are controllled by a few companies.