Re: Violent crime escalating in Perth
 

Agree there. Racism is alive and well in Australia. Wonder if he read it in the Daily Mail or the Daily Telegraph. Must be right then !!!!!!

Re: Violent crime escalating in Perth
 

I take it you base your comments on having worked in the media. Give me an example of a crime story - not a general news story - that has been reported as sensationalist.

Re: Violent crime escalating in Perth
 

The quip being referred to could just as easily applied to a a chavvy white female (thinking Vicky Pollard) don't think that there was any mention of race?

Re: Violent crime escalating in Perth
 

So you have to work in the media to have read a newspaper :confused:

Re: Violent crime escalating in Perth
 

Why would you think that? I go by what I read and see in many different medias. If a crime story is written/told differently in those medias then I believe there is sensationalism going on with at least one of the outlets. If we're talking court reporting specifically then yes, the facts are given. With other crime stories, they're not - imo.

Re: Violent crime escalating in Perth
 

Some facts are given.

Re: Violent crime escalating in Perth
 

No two reporters covering the same story are going to use exactly the same words or necessarily interview the same eye witnesses, for example, so of course the versions of what happened are going to be a bit different.

It's the same when police interview witnesses to a crime and each one gives a different version of what they saw. One might say the suspect was tall, with brown hair and in his 30s, another that he was short and about 20. Who do you believe ? They both saw the same suspect.

One reporter my choose to highlight different apsects of the crime committed than the other. That's not sensationalism. That's a fact of life. Good reporters don't make things up. Certainly not those on regional papers. Unlike the national tabloids, they have to maintain a good relationship with the community to stay in business.

Journalists rely on information provided by those being interviewed and sometimes the information may be inaccurate, inadvertently or otherwise. In the case of crime stories it can be notoriously difficult to get information from the police so you have to rely on other sources.

And what information you get depends on who you speak to, certainly when talking to police officers and police media officers. The latter are trained to give out as little information as possible.

A lot is based on trust. You simply don't have time to check every single fact, especially when a story breaks right on deadline and your news editor is screaming for a 250-300 word story in ten minutes. You'd expect information given to you by the police, council, councillors, MPs or professional organisations to be accurate but so often it is not. We don't live in a perfect world.

Re: Violent crime escalating in Perth
 

I respect you were a jourmo for 12 years but noble as that comment is do you really believe that or is it spin?
The media is a money machine pure and simple. It's first loyalty is to it's owners to provide a return. You only have to look commercialization of the media to see that. What's sells? Sensationalization, especially in red tops for example.

Re: Violent crime escalating in Perth
 

Of course they are out to make money. They are businesses, not charities living on government handouts.

Why would the media be any different to any other private companies ? They have shareholders and aim to make a profit. They have always been commercial operations. How else do you expect them to stay in business ? So I don't really understand what you mean by "commercialisation of the media ".

The red tops do not represent the vast majority of the newspaper industry.
Most regional papers are struggling to survive because of a massive downturn in advertising and most of the journalists are on crap wages.

They don't have anywhere near the resources of the red tops to write so called "sensationalist" stories or hack phones. Pick up a copy of your local paper and you'll find most of the stories are about mundane local issues.