Jay Rosen's latest blog covers the idea of having a 'Citizens Agenda in Campaign Coverage' and something that could take the frustration of never having questions answered substantially on our only hope #qanda (Q&A, ABC). Have a read and see what you think yourselves, I feel it is something we should work towards for the next election (with whatever happens on Saturday, it will certainly be time for a change by then and having an intelligent and meaningful campaign could lead to having intelligent, compassionate and informed political contenders?) Let's hope.
As Jay suggests, community consultation to decide on what the campaign's focus is a very good start and a voting system of whether the questions posed to the potential leaders were actually answered would be fantastic. This would also avoid the current situation where racist and defamatory political slogans such as "we'll stop the boats" become a focus for voters and politicians alike. And not many people seem to notice that this contradicts our international and humanitarian obligations to the UN Treaty we signed in 1973, yet it is broadcast across TV ads, no journalists have raised its seriousness (in relation to racism and our UN agreements) and yet the politicians themselves choose these random non-issues to create fear in our society and distract from the fact they have no real policies in the nation’s interests or credibility to even be running. Perhaps we can get it started for 3 years time and plan for a better future in politics, media and society in 2013!
Also this essay by Jay which discusses 'Journalism as Civic Leadership' should be considered an essential part of journalism and could be the way of the future in resolving Australia's current media meltdown.
Posted via email from PunchyP
No comments:
Post a Comment