Rupert Murdoch’s The Australian is at it again: “Exclusive – Paul Keating has launched a scathing attack on Britain, saying Australia’s oldest ally suffers from ‘delusions of grandeur and relevance deprivation'”. What’s the scam?
The scam is the Keating story ran in John Menadue’s Pearls and Irritations, exclusively, two days earlier. Somehow, Rupert’s rag ran a Page 1 Keating “exclusive”, a Page 2 Keating “exclusive” and a story on its oped pages, all bagging Keating and failing to give attribution to earlier press reports, the actual exclusive.
Shonky journalism as usual from Murdoch’s mob, even topped off by a hyper-ironic column in its media section for former Editor-in-Chief Chris Mitchell titled, “Facts come second for journos partial to worry porn” which – notwithstanding the newspaper’s daily sensationalising about the military threat from China, and the daily barrage of purported “exclusives” – put the boot into “catastrophist journalism”.
You couldn’t make this stuff up … oh wait, they do. Keating story here:
Michael West established Michael West Media in 2016 to focus on journalism of high public interest, particularly the rising power of corporations over democracy. West was formerly a journalist and editor with Fairfax newspapers, a columnist for News Corp and even, once, a stockbroker.