World in Crisis

It's when the world is in crisis that a capable mainstream media (MSM) is something that we wish we had.

Because it's only when things are going pear shaped at the speed of sound that being properly informed can mean the difference between "losing your shirt" and "making a killing".

Those Australians who get their news and information from our MSM are being poorly served. There are two reasons for that.

Firstly, the vast majority of the people who work in and around the MSM are simply not up to it. Many have been playing at the journalism game all their working lives and they simply don't recognise or understand facts anymore. Or perhaps it's the truth they don't recognise. Often they are driven by *ratings* or *eyeballs* or *revenue* because that is what their employer demands. And the ones who sit in front of a lens looking pretty have little understanding of what it takes to hunt down a story and explain it to you. Their job now is to be *dumb and blonde and pretty*.

And secondly their employers have all adopted a business model that is built around *obfuscation*. This is the game they play when they want to gain your eyeballs but they don't want to invest in the quality journalism or the effort and resources that are needed to seek out the real stories and expose the facts. So they make stuff up and embellish and manufacture things and basically create a parallel universe which they then write about each day. And this charade is often helped out by presenting nubile young flesh on page 3 or at 7:30pm.

And they do it Virginia, because they think that we won't notice. Or care.

Murdoch may be the most odious practitioner but all Australian media are doing the same thing. Even your ABC. Speaking of which what has happened to the place? ABC evening television is now so bad that it is unwatchable. The only things worth a look are 5 year old re-runs from the BBC and even those are becoming less frequent. Looks like ABC News/24 has sucked all the blood from Aunty. Perhaps they should just point a lens at Mark Scott's desk and play that from 7:30pm?

The big crises in Europe and the USA are either going unreported or are being misrepresented with lightweight commentary. So if you want to be informed - then you will need to find another source.

New Newspapers

As clever as it might seem for News Limited editors to run a political agenda and to fight the good fight for and on behalf of conservative politicians, it isn't doing their actual business much good.

Well not if you look at the decline in their readership and the lack of trust in their newspapers it isn't.

Could newspaper editors have a death wish - they seem quite happy to trash the credibility of their mastheads and the reputations of their staff with their one-eyed commentary all designed to get the conservatives into government?

It's almost as if they think that Mr Abbott and friends will be able to defy gravity - when and if they manage to get back into the big seats - and magically resurrect News Limited's credibility.

I suppose if you don't have a good understanding of science or reality then it might seem as though you could do it by waving a magic wand. Wasn't it Bush and Cheney who said "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality"? That turned out well didn't it?

So why do you think that News Limited editor's are doing their best to make their newspaper's irrelevant? Could it have anything to do with Rupert's desire to create a conservative political empire spanning the west before he heads off to mogul heaven?

Probably - but what amazes me is the sheeplike behaviour of his staff. Why would they be going out of their way to destroy their livelihoods? Because the way they are going there won't be much left of the empire when the king goes.

I mean who was upset when the "News of the World" passed away? Who will be distressed when "The Australian" goes to newspaper heaven?

But there is an alternative.

Why wouldn't News Limited take on the role of the people's advocate? Why wouldn't they realign their newspapers in support of the ordinary folks who are being done over by unscrupulous business interests and right wing politicians’ and other charlatans?

There is a huge opportunity for a modern media organisation to build a big readership base and associated revenue stream by gaining the trust and respect of the little people. All by telling them the *truth* with a business model based on *facts*.

The reason they don't tells you something about their agenda.

Career in Technology

We need some more people at CRMNow.

There is an exciting opportunity for thinking people to build a new career as a project based technology consultant.

CRMNow is a technology company - with emphasis on people and projects as well as the more traditional technical aspects. If you are curious and capable, know what a project is and have people and team skills then we want to speak with you.

The technology that you will work with is the Oracle CRM On Demand products and associated web services. All running in the cloud.

The customer base comprises many of the top 200 companies that are situated across Australia and Asia.

Projects range from smaller configurations to large implementations with major customisation and complex integration. Twitter and blogs and other social media are often part of the integration. As are Apple and Android tablets.

The software tools you will use are mostly in the cloud. Gmail and Google docs and project management tools and other document creation and handling tools are used extensively. You will need to learn and become expert in these as well as web technologies generally.

This is a great opportunity to build a career at the leading edge of the technology industry. So if you are interested or know someone who is - then contact me by email.

roger.wegener at crmnow dot com dot au

Stealing your Future

So in the US the Republicans and the Murdoch media are insisting on an immediate reduction in government expenditure and no new taxes ever as a solution to the so-called "debt ceiling" problem.

And here in AU the Coalition and the Murdoch press are telling us that a "carbon price" will devastate the place and destroy our future.

It's clear that the conservatives and their puppeteers in both nations are just wreckers. Worse, their wrecking will result in long term damage and cause untold pain for many people.

They are completely out of control both in the US and here in AU. In the US they can't handle the fact that a black man is President. Here they can't handle the fact that a red headed female is Prime Minister. And so they have set out to destroy the fabric of the place. They are behaving like petulant children.

None of this would matter much if we had a majority of voters who could sort wheat from chaff. But we don't and the charlatans in the tea party and the coalition know it. Their strategy relies on it. They have spent decades ensuring it is so.

It's not that the conservatives and the Murdoch punditry are stupid - they aren't. They just behave like wreckers because they know that a large part of their "base" don't understand the consequences and probably don't care. And few others are even paying attention.

And that is the problem. Democracy only works when you are paying attention and you are alert to the wrecking games of the charlatans.

Ignore them and they will steal your future.