What is the role of a newspaper?

[i-need-a-martini]

I would have thought it was the reporting of up to date information of relevence to the general public.

I read two newspapers this morning - the Sydney Morning Herald and the Daily Telegraph.

The Sydney Morning Herald had fairly extensive news coverage of the what happened at Manus Island and some intelligent dialogue about what it means. Front page coverage as well as extensive coverage inside. They interviewed key witnesses, attempted to make contact with officials, have someone posted in PNG waiting for updates and have placed the incident into a national and global context. 

The Telegraph had a small blurb (approximately 6 short single line paragraphs) at the bottom of page 4 with a small headline which basically said little more than the body of a man murdered on Manus Island is now back in Iran and that the "people of Manus Isalnd have expressed their sadness that the violent death has drawn attention to their peaceful home".

And people get upset if you dare suggest that the Murdoch news is the media of choice for the least intelligent Australians...

[izabsmiling]

OK...then #7 may be of interest to you too 

[lakeland27]

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@freakiness wrote:

Did anyone see the story about Ray Hadley and the AVOs that were withdrawn when they made the news?

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  did he train his son to intimidate women too ? i see she had AVO's on both.

[the_great_she_elephant]

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@windrake wrote:

I would rather wait for the results of the professional inquiry to be released rather than read the biased reporting of newspapers & the unsubstantiated verbal of vested interests.

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There is merit in what you say, but it ignores the real elephant in the room - the underlying problem that has little to do with the media and much to do with politics.

As a result of a string of incidents - children overboard, the persecution of Dr Haneef, the 'navigational inadequacies of our Royal Amateur Navy, the taking down of a health advice website by  someone with a vested interest in a junk food company, the appointing of a self confessed climate change denier to head a renewable energy enquiry, the 'small word processing error' that allowed the AFP to obtain their warrant to raid the channel 7 offices - a great many Australians no longer trust their Government or its agents to tell them the truth. 

And instead of taking steps to restore this trust the present Government has retreated into a bunker and surrounded itself with a cloak of secrecy. Being kept in the dark and fed on bovine excrement may work for mushrooms but it doesn't do anything for human beings - we don't trust the darkness and from where I stand the 'mboko' reeks to high heaven.

[lloydslights]

The role of a newspaper, like any consumer good or service, to make money.

The newspaper companies give them away, so that their advertising people can say they have a certain number of readers and then charge companies advertising space based on readership.

They have been giving them to schools, unis, McD, for years trying to keep the numbers up.

Their motto used to be: ........NEWS SELLS.....and newspapers sold for people to get the news at their own pace (not radio, TV news grabs). There used to be 3 editions delivered daily to newsagencies in the suburbs - more in the city. 

Oh, and don't forget S.E.X. SELLS...page 3 girls.

However, with all the avenues now available for people to get the news, newspaper sales dropped significantly.

The only way a newspaper can make money now, is the advertising.

In the end, what role does any news source offer, sensationalism.  

Frankly, I think, true journalism and reporting is dying. 

DEB

[i-need-a-martini]

The Daily Telegraph makes a loss.

[lloydslights]

I know of a few newspaper journalists who have become Press Secretaries.  They are employed to put out Releases to gauge the voters response on a given political subject.  And those Press Releases become the "news".

DEB

[i-need-a-martini]

And the last time we saw a Page 3 girl was approximately 30 years ago.

[lloydslights]

And, I think, so has the Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax) for years.  For this reason, I wonder why Gina bought into it.

Another question, if they are not making money why do they continue?  Is it to keep people employed? You can only "make no money" for so long before something "gives".

DEB

[cherry*135]

Fairfax Media has reported 48.5 per cent growth in underlying profit to $86.4 million for the half year ended December 31 [2013], with the print, digital and radio businesses focusing on cutting costs and targeting new revenue streams.

We used to get the SMH on a student subscription about $24 per year. Could pick up the week day one at the Uni and get the weekend ones delivered to home.

[freakiness]

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@lloydslights wrote:

And, I think, so has the Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax) for years.  For this reason, I wonder why Gina bought into it.

Another question, if they are not making money why do they continue?  Is it to keep people employed? You can only "make no money" for so long before something "gives".

DEB

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POWER!