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https://theconversation.com/media-and-political-complacency-is-letting-pauline-hanson-re-write-the-rules-on-accountability-288945>
"“Disappointing” was the best
Guardian Australia could muster when Pauline
Hanson’s One Nation banned it from a press conference, this time called to
announce the party’s candidates for the forthcoming Victorian state election.
“Unorthodox” was the reaction of
The Age, which was also banned, along with
the
ABC.
These are the latest in a series of bans imposed by One Nation on media it does
not like. The first occurred on the eve of the byelection for the federal seat
of Farrer in southern New South Wales on May 9. The
ABC was chucked out, and
the rest of the media stood by and did nothing.
The second occurred in Perth on June 11 when the
ABC was ejected from a Swan
chamber of commerce event at which Hanson spoke. Once again the other media
acquiesced.
And now, along with
The Guardian,
The Age has been added to the list of the
proscribed in its home state, where an election is to be held in November.
In the face of a clear and present danger to press freedom and Australian
democracy, two of the most important newspapers in the country cannot find it
in themselves to call One Nation’s behaviour what it is: tyrannical.
In democracies, public figures do not get to pick and choose who covers them
and how. This is especially so with politicians at election time.
With polls showing between one in three and one in five voters would vote One
Nation, allowing Hanson to get away with granting access only to those who give
her favourable coverage makes it even likelier that support for her will grow.
It creates a vicious circle."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
