… read it all: Here

Comment: How very decent of Garry Linnell and The Bulletin to give poor little Tassie a leg up by announcing their wondrous generosity of a million dollar Tasmanian tiger reward.

Garry Linnell’s explanation on ABC Talkback and AM this morning (Wednesday, 23 March 2005) had all the resonance of the Newfie Complex – that arrogant, dismissive perspective which perceives Tasmania – like Newfoundland in Canada – as the nation’s psychological sink; the poor, illiterate, in-bred locals who can only benefit from the enormous wisdom of the Mainland visionaries.

Fess up Garry … this is not a generous, genuine attempt at creative journalism … it is simply another appalling example of grubby, marketing-platform journalism.

Mind you the Quill Awards were a less than perfect example of creative presentation … a cramped venue with poor sound, small screens and tiny bits of steak accompanied by a strange mousse blob, or arbitrarily a chunk of dead chook (but wonderful wine-waiter service!); the provincials shoved as an after-thought onto outside tables and that clique-ish backslapping love-in that made the evening very Ageist …

… but with the most worthy Perkin Award winner in Paul McGeogh, a courageous, admirable journalist – and that wonderful speech by Les Carlyon.
Lindsay Tuffin