News Corp newspaper gives a lesson in ‘experienced editorial guidance’ – and then … guess what? Plus how Tony Abbott lost friends in Torres Strait
We did enjoy the Australian’s editorial on Tuesday, lamenting the poor media standards of rivals the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age who allowed “the social media tail to wag their editorial direction”.
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• Indigenous media shut out of Abbott’s Torres Strait tour
The editor of Torres News, Aaron Smith, who managed to cover Tony Abbott’s tour of the Torres Strait last week despite being shut out, has written a scathing account of the prime minister’s office’s treatment of the local Indigenous media who were not invited to cover the big story on their own turf.
Neither the Torres News nor 4MW Radio, which would have covered the visit in traditional language, was allowed to join the “hand-picked media junket”. “It is one of the great mysteries as to why a prime minister would take a week out of his schedule to visit our region and then for his media team to do their absolute best to ensure the local population are kept in the dark about what occurred, particularly when most of it reflects positively on Mr Abbott,” Smith wrote.
“Here at Torres News, we can only conclude that it is because the PM and his media team care more about the southern media portraying Mr Abbott as being concerned about Indigenous Australia as a higher priority over him actually doing anything real for the benefit of Indigenous Australia. And what a shame our friends at Radio 4MW weren’t able to provide coverage of such an historic event to the people of the Torres Strait and NPA in their own languages.”
Smith said the PM’s media adviser, Nicole Chant, was surprised to see him at Eddie Mabo’s grave and demanded to know how he got there and how he was getting about. The answer was Smith had the support of the local community, who managed to get him transported to events, fed and accommodated despite Chant’s best efforts to exclude him. Smith was invited to stay with the Injinoo community where Abbott was staying and Chant ordered him not to take any pictures of Abbott eating. We approached Chant for a comment but she didn’t reply. “Not an official guest for dinner, it was an Injinoo resident who shared half a lobster tail that fed me that night,” Smith wrote. “Everyone at Torres News wishes to thank the communities of the Torres Strait and the NPA, for the lifts (land, sea and air), the kai kai, the beds and for keeping the bush telegraph running hot with up-to-date information.”
