Over the years my newspaper diet has consisted of the Sydney Morning Herald, the West Australian (not the best), and in the past 10 years The Mercury. And, whenever possible, the Weekend Australian.
In my experience the quality of journalism and the philosophy of these daily papers varies considerably, but none in my view, is quite as bad as The Mercury. To which I’ve since learned people simply chuckle and refer to “The Mockery”.
I live 30 minutes from the nearest shops and it is not possible to receive a daily delivery of The Mercury, so as soon as I was connected to the half-way decent Skymuster satellite I decided it was time for a digital subscription. I really do want to know what is happening in Tasmania and I do enjoy reading letters to the Editor and the occasional Talking Point article. (Though since going Digital I confess to missing having at hand a ready supply of paper to light our wood fired stove).
However, after almost 12 months I have this week given The Mercury the big flick!
I can no longer tolerate such terrible and often inane journalism. I can no longer tolerate what I consider so often to be an editorial bias. And I continue to be amazed that this excuse for a daily newspaper still manages to roll off the presses each day.
The Mercury is after all a paper that more often than not, does not last the duration of a coffee. I have sat in my Doctor’s waiting room and started to re-read the paper a second time in the hope that I missed something of value to read in order to fill in my time. Whenever I am in Hobart my Café of choice is one that offers a complimentary copy of The Mercury – I just cannot justify spending $1.40.
Though I do find it rather annoying that some patrons hog the complimentary paper whilst they complete the crossword meanwhile oblivious to others who might like to skim the headlines before their coffee gets cold.
This past weekend was the last straw for me.
In Saturday’s paper was an article about the State being on alert as wild weather hits. It included a large photo of a water bombing helicopter flying over a park near Mornington and a smaller pic of some waves washing the shore at Howrah beach. At around 250 words it covered 62% of the page. But worst of all – not just one journalist, but two journalists ascribed their names to this incredible article about absolutely nothing.
The second article that got my pip was a pic of Nick Cave taken at his first world tour concert in 18 months at the Derwent Entertainment Centre last week.
Suggestions of playing alongside his black and white film One More Time with Feeling was a gross exaggeration. And sure he played a few songs from his latest album – but he also entertained the audience with an extra 40 minutes of encore of old favourites, joked about forgetting some of his lyrics because it has been so long since he has been on tour, and he provided a wonderful and entertaining evening especially for the mosh pit audience.
If this was any attempt at a review then shame on The Mercury.
Fortunately The Weekend Australian gave the appropriate respect to this enduring artist.
In 2014 I learned that a journo from The Mercury had been deceived in an article she wrote about the plight of the Russell River being polluted by the Huon Aquaculture Company back in 2008. I made contact with her and she expressed interest in a follow up investigative article. I provided her with a precis and an outline as to how what she reported did not in fact occur as was promised and her email back to me said:
“Hi Geoffrey,
This is a large amount of information! are you able to distill (sic) it into something more manageable for my overworked, frazzled journo brain???”
Suffice to say – nothing eventuated. I do however recall the same journo writing a gripping article around the same time about the weeds growing alongside the road from the Hobart Airport into Hobart – not a good look for our tourists.
And more recently, back in August 2016; I had occasion to write to The Mercury to point out that an article about the reporting of the troubled Huon Valley Council was possibly conflicted given the perceived conflict of interest between a Mercury journalist and a former Media Officer and Brand Manager of the Huon Valley Council. The response was a very strident and short email …
“We reject there is a conflict of interest. Our reporters are professionals and bound by a strict code of conduct.
We will roster them as we see fit.
Our coverage of Huon Valley Council has been fair and balanced, and will continue to be so.
Sincerely,
Matt Deighton
Editor”
When I phoned to cancel my subscription to The Mercury the operator enquired why… my response was I can no longer tolerate such poor journalism and such inaccurate reporting.
She responded with “I do understand Mr Swan”.
*Geoffrey Swan is a blow-in from the mainland who now calls Tasmania home. With no allegiance to any political party his political interest is truth, transparency and justice. For the past eight years he has actively spoken up to save the Russell and Little Denison Rivers in Lonnavale from the archaic daily polluting practices of the Huon Aquaculture Company and the Snowy Range Hatchery. In the past 12+ months he has openly supported the former Mayor Peter Coad in his efforts to bring change to the troubled Huon Valley Council. And he strongly agrees with the words of Bob Katter taken from a 60 minutes program; “for every one of us who is under the gun here – you stand up and you fight, you don’t let them walk all over the top of you … and you understand that there are people out there that will stand up on your side … whereas my message to the people is stand up, you’re Australians … fight!”
EARLIER on Tasmanian Times …
• The Mercury goes shopping at the Boxing Day sales (includes links to earlier Bob Burton articles)
