JOHN MENADUE. White Man’s Media – A weekly column. This week: The US elections.

Nov 2, 2016

 

In this blog I propose to run a regular Wednesday column White Man’s Media focusing on the derivative nature of our media and its failure to reflect our own region ..

I have in mind pieces of 100 -400 words. The longer pieces might focus on some of our complacent foreign affairs ‘ experts’ and their faulty analysis. There will also be opportunities to highlight omissions and draw attention to error strewn foreign reports.. Whilst I want to avoid ‘gotcha’ type pieces some short and pithy pieces like the old SMH Granny would also be useful.

Contributions would be welcome . Please send to johnmenadue@staging-johnmenadue.kinsta.cloud

 

The US elections.

Our TV and radio are broadcasting twice as many items on the US election, as they broadcast on the most recent Australian election. Isentia Media tells us that in the same phases of the two election campaigns, Australian TV and radio ran 9,000 items on the Australian election. They ran 17,000 items on the current US election campaign.

Our print media is little better, swamping us with US news ,views and ‘entertainment’.

And it is not just the Trump phenomenon. The same deluge of US news occurred in the 2012 Presidential election when Barrack Obama beat Mitt. Romney.

In an earlier blog, ‘JOHN MENADUE. Australia, the White Man’s Media and Donald Trump’, I said

I am usually interested in politics, but I am sick and tired of the US elections and Donald Trump. … Forget about Indonesia, China, Japan and India. Our media does not think them important. .. I have said many times that a person from Mars who read and listened to Australian media would conclude that we are an island parked off London or New York with little relationship to Asia. Our news and media coverage is so derivative, relying on the BBC, CNN and other news and entertainment houses in the UK and the US. We are recyclers of news, current affairs and entertainment from the UK and the US. … We speak glibly about our future in the Asian Century and the need to equip Australia for our future in Asia, but our media remains fixated on London and New York.” 

John Tulloh also wrote on this in Wow! The Americanization of Australia.

The pattern of our media, dependent on North Atlantic countries, was laid down over 100 years ago . That pattern has become even more entrenched .

With the help of our media we are now engulfed and conditioned by the US political, military and intelligence complexes.

A major development in our region in the last few weeks- the warming relationship between the Philippines and China and the cooling relationship with the US over US bases and the South China Sea- did not even get a mention in major News Corp publications .Yet this issue is potentially a real game changer in our region .

Indonesia is our most important strategic and political neighbour. It is crucial for cooperation on our borders. It is the largest Muslim country in the world. Yet I had to search our media high and low yesterday to find out that the Indonesian President is coming to Australia next week. Contrast that with the media treatment of a foolish American politician.. There could not be a better illustration of our white man’s media at work.

See also the failure of Australian media on the critical importance of the Sibutu Channel for Australian trade with North Asia, MACK WILLIAMS. The real shipping choke point for Australia – Sibutu Channel. 

Submerged by US news it is nor surprising that we don’t have a foreign policy that we could call our own.

We see the world through a US lens. No wonder we have followed the US into so many disasters in the past. Today the dangerous US views on Russia and China are becoming our views.

Share and Enjoy !

Subscribe to John Menadue's Newsletter
Subscribe to John Menadue's Newsletter

 

Thank you for subscribing!