Letter

In response to Australia needs better China coverage. This ABC story just gave us less

It's not only the ABC

By all means, criticise the ABC for its low-quality journalism. There are exceptions, but it’s never been the same since the Liberals got their hands on the ABC board.

However, we have to remember that our traditional, legacy media are no better. And not only on China. They all take their news with an American bias, and sometimes a UK bias. It is also US and Euro-centric. Our knowledge of countries outside those blocks is all but non-existent if we haven’t been dragged into a war there.

Alternative and new media does so much better. But the problem is it is so fragmented. I’ve got my go-to publications and then I hear others talking of what they learned elsewhere. There are not enough hours in the day …

For clarity’s sake, I do not include Sky News. It is both new and alternative… but news, it is not. It’s not journalism either, not even “bad” journalism. Yet that’s what much of rural Australia gets as an excuse for news. No wonder this country is dumbing down in many respects.

— Margaret Callinan from Hawthorn VIC 3122