Mainstream media, and in particular newspapers, have been facing increasing competition from low cost online news and information sources. The old monopoly that the print media had on op-ed articles has been broken by blogs already. The newspapers cannot compete with a medium whose cost matches its production - zero dollars. Newspapers, both print and online, have been trying to keep their viewers through tabloidisation. Cheap sensationalism is a valid marketing method, but not one which produces quality discourse.
When the AWB scandal was developing I argued that the Labor Party should hope
that one of the AWB Directors was a cross-dresser
. Salacious sex scandals means more people viewing and watching. The media could not pass up such an opportunity to make money.
This appeared in Ramsey's op-ed
:
Then there was Thursday's front page of Brisbane's Courier-Mail newspaper, the only metropolitan daily in Kevin Rudd's home state. It used to be a broadsheet newspaper. Last year it was cut down to a racy tabloid. And on Thursday its front page had a strap headline right across the top that read, "Accused torturer attends Howard fund-raiser", and underneath, in five decks of huge type down the centre of the page, "PM HAS/LUNCH/WITH/PORN/KING". Flanking the headline was a photo of Howard on one side and "porn mogul Scott Phillips" on the other side.
Politics has always been a bit tabloidy, but even more so in the modern mass-media environment that is under pressure to survive. Most of the best discussion and commentary has moved online and one of the few things the tabloids have left is sex, celebrity and sensationalism
The current Prime Minister is a relatively boring person in his public persona. This is a result of the character attacks and negative campaigning of politics, but also because the media latches on sensationalism.
Consequently we get politicians who have never had a speeding ticket, and if they have, they are forced to resign for some bizarre reason.
Hardly good life experience for a politician
. The only ones who seem to survive are those that have had their misdemeanours already shaken out on public stage years and years ago; such as Malcolm Turnball and Peter Garrett.
Most Popular on South Sea Republic
The articles that have been viewed the most:
Most Popular Restaurants in Phoenix
Phoenix Eats Out is the restaurant review site for
Phoenix,
Scottsdale and
Old Town Scottsdale which lists the modernist and contemporary restaurants, taverns and bars in the greater Phoenix area.
This is the list of the most popular restaurants pages from phoenixeatsout.com that have been viewed the most;
My personal favourite restaurants in Phoenix are
AZ88,
Postinos,
Bomberos with
Grazie,
Humble Pie,
Orange Table,
The Vig,
Fez and others coming close behind. View the complete list with the photo-journalistic style images on
phoenixeatsout.com
Most Popular Hikes in Arizona
Arizona is an outdoor state and has lots of hiking in the city and around the state. Phoenix is unusual for most cities in having several large mountains in the center of the city with great hiking. Anyone who comes to Phoenix has to do the
Echo Canyon trail on Camelback and the
Summit Hike on Squaw Peak or Piesta Peak. The views of the city, suburbs and surrounding mountains are wonderful from Camelback and Piesta Peak.
For more experienced hikers there is the McDowell Mountains in North Scottsdale that has several difficult and strenuous hikes in
Tom's Thumb and
Bell Pass. Alternatively, you can hike the highest mountain in Arizona. At 12,600 feet
Humphrey's Peak is a long and difficult hike.
Alternate Australian Constitutions
Between 2004 and 2009 this site,
southsearepublic.org, was a constitutional blog based on scoop which focused on Australian and global constitutional issues.
One of the strongest aspects of it was the development of constitutions by those involved in the blog. These constitutions are the outcome:
The constitutions were built using principles from Montesquieu's separation of powers, the enlightnment's universal political rights and the ancient Athenian technology of sortition and choice by lot.
Archives For South Sea Republic
South Sea Republic started in 2004 as an Australian constitutional blog in 2004 based on scoop software. It was an immigrative outgrowth of Kuro5hin. The archives for each year since then;
The articles are ordered by views.
Who Is Cam Riley
I am an Australian living in the United States as a permanent resident.
I am a software developer by trade and mostly work in Java and jump between middleware and front end.
I originally worked in the New York area of the United States in telecommunications before moving to Washington DC and
working in a mix of telecommunications, energy and ITS. I started my own software company before heading out to
Arizona and working with Shutterfly. Since then I have joined a startup in the Phoenix area and am thoroughly enjoying myself.
I do a lot of photography which I post on this website, but also on flickr. I have a photo-journalistic website which lists
the modernist and contemporary restaurants in phoenix. I have a site on the
Australian Flying Corps [AFC] which has been around since the 1990s and which I unfortunately
lost the .org URL to during a life event; however, it is under the
www.australianflyingcorps.com URL now.
The AFC website has gone through several iterations since the 90s and the two most recent are
Australian Flying Corps Archives(2004-2002) and
Australian Flying Corps Archives(2002-1999) which are good places to start.
Websites Worth Reading
Websites of friends, colleagues and of interest;
