I have very little faith in the honesty and integrity of any institution in this country.
Journalism included. Pro gay rainbow liars all.

Once the Government becomes involved, it's good bye to the genuine, and hello corn flakes credentials. This approach is the ruination of an industry already in decline. Why? Because people know how to smell a rat from a mile off.

Talking to a mate this morning has given new credence to my attitude. He is a credentialed experienced worker in his field, which includes the mining industry. This important industry now openly distrusts credentials gained through private providers. Private providers in education, are the Government panacea for distancing itself from responsibility.

He is now forced to resit exams for worksite safety et al, as a requirement to a job application. This is “at-cost” to himself, in order for the job application to proceed.

Why? Government interference has created a black market environment, where safety training certification has become as believable as a credential from a Weet-Bix packet!

Journalism is already an unbelievable joke. Government interference can only sink the boat more quickly. Sooner the better.

He or She who hold the purse strings has control.

They can simply refuse to publish articles or change them.

You write what and articles that we want you to write about or look for a new job.

The problem is not the journalists it is the MSM outlets and who they are owned by and have to show elegance to.

Example the Washington post owned by Jeff Bazos (and Amazon) has a $600 million dollar contract with the CIA but they will not mention this in stories as a conflict of interests.

I believe there's a case for publicly funded journalism ?

As for social media?

O.L.O is unique and stands almost alone as a site where anyone can voice an opinion.

And an important tool for the political class, who ought to acknowledge it as useful to their ambitions and provide support for emerging social media sites like O.L.O, open to the general public?

And valuable, inasmuch as they need to know what ordinary folks actually think rather than this or that media mogul!

And believe, ought to receive some of the public funding by government, ahead of the usual crystal ball gazers and predictors.

Who got it so wrong over brexit and the presidential probabilities, when Donald Trump was ruled out as a possible contender, even before he entered the race. Moreover, the quiet rage still boils away and pollies in love with themselves and their own romance stories? Need to feel the public pulse before they go off half cocked like Clinton!

And the usual and dying on its feet, mass media can't see this stuff coming? Given they've franchised the news and outsourced informed opinion?

Which by and large, I believe, tells these king makers what they want to hear, not what they need to hear!

And that's the reason we will always always, need publicly funded journalism and the frank and fearless reporting it still allows!

Would that we had some of it in places like Russia, Turkey and China.

Just to mention some of the more glaring examples of freedom of speech and freedom of the press along with a fully informed public! Ha, ha, ha, ha!

As for O.L.O? I'd quite happily pay a modest annual fee, just for the privilege!

Say $50.00 a quarter? Where and how do I send it?

I just don't buy papers anymore nor write letters to the editor that invariably hit the waste paper basket, if they don't share the views of the editor!

Who almost to a generic man, no longer understand, the most important voice in the room, is the one that disagrees with you!
Alan B.

Publicly funded like the ABC, over $1 Billion dollars mostly wasted.

Get your news from shock jocks, unbiased truth, leave it to public journalism and you end up with a race of who can tell the biggest lies. The more lies the bigger the audience.

This country would be far worse off if it were not for the ABC to hold persons included politicians to account.

But who is holding the ABC to account?