Well that seems to have said it all. No argument from me. Thank you very much Mr Beecher.

I guess good established journos will all become part-time free-to-user bloggers in pajamas just like the rest of us.

Concerning dumbing down, we could well ask who is getting dumbed down the media or the public? From an oldie walking his dog and talking in the street to people, one of the grizzles is that if wasn't for the need of a bit of sport and reading the death notices, they would cancel the West Australian, even though it is Perth's only public newspaper.

Further, many of the more radical are blaming the big media barons Murdoch and Packer for the problem, feeding the public just enough news to make them alert about the Iraq situation, the terrorist problem, etc, then filling the opinion page with essays from extreme right-wingers, and John Howard backers, like Gerard Henderson, especially just lately.

So it seems it is the media that is still calling the tune, and as our media is corporate-controlled and corporates will be a major part of the New World Order when it comes along, I guess at this late stage with the Howard autocracy facing little opposition, we can only pray and hope for something better, like rulers with a far better sense of philosophy and history.

If the reading public have lost faith in the media, who is to blame?
Everything that happens is sensationalised to the point of nausea.
The press act like a pack of wild dogs in pursuit of prey and every article appears to be written ,not as informing the public but as something to scream about.
Articles of film stars have the same importance as world events. And every night there is a litany of misery,misery and more misery on the news.
Then as television programmes one has the choice of murder, horror and as a change hospital serials with masses of gore.
We are all being brainwashed by this negativity, how do young minds stand up to it?

"And that would not only be a disaster for journalists, it would be a tragedy for Australian democracy"

So true. The health of a democracy depends on how informed the public is about issues that affect them. If cross-media ownership laws are going to be removed (or watered down), this will lead to too much power in the hands of too few. Most people know about bias in the media, but when everyone starts to sing from the same song sheet, making an 'informed' decision becomes all the more difficult.

not all bad what you think!
there are new leaf are coming in order to replace oddie.
if you are not aware of the situation please check it out
http://www.theepochtimes.com

I am heartily sick and tired of journos putting their spin on stories. It is obvious that many of our journos are in thrall to the ALP or the Lib-NP.

Can we get a message to our journos please. Don't tell us Howard is a liar or Beazley is hopeless. Give us the FACTS and let us make up our own minds. Some of us are capable of weighing up the worth of politicians without the guidance of journos. We aren't interested in the tosh appearing on the front page concerning some stellar couple who have announced their separation. Who cares how many women in the world get a text message from a spin bowler.

Give us real news; not the tosh that fills our newspapers these days.