Dear Valerie Youle,
I just commented on yesterday article of Graham Young.

Dear Graham,

Your dreams, your commitment, your sacrifices, remind me of Giovanna Berneri who, single handed, since the collapse of fascism until her death, ran a monthly publication, Volonta’.

Her business was her reader’s business and a model for any man of vision.

In the last page she printed the financial transactions of the month, including her salary, and the balance at hand.

But she did not deal in irresponsible, dreamy opinions from which the gutter-press derives its power.

Her business was ’verifiable and undeniable facts’ and the questioning of administrators of which, long ago, I talked to you.

The many who are wronged are prepared to meet the costs of questioning and the disclosures would be positively informative, and a worry to the masters of silence and misinformation.

Albert Triann

I like the plan, but who will implement it?
I'd suggest the media has too much to gain from the current system of paid for spin.
I do like the idea of a structured approach, relevant history and spin-free policy. In a true democracy these things would be no-brainers...but we are following the US into democracy as a circus while the oligarchs play the real game.
Murdoch is a problem too big for local politicians to handle. He will not allow informed democratic information as it works counter to his interests. Alas, we have to fix the media problem before the election problem can be solved. (Then we need to fix the private school political indoctrination issue!)

Some of what is said makes sense but other is just a pipe dream.
The media and public are both responsible for the circus that elections have become. The reporting style has become personality based and more like an episode of days of our lives than the most important decision a nation will make. The media should not be forced to do the right thing by laws but rather the public should demand it by how they treat the information received. Far to many of us are so easily mislead by agressive advertising, massive groups of people in sprawling suburbs of the major cities are so easily swayed by the media and never question it or do any research as to the validity of the information. Personal social responsibility for our vote is the key, we have to take our vote seriously and try to understand the issues instead of being so easily influenced by gimmicky advertising and unrealistic promises.

You'll never cut money out of elections until you cut out the media, and you'll never cut out the media until you cut out the need for candidates to disseminate their messages to every enrolled voter. The solution is to bring a sample of enrolled voters to the candidates, and let that sample decide the outcome: http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/08/19/rundle-you-call-this-democracy-its-time-to-start-again/#comment-92222 .

You’re kidding , The only way anyone of us will ever make Fascism or Socialism Progressivism – Positivism Moribund ; is to totally abandon the idiotic notion of Government and their Minions and Intellectual frauds; We can see the States Indoctrination intellectual retrogression System at work here ; That is the real term so named Education these days. ( Government owned). And you thought it is the peoples ; you are silly.

To save this country, is to totally dismantle and destroy the STATE and all levels of it , but these band of Thieves are not going to surrender too soon on their own account ; and it is for everyone to get off their fat backsides and get to work ; also start to use their own brains for thinking and not Ideological stinking ; For that is what it was intended for. - Thinking that is.

Ideas must yield to Fact ; Not Stupid Notions of and Propaganda Ideas as facts. Already that little sentence proves Government and their Minions are the problem.

LIberty has been substituted with Democracy ; which is just as evil as any other form of Governmental dictatorship ; Tell them all to get stuffed and have them all charged with unarmed robbery. heheheheh. But true.