SPQR,
I do the only thing I can do in our homogeneously conservative political spectrum; I vote Green and direct my preference to Labor in the hope that if enough people do that, Labor will forced to acknowledge that it has to embrace a representative ideological agenda.
I'm rather hard on many well-meaning or altruistic Australian voters above. Rather than plain cynical, I think it's possible for Australia to produce a majority prepared to embrace positive change in many areas, but that the media and consumerism generally is dominated by an established neoliberal agenda that confounds it with its spurious "common sense". I think, that is, that swathes of the public are too easily swayed from their purpose--on green and humanitarian issues, for instance--by the scare tactics employed by vested interests that are trumpeted by narrow mentalities such as your own, which punch above their weight.
Not all the media consciously manufactures this conservative agenda, and neither does Labor, but they contribute to its dominance by pandering to rather than condemning it.
So where a great many might support Labor and Green ideologically, they are too weak-minded to follow through; they will talk progressive but vote conservative; just as "you" don the mantle of Christian values but dump on humanitarian action. What do you think Jesus would have said about the "refugee problem"?

Squeers,

Christ wasn't muslim, he was Jewish and as was his practise he would have tended their earthly needs, spiritually forgiven them their sins, their rejection of him. He would have especially forgiven them as they beheaded him and his followers when they would have refused their attempt at conversion or as he and his followers tried to convert them to christianity.

Doh.

When you speak of radio you seem to limit yourself to talkback and that is opinion dominated by the callers. I doubt Jones would be listened to by "conservative 'phenomena' ... dominated by the grey demographic," if he spouted left biased opinion. I don't know anyone outside of Sydney who listens to Jones.

Laws retired years ago.

Every mainstream radio and TV News is leftwing dominated.

The Courier Mail, Sydney Morning Herald, Melbourne Age, Adelaide Advertiser, to name but a few, are all left wing dominated provincial rags... with plummeting circulations.
At he independant and balanced The Australian circulation is rising.

The Drum is the perfect example of a left-wing ABC dominated program and any reference from it must be viewed as such.

Non-issues or completely settled issues in the community at large are the former issue of climate change and broad social welfare issues. What is angering most people and are now the relevant issues are wasteful spending, boats and the weak and intergrity lacking labor leadership that is lead by the nose by the idealogical left policy mantras of the Greens.

The 'bourgeois tradition' well you applying that out dated label from a defunct idealogy simply defines you. You need say no more. Obviously most Australians opinions and our way of life are quite distasteful to you. You could always emigrate or flee or seek refugee status in Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea or any of those now crumbling socialist dictatorships of the Ba'ath parties in the Middle East

Ammonite,

The full quote included
'It's only the facile labor biased media that see and report that.'

Obviously you've fallen for the facile spin.

And I suppose no surf-life saver should wear budgies either. Why criticise a great Australian tradition! I wore them until middle age and was proud to do so.

PaulL
'Gillard Gov't and they have made a mess of a few things.'

Name something they haven't completely stuffed?

Tony Abbot will stop the fiscal waste, stop the boats and reverse a carbon tax. He'll also attempt to limit cost of living increases (Especially power costs). That's hardly policy free.

Most of the current liberal leadership when last in Government actually did those things. Have you forgotten? It doesn't fit with your labor spin doctor mantra does it?

Joe hockey will be a safe pair of hands when it comes to economic deficits and surpluses. Their are now more Commonwealth Public servants than ever before and the intrusion of Government into industrial affairs, the ceilings and lounge rooms of Australia, under this current labor rabble, has been an utter disaster.

Oh and why can't they get anybody to build their bloody precious NBN?

Cheers chappies.

Keith,
perhaps I can prevail upon you to suspend your "common sense" for an hour and read this:
http://www.discourses.org/OldArticles/The%20mass%20media%20today.pdf

Amongst its scholarly findings: "a rough sketch of the West and its media today. Much of the
scholarly evidence to fill in this picture is still missing, but there is enough evidence
that shows that its outlines are already clear. As media scholars we may be pessimistic,
and simply observe the general trends towards increasingly market-oriented,
neo-liberal, conservative, populist, nationalist, and xenophobic media. We may also42
take a more critical position, and move to the side of a fast growing number of victims
of these dominant ideologies".

Indeed I must revise my own notions apropos the relative innocence of the media I've propounded, though in self-defence I'd assert that Tanner's position is far more naive than mine; it's not merely the dumbing down of journalism that's culpable but the wholesale manipulation of it by vested interests.

According to Kevin Doogan, "in the US, “The Business Round Table, an organisation of CEO’s, ‘committed to the aggressive pursuit of political power for the corporation’… together with the US Chamber of Commerce”, were central to the mobilisation of “a veritable constellation of think tanks, pressure groups, special interest foundations, litigation centres, scholarly research and funding endowments, publishing and TV production houses, media attack operations, political consultancies, polling mills and public relations operations”.
This neoliberal agenda is international.

It is foolhardy to blame the media alone for the demise of substance although they play a huge role in perpetuating the lightweight entertainment aspect.

What about politicians deciding to be more honest in their policies and more transparent in their deliberations. That will put a stop to any wild inferences drawn by a media overly-focussed on entertainment, scandal mongering and the game of politics.

Politicans playing into that mind numbing mindset are also to blame.

The robotic responses and droning repetitive policy statements are not the fault of media. Some of the most honest speaking politicians of the past have been the most respected. Give the public some credit.

It is bleedin' obvious that the public is growing more cynical as reflected in the increase in 'none of the above' votes. Clearly the media focus is not as popular as people believe.

Politicians just need more spine - tell it like it is, we are not so fragile that the truth has to be veiled in spin.