I'm with Aka and ybgirp on this. Especially re their point on most of the obviously right-wing loudmouths who now dominate the comments section on this site - very few of which have anything positive to say or recommend.
Meanwhile this essay describes the function of the mainstream commercial "news"-media, especially of the tabloid and right-wing variety (which includes ALL of the Murdoch press including the Australian "news"-paper and Fox(faux)"news" which seldom, if ever invite their readers/listeners/viewers to exercise positive discriminative intelligence on any topic;
http://www.beezone.com/da_publications/popdisgu.html
Also
http://www.beezone.com/da_publications/coopdoub.html

And everyone scratches their heads and wonders why so many people in the USA enthusiastically vote for Trump. Even though most, if not all of their fears, grievances and frustrations are justified.

Hi Daffy,

As a loudmouth, I'm honestly hurt when you call me (and maybe others) right-wing. As far as I'm concerned, I'm my own sort of left-wing, and have been for many decades. It's a very broad church, although it has its strict, narrow-minded sects like any other church.

As for Trumpf, he's a populist, verging on a proto-fascist, appealing to the lowest levels of opinion. He would never get my vote in a million years. But go for him, if that's your thing.

Cheers,

Joe

Ybgirp,

You have just displayed the bigotry and intolerance of the left. Your unsubstantiated claim that the right is bigoted, intolerant, and racist clearly demonstrates your own bigotory and intolerance of people you don't agree with. Can't you see that? Are you really claiming that only those you disagree with are bigoted and intolerant? Or have you just put your foot in your mouth in the rush to condemn us conservatives?

As for the charge of "racism", I would like to hear you definition of that word, and how it applies, to say, me. I have been called a racist, and I never respond to such purile nonsense from people who don't know me. But this racist business has been on the go for too long, and slung at many people by others who are too lazy or unable to come up with anything sensible

Hi Graham and
All those mistakenly implying The Drum has gone:

I'd say you are talking about a small portion of the CONTINUING The Drum's actual coverage. Perhaps only a minority read the online essays of The Drum

The announcement of the death of The Drum seems premature in the sense that the TV show - The Drum - still screens:

- Monday to Friday ABC1 at 5.30 pm.

- Repeated Monday to Friday ABC24 at 6.30 pm and

- Repeated again Monday to Friday ABC24 at 12.30 am

and The Drum audio-visual is available online all day at http://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/drum/

I'd say most of The Drum's impact comes through the TV version.

ABN News Online's articles are also likely to report key confrontations on The Drum that are newsworthy.

Graham talking about OLO in the past tense is a worry...

Pete

I'm surprised at some of the comments about the Drum online which I found to be an interesting and quite diverse presentation of opinion and comment. Sure,there certainly were contributors from the Left but the presenters tried to balance those with Right Wing contributors.

The opinion polling was quite unique and, on average, seemed to get around 6000 responses, much larger than traditional polls.

I too am always sorry to see a publication close down : I'm still suffering withdrawal symptoms from the closure of the Bulletin !

Great piece, Graham, and I learned a lot about the origins of On Line Opinion as well.

Cheers,

Don

PS for those who think OLO is dominated by miscreants, try The Conversation.