Rodney,

Thank you for this contribution. It is very appropriate to turn the light of scrutiny onto the Telegraph and its editorial approach.

Relatedly, you and others may be interested to know that I have lodged a formal complaint with the Press Council of Australia regarding the Daily Telegraph's August 31st pieces regarding John Brogden's personal life. The progress of the complaint through the Press Council procedure can be followed at http://petershmigel.blogspot.com/.

I will be submitting your piece as supporting material to the Press Council.

Peter Shmigel

Not since the infamous "Kangi seige", or the incident in Perth where the press unofficially joined a police stakeout of a suspected serial killers home, has Australian journalism sunk so low.

Unless the fourth estate instigates some feeble attempt to raise it's standards, the public will begin to se the press not as fearless seekers of the truth, but as fearles seekers of ratings, circulation and popularity. The profusion of "advertorials" now prevalent in the electronic media displays that the press have morphed to become public relations mercenaries who are not only taking the advertisers shilling, but that they may even be biting the hands of those not feeding them.

Until recently when a genuine drift towards more balanced reportage became fashionable, the entire print, electronic and audio media had a persistent left wing bias thast reflected thre values of the trendy, university programmed brahmin caste who populated it. These journos could be perceived as wild eyed ideological zealots who were not averse to embellishing the truth to fit their left wing party line. This was a bias which the ABC and newpapers like The Age or the Sydney Morning Herald flately refused to acknowledge even existed.

Public disenchantment with the media was also glaringly displayed over the death of Princess Diana. She was hounded to her death by anarchic papparazzi who refuse, even today, to place any constraints upon their own behaviour.

One can only wonder at how many talented people refuse to become involved in political leadership because they fear the examinations of their personal lives by an aggressive pack of sniffing and baying press hounds.

Just a BIG BIG thank you to Rod Tiffin for 'hyena journalism and the coverage of John Brogden'.....WELL DONE!