Coming back from 8 weeks of travel, I coudln't help noticing (right or wrong) that the maturity of public debate is not being allocated the space it deserves.

I had a chance to watch US, European and middle eastern media. There are probably good 3-4 hours per day on hot topics whether local, regional or global. There was a lot to learn on energy crisis and oil alternatives, global economy, globalisation, etc...

The conclusion I had is that public debate in Australia needs a lot more attention, space, interaction and passion.

I am interested in fellow posters feedback: anyone shares my view?

I agree with you, and this is especially obvious in an election year: we have the media controlling the issues that are being played out. For example, once the issue of the Gunns Pulp Mill was settled on none of the major media outlets (to my knowledge) have continued to question anything regarding its environmental credentials.

We do need sustained debate, and I can only say that it is heartwarming to see that the internet is revolutionising this so that people who are interested can find a place to discuss topics that are of concern to them.

For those that aren't interested then I suppose the way the major media outlets gloss over of all the major concerns facing our society today is enough food for thought. I have also travelled extensively and I also believe that Australia's media isn't focused on the international enough in an age of increasing globalisation.

here in oz, ordinary ozzies can have no substantive input into national, or state, policy for lack of citizen initiative and direct election. so ozzies don't care about politics- it's over their head. oz media follows their interest, which is celebrities and sensationalism.

in america, almost all the states have some kind of citizen input, many states set broad policy with initiative referendum. so it pays educated people to pay attention to politics, and pays media to support this interest.

until you have democracy, you can't be a citizen.

News has become a branch of infotainment, and the objective of the news source is therefore to entertain, and not put too great a strain on the mental capacity of its audience.

People who travel, on the other hand, are far likelier to be more choosy about their news sources, and tend to scan the hotel's TV guide for one of the more reputable and in-depth news programmes.

Locals, however, much like the majority of the audience here in Australia, will choose the local news channel, precisely because it lacks depth.

Picked entirely at random, here's the headlines, in the order presented, from Channel 2, WDTN Dayton Ohio.

- Family Shares Chemical Concerns for Former Mound Workers: When our story aired Wednesday night concerning former Miamisburg Mound workers contracting cancer, video of one particular man prompted several e-mails and phone calls to the station.
- JCPenny Recalls Toys Due to Lead Paint Danger: J.C. Penney recalled Chinese-made Winnie the Pooh play sets and decorative ornaments with a horse-theme, as well as art kits made in Taiwan and Vietnam
- Piqua Soldier Makes Ultimate Sacrifice in Iraq: A Piqua soldier deployed to Iraq six weeks ago has been killed, family members and school officials said Thursday.
- Congress Changes Rules on Religious Expressions on Flag Documents: A 17-year-old Eagle Scout from Dayton who wanted to honor his grandfather's "love of God, country and family" with a flag flown over the U.S. Capitol has helped remove a ban on the word "God" in certificates that accompany these flags.
- Cold Medicines For Babies Yanked From Market: Drug makers pulled cold medicines targeted for babies and toddlers off the market Thursday, leaving parents to find alternatives for hacking coughs and runny little noses just as fall sniffles get in full swing.

No discernible difference, I'd suggest.

The Dayton Daily News is much the same: its lead breaking story is "Annual Sauerkraut Festival Begins This Weekend"

Demos,

You'll be pleased to know that, contrary to your impressions, research into media use shows that Australians are generally unimpressed with the level of political debate in our media. Just like you, they can tell it's garbage, and just like you, more and more of them are turning to the internet where at least they can get different points of view.

It hasn't made any difference to the media, yet, but it may well do in the future.

Have you seen media watch on the ABC? It points out a lot of these problems in a very in depth and calculated way. The last one I saw was about how banks are paying the commercial stations and even the ABC to do their financial report segments on the news and how this can result in conflicts of interest by those who have investments doing the very reporting they are supposed to be relying on. I like the fact that this show is able to criticise the station it runs on.

chainsmoker, doesn't matter what they think, there's nothing they can do. good that people are open to web as well as mainstream news, but it's just gossip collecting until someone can construct a citizen action group to force pollies to devolve power to the electorate. i see no sign of that happening among ozzies. young and old, the limit of their ambition is to be ruled by a kind and fair master. one who can balance the budget while handing out lollies to all.

the pollies will go on volunteering for that role forever.

would be interested in how you all see this apathy (both from the public and the media) in terms of sedition legislation.
cheers

It is not apathy that the Australian electorate suffers with, it is the realization that both major political parties operate exclusively in the interests of big business, and that after the elections attacks on job security, wages and conditions, the state’s abrogation of democratic rights, the running down of public sector health and education and the war in Iraq will not only continue, they will be intensified. People do care, but they have no way of expressing this through a thoroughly corrupted parliamentary system.

Those who hold power are not unaware of extreme hostility and distrust felt by the vast majority of working people with both political parties. The political forum/ debate plays an important role in this regard.

All political forums in mainstream/commercial media networks, whether it be here or overseas, do not seek to engage in serious political debate. Their function is to provide an outlet for this frustration and disaffection, then lead it down a dead end where no action is taken and nothing changes.

An example of this methodology is the program Opinion. They held a recent forum on the crisis of defaulting home buyers. One suggestion put forward by an academic was the government needs tighter regulation on lending institutions. Fat chance! Big business dictates to the government not vice-a-versa. Other suggestions were even more worthless. At the end of this so-called debate, nothing is resolved, nothing changes.

The media is owned by the same people that support Howard’s IR legislation etc, do you think they are going to tell you how to fight them, or would they instead attempt to disorientate you?

There are ways to facilitate change, but they are not to be found in the institutions of the system itself. To be sure, the law is nothing more than a mechanism for legalizing government malfeasance.

The time is over for pointing out the obvious criminality of those that hold the reigns of power, we are all well aware of this fact. Concrete measures need to be taken based on a political conscious understanding on exactly what it is we confront

Fellow Human,
Glad to see you back, welcome home.

While I know that big busness dictates the Governments policies, both State and Federal and for both major parties, as busness makes massive donations to both parties. There is also and element of apathy from the general public in serious matters. You can tell this by the most popular TV shows.

You will recall the Government announcing intervention in NT communities regarding child abuse, and the ruckus that raised, both for and against. Well just recently there was an article here on OLO about a community called Windale where there has been substantial reduction in child abuse. One would think that all those hundreds of posters who wrote regarding the NT intervention would be interested in how Windale acheived this, but no. There were only 2 posts, so maybe most of the previous posters were simply pushing a political barrow.

A while back I posted an article about FGM being carried out here on Aussie born girls and that attracted only limited posts. I am appalled that FGM happens here and the Governments and media do and say nothing. And it seems the public is not interested.

I just do not know what the answer is. Football and cricket seems to be more important than the welfare of our children. Strange

No, DJD. What you say is only partially correct.

Apathy is a very big problem here. Your opening statement shoots the rest of your comment in the foot.

When you peruse the lead story on most newspaper website, you find people's interests are depressingly trivial.

Good to see so many posters sharing the same feelings.

Public debate is a healthy sign of socially responsible media, organisations and society. The maturity of public debate is important for a successful democracy and nation building.

If we stick with the infotainment as Pericles rightly pointed, we risk ending up with uninformed, polarised views and votes.
The risk of not having a public debate is very divisive to our nations.

The question is, what can we, here and now, do about it?

Thoughts?

Thanks Banjo for your well wishes great to be back.
Its interesting what you said about FGM, I was travelling across the middle east and the ban and criminalisation of FGM was openly debated in many muslim countries and societies.
http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=10391
votes (either pro or anti)

Banjo,

Fellow_Human,
Thanks for the info from Egypt and FGM. I wonder if that Government will enforce the ban on FGM, or turn a blind eye like our State Governments do. Its bad enough to see kids suffer from things like cancer, but preventable suffering from sexual abuse and FGM is unexcusable in my book. Probably nothing will be done here until the media takes up the cause after a tragety.

If you hear of anything further on the matter let me know via this General section.

Hi Banjo,

Thnaks no problems, will email you articles as I find them.
I started a new discussion re elections:

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=1152

This is who to vote for in the up coming elections

www.sep.org.au/statement.html

F.H....the challenge is not so much to have more debate in the media.. its about making it:

a) Entertaining. (we don't want to die of boredom)

b) Commerically viable.(after all..they only exist by advertizing bucks)

"Hard Talk" is a good example of both I think.

But there are other ways to get serious issues into the spotlight.

Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Colbert Report. with Stephen Colbert (alias "messiah")

Fox has taken the hint here and brought in the "Red Eye" as a kind of copy of the above.

Leave the dry boring stuff for the ABC... commercial stations can only survive if people buy ads... which means there has to be more effort made in the 'packaging'.

cheers mate.

The media are heavily influenced by American culture and Christianity at the moment. At the core of American culture and Christian values is the principle is to preach and to follow direction. There can not be tolerance of a diversity of ideas. There is no room for listening to others in order to develop knowedge and gain information to make an informed debate let alone good decisions. The reason is Christianity like all religions is myth based and so the spread of knowledge is dangerous to its 'wizard of oz' structure, like wise its authority is based on a specific style of interpretation of fiction and is vulnerable to the exchange of ideas that is synomonous with a free world. American culture is a consumer culture and so to sustain it it requires a 'take it for granted' approach that advertising is directing the consumer in his/her own best interests.

This is why modern Australian newspapers tend to be little more than ignorant editorial drivel ( a couple are worst than the others)and television has been hijacked by church groups dictating what we can and cannot view as adults, to the point of stacking contestants in game shows to proliferate future propaganda potential.

Many of us have been to a quiz night.

The best place for public debate is a public gathering, contact your local government or cafe or pub owner and host a debate in your local park, pub or cafe. Publish a short franzine or blog page of the minutes. Sounds like a good way of getting to know your locals and exchange ideas.