Another great article from Paul Sheehan:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/grocery-reports-disparities-only-small-fry/2008/08/10/1218306657424.html

This time the topic is the effect of the supermarket majors and the way they grind down weaker parties in their ruthless quest to make profits. The article also highlights the inadequacy of the ACCC in actually getting to the bottom of problems in the market.

I've got to say that this type of corporate behaviour stinks. There is no consideration given to the consequences to human side as the big players squeeze every single margin they can in order to take maximum profit.

Sheehan's article is clear and broadly explains numerous dimensions of the problem and in both its explicit and implicit aspects. That is, he's taking a holistic view of the entire problem.

Why can't the rest of the journos out there put their pathetic cat-up-tree stories away and really get stuck into some of the big issues? I think it's about time the spotlight was shone on them more brightly.

Cause in some countries they call it a shovel. Just joking! Junk news is big business! just look at the paparazzi or the trash on the Internet, its just another way to make a buck.

EVO

Regrettably RobP, you'll find that there are quite a number of reasons.
I suspect most journos would love nothing more than to do as you ask, but like any employee, they must write as they're directed, and they tend to be directed toward writing what the largest number of people will read.

Now - larger publications can afford to have a journalist such as Sheehan writing pieces such as this. Aside from the extra time a well researched piece takes to prepare, there's the consideration that the journalist assigned to such a story isn't writing the bread and butter style pieces that garner more readers.

There are niche publications which attempt to open up and cover the serious issues you speak of, but they tend to fold quickly. The fact is, until they have a stable revenue base (i.e. the stories that most people will read, and yes, that means gossip, cats up trees, fires and crime stories) then they can't weather the bad times.

The typical response to these statements is that newspapers and journalists aren't giving the public enough credit, and should write more challenging pieces. Regrettably, these statements invariably come from the small subset of the population who actually is interested in such matters, and not from a more representative sample.

Simply put, if there's money in it, the bigger corporations will have a shot. Given their resources, they'd be happy to launch a few small intelligent publications and test the water, and sometimes they do, but not often, for the reasons I've outlined above.

OLO readers are evidently people who are interested in a wider array of issues than most people on the street - that's why they come to the site. Most however, are indeed more interested in cats up trees and what mischief the hollywood types are getting up to.

TurnRightThenLeft,

I'm sure that's 100% right - it sounds just like real life.

The only thing that will change things for the better, I suppose, is a "cataclysm" that shakes people up and gets their minds off the trivial, the sensational and the mundane.

I can see potential for that coming down the track, too.

Germaine Greer is right this time around. The people of nations, defeated, overrun, humiliated and who have largely been subjected to victors with genocidal tendencies would almost certainly suffer from an inner rage. For the past 200 years the Aboriginal nation seems to have turned that rage inwards upon themselves, however, the time must surely come when that rage is turned outwards towards the perpetrators. Australia would do well to consider creating an Aboriginal State, self-governing and on equal terms with other states. Central Australia is the only area left not confiscated by the victors(although that could soon go to mining interests) and therefore it is Australia's last chance of reparation for past atrocities. Uluru could become our National Seat of Justice administered by chosen representatives from all states. Aboriginal people would have the same rights as non-Aboriginal people and be free to live in whatever state or'reservation' they so choose.

With the exception of Phillip Adams, it's pretty much true that the same old hacks keep churning out the same old stuff week in and week out. The editorial ranting against Germaine Greer in the Weekend Australian was a case in point.

The last time you got a good read in the Australian was when Des Keegan still wrote for them.

I don't think he worrried too much about his sources drying up. He was his own source, and that was sufficient.

The vacuous stuff written about the Pope's visit and now the boys own sports carnival - complete with jack boots, cheese cake and child abuse - is enough to make you want to stick a couple of fingers down your throat.

Just watch feeding frenzy as journalists, sporting and other, suck up to the Mahatma as he and Kevan O'Sevan plead the case for more government money for the next carnival. (A word to all politicians, run a mile when you see those two coming. It will be exceptionally good for both your physical and our financial health.)

Judging by all reports, the indoor sport seems to be gaining popularity in the second week of the games and based on the number of condoms that have been given out, they're about to turn into a giant orgy.

TRTL has covered this pretty well from the commercial side. The book Amusing Ourselves to Death covers a lot of the reasons to do with TV (and later internet) as a medium influencing what is news.