Southwell's Word Emporium

After pocketing the trail of money laid by desperate publishers that led them into newsrooms, many a digital consultant would have told the   printing press-deafened hacks   that “old” media does not “get” or “understand” social media. I’d say it is at least equally, or perhaps more, true that many on social media do not “get” or “understand” the way the old media works in Australia. So, I am writing some explainers and for this first one I wanted to look at who owns what, concentrating on the written word. While this might seem an invitation by some to suck the hard-shelled reproductive  capsules of chickens , I will try to correct some of the frequent errors I see on Twitter and Facebook. This is making the heroic assumption that it is not wilful ignorance. There’s nothing I can do for that – so for anyone in that category and who is very happy being there – yes, you are completely correct,  Rupert Murdoch is the devil . For those less interested in theology, Murdo...

I was going to talk about the influence of money on print and digital journalism but a story in The Age over the weekend is too interesting to not to look at as a case study. Its full (SEO) headline is: “In the ICU where only Maria is vaccinated, others die in disbelief ", which as some have pointed out introduces the feel of  a religious text . The opening sentence (or lede in ol-timey journalese) reinforces that impression: “In the middle of a row of unconscious coronavirus patients, Maria Roessen is a rare and wondrous sight.” You could just as well say she is the “saved” among the “unsaved” – the  sheep among the goats . The gist of this Melissa Cunningham story is that Ms Roessen is the only person conscious in the ICU ward because she is the only one who was vaccinated against Covid. In Ms Roessen’s quoted words: “If I had not been double vaccinated I would be dead. There are no two ways about it.” “It was very scary. The staff here are angels. There are no words for the...

Imagine you are reading a good long in-depth feature piece, perhaps in  The Guardian , or watching a lengthy foreign correspondent report that features a small country of  6.6 million . It could be in the Pacific, Asia, Africa, South or Central America. This country has a long and proud history of  democratic traditions and freedoms  but you learn  it has been ruled by the one party for  20 of the last 23 years . When the hapless opposition fluked a term in power the party’s allies and supporters waged an all out  campaign of strikes  and even used public vehicles as anti-government billboards. Since coming back to power the dominant party has fallen almost completely into  the grip of its leader,  a strongman who  has cultivated  a rabid  cult-like following . He has started talking about himself as the  “dad” of the country . Distinguished journalists have spoken out about the way his devotees  hound them ...