Under headlines of "Readers Sack the Editor", one could be confused into believing that media democracy is just around the corner. But in a piece of Public Relations gold, the Geelong Advertiser has been able to gain mass acclaim, by not doing much at all.
The paper has started to allow its readers to vote on front page stories from a list decided on by the paper's editorial committee. It is hoped the campaign can help excite readers into buying the local paper because it would feature the stories they want to read about on the front page. This is an extremely corporate friendly and ultimately shallow view of how to gain reader empowerment, especially in this age of web 2.0.
Over recent months, the Advertiser has embarked on what it describes as a campaign focus. The key plank to think has been the "Just Think" Campaign against Violent crime. One of the key demands of this campaign has been to get more police on Geelong's streets. This has been a failed strategy. This is because in an effort to get more cops on the street, the Addy has forgotten to address the causes of a lot of crime and violent crime. Central to this are the social factors that surround us all. Geelong is home to some of the most underprivileged people in the state. Until these social problems are addressed, all the cops in the world won't stop violence. They will only heighten tension and make the broader community feel like we are living in some kind of police state.
So one must ask who is the Geelong Addy really serving? Are they really interested in media democracy? It seems that all they are serving is their own bottom lines while doing as little as possible to change their top-down approach to journalism. Let me know what you think.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24031377-13480,00.html
http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2008/07/15/16082_news_pf.html
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