09 December 2010

Big 'distraction'

What did I say about distractions? While factual and informative reporting is tucked far away from the glare of the easily distracted general public, what we have front and centre (i.e. pole position to get people reading) on Australia's most gutter but most popular news website, the Murdoch-owned news.com.au, is this diatribe and uninformed opinion by Andrew Ramadge titled 'Why is WikiLeaks drip-feeding the cables? At this rate, it'll take seven years to publish them'. Displaying an utter lack of knowledge and sure signs of pure laziness, Ramadge uses every hearsay and unsubstantiated theory that his intended audience (sensationalist and lacking in attention) would soak up immediately. The tall-poppie syndrome many adhere to throughout the world is well exploited here. This is the stuff of misinformation which feeds urban myths and later makes falsehoods into accepted facts. Thankfully, in small part, many of the accompanying comments quickly point that just by going to the WikiLeaks website would give answers to Ramadge's questions. The main point WikiLeaks makes is that "The embassy cables will be released in stages over the next few months. The subject matter of these cables is of such importance, and the geographical spread so broad, that to do otherwise would not do this material justice".

I expect more reports like Ramadge's in the near future, especially from rival media outlets who were not privy to this ongoing exclusive.

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