X Marks the Spot

I often reflect on the state of politics and the media.

You'll know I consider both of them to be filled with dishonesty and deception. That's why I recommend you trust neither politicians nor media talking heads.

However I recently revisited a conversation from many years ago about which arm of the same rotting corpse called democracy is more influential.

Does the media follow the political lines or do politicians follow the media.

To be honest, it's a bit of both, but during my time in politics I thought the media had the upper hand.

That's not to say the power resided with the politicians - it always has. We've all seen during the COVID catastrophe how much damage they can do. Strangely, I haven't seen them do much good - probably because every well-intentioned decision ends up being a massive waste of money.

Rather, my sentiment back then was driven by the shallowness and cowardice of most of the politicians I met.

They all seemed to use the media as an excuse why not to do something.

It was as if their own reputations (and hence career prospects) would be sullied if they did something the ABC, Fairfax or Newscorp didn't approve of.

Thus a lot of political time went into shaping the narrative prior to making decisions in order to prevent as much public criticism as possible.

In that respect, much of the political media was rentable.

The price was usually a leaked exclusive or some manufactured smear against a colleague to generate a headline.

Many of the current and former political names you know were experts at that barter. It is probably the most coveted skill in politics - being able to generate your own positive press while hosing down personal media criticism.

As discredited columnist Nikki Savva once wrote - in politics, you're either a source or a victim.

So while the media need politicians, the politicians also need the media.

However a lot has happened since then. Both estates have fallen hard in the credibility stakes.

With some notable exceptions surrounding groundbreaking investigative reporting, I don't know too many who take the media seriously anymore. Nor do they expect politicians to tell the truth or do the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do.

We all saw that this week with the reporting of the criminal links within the CFMEU.

While full marks go to the reporters for putting flesh on the bones of the story, anyone who's anyone has known of the outrageous behaviour of the CFMEU for years.

The corruption, intimidation and standover tactics have been known for many years and yet no politicians really sought to act to stamp it out. Sure, there were watchdogs and commissioners but it took the media to make the case for real action to happen.

Unfortunately that's an all too rare occurrence these days.

While the political class has become the preserve of career-oriented middle managers, the media class is now filled with people who recycle press releases and call it news.

That begs the question as to who now shapes public opinion? Is it the politicians, the lamestream media or something else entirely?

I suspect that there's more influence by the tech titans than either of the previous groups. Regrettably most seem to be as compromised as the other two.

I say that with one glaring exception - Twitter (now known as X).

The proof was in the coverage of the Trump assassination attempt. The news on X was fast, breaking and available without censorship. As discussed earlier this week, it exposed the lies of the legacy media.

Of course that doesn't mean X is perfect but it's become the go-to spot to be able to get to the truth of many matters.

In that regard, I trust it much more than either our politicians or our legacy gatekeepers of information.

"If something's important enough, you should try. Even if - the probable outcome is failure."
Elon Musk