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Pastoral pursuits

Amanda Meade took another shot at the AFR today in her media column, due to a number of resignations. It's worth noting for the record that I have not "become a Christian pastor." It's an odd statement given that she interviewed me a couple of weeks ago. What is true is that I have begun my studies, a Bachelor of Ministry degree. When completed some 5 to 7 years from now it will qualify me to become a pastor, which under the traditional model means you are employed by a church. Until then, I'm really excited about my freelance journalism career which starts on the other side of Easter.

Reflections on friendship

The ABC's Geoff Thompson reflects on the Indonesian air crash, and expresses some of unspoken sentiment that's permeated the media, and our office, in recent days.

The questions of "why?" and "why not me?" could drive you mad if you let them but that's not really what's been bugging me, though it is just as inexpressible. It's the really hard question of what, and how much, one should feel when another person dies.

I knew two people who died in that crash. What does it mean to know someone exactly? How do you quantify knowing somebody, especially once they are dead?

I really didn't know Morgan that well. But his loss still affected me in ways I've struggled to understand. I think that's part of being human. Thanks Geoff for getting us closer to understanding those emotions.

Ron Walker caught walking

Hugh Martin's report that Ron Walker (chairman of my employer) was in London visiting the Daily Telegraph does indeed beg a few questions.

A bit of gossip: the day before I was there Ron Walker had been in the building, sitting in on news conference, touring the floor, hobnobbing with the big cheeses. Does this have something to do with the imminent newsroom moves at the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age? Is it about digital integration or commercial real estate (the Telegraph has a uniquely large floor space, something which is hard to come by)? Or perhaps he was just dropping in on some mates?

Jet crash tragedy

It's not a good day. A number of my Fairfax colleagues were on the Indonesian airliner that tragically crashed this morning, and apparently one of my AFR colleagues was also on board. We're still seeking details. Very often we read about these events, but are somewhat detached. In this case, it's too close to home. More to come...

Update: The SMH has details on AFR's Morgan Mellish being unaccounted for, and the survival of Cynthia Banham.

Thursday update: According to the latest press reports, there is little hope that Morgan survived. Another hard day. Morgan's family have set up a tribute blog here.

Walkley outburst on YouTube

It's a great day for the Fin. One of our reporters, Morgan Mellish, received the top award for business journalism at the 2006 Walkley Awards last night for his report on the Robert Gerard tax affair at the RBA. Congrats mate.

My colleague Neil Chenoweth won a gong for the best non-fiction book for "Packer's Lunch - A Rollicking Tale of Swiss Bank Accounts and Money-making Aventures in the Roaring 90s."

AFR illustrator Karl Hilzinger won a Walkley for his image that illustrated one of Emma Connor's yarns about DVD piracy (pic is in p4 of today's paper).

But what's making more noise today is of course the outburst by News Limited columnist Glenn Milne who jumped on the stage after Crikey's controversial Stephen Mayne handed over Mellish's gong. I've just found the YouTube clip (it took half a day to get on the site, which is a shade longer than I expected). I note that my managing editor Paul Bailey got caught up in the action as Milne was being shuffled off stage.

Any clues to how many beers/glasses of wine inspired the antics? SMH has the story here (which includes a short video report). The story includes a great rebuttal from Mayne:

"I have an announcement to make on behalf of Rupert Murdoch. That is the former Sunday Telegraph political correspondent, Glenn Milne."

Bajkowski kudos

A big congrats to my colleage Julian Bajkowski, who took out the Australian Business and Specialist Publishers (ABSP) Bell Award for "Best Writer" on Friday night. Julian's been on the team writing across both the AFR and MIS Magazine for more than a year and is doing a cracker job.

ITJourno has the story here (subs only).

Disruption masked

"See it at the same time as the US!" proclaimed the promo on TV last night for the next season of the OC in Australia.

That's good news for the fans who can't be bothered to download the shows off the Net - a practice that is still widespread. It's also more tangible recognition of the havoc social media is wreaking on the business models of commerical free-to-air TV broadcasters. There is no way they would close the gap between US broadcast time and Australian broadcast time if there wasn't a commercial driver - the loss of audience attention to the internet.

Doomed?

If you're in the traditional media, and your employer just happens to be the target of a stock market raid by a competitor, one thing you do - besides watching the share price and gossiping with colleagues - is check out what Crikey has to say:

There will be endless scenarios played out over the coming months – does Rural Press want the regional papers, who gets the internet properties, how would a Packer-owned AFR cover PBL -- but the bottom line is that the once great independent media company John Fairfax probably won’t exist by April Fool’s Day next year.

And that will be a sad thing for Australia’s democracy – particularly if the carve-up is conceived and directed by Australia’s two richest families in concert with the utterly inappropriate Fairfax chairman, Ron Walker.

My guess is as good as yours, but you've got to scratch your head wonder if Howard and Coonan really saw this thing coming.

Meanwhile, there's this little-understood argument about new media. I reckon Trevor's on to something with this post:

The media world is going horizontal. That doesn't mean that newspapers, television and radio are doomed. Far from it. But it does mean that we are entering a different world, a far more diverse media world and our regulators and policy-makers need to understand it.

Update: Rupert Murdoch is on record hosing down the Fairfax breakup speculation, in this yarn. "It's just a strategic holding. We don't have any particular plans for it. Certainly no plans to take over Fairfax, and at this stage, no plans to take over anything else out there," [Murdoch] said.

Telstra conspiracy theories

Apparently tired of making direct attacks on the media himself, Rod Bruem turns to comments made by respected telco journalist Stuart Corner to bolster his argument that the AFR and that other national newspaper are bias against Telstra. And perhaps he's thinking it's easier if we can get the journos to fight each other instead of Telstra?

I just had a chat with Stuart, whom I've known for years, and he told me a couple of interesting things you might find amusing (and btw, he said that it was ok that I post his comments).

Firstly, Rod didn't ask Stuart's permission to copy huge slabs of his newsletter copy into the blog, although he didn't really mind. "If I put my words out there...they can use them," he said. Secondly, he suggested that perhaps Rod didn't get his point about that other newspaper's reporting of Phil Burgess. If they really wanted to make Burgess look bad they could have reported what he said in his newsletter - that Burgess was given the microphone and prattled on, rather than give the impression that he was an official speaker.

Nice try Rod. No cigar. :)

Change, because we must

One of the speakers at this year's Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers Association (PANPA) on the Gold Coast said something that rang true for me. Words to the effect that "newsrooms are the most resistant to change." Can't remember who that was, but he's right. When you're dealing with the demands of getting a book out the door each day, I can personally understand why the thought of adding online to your basket of worries is not greeted with joy.

That said, one of the things I took away from the collection of well above-average presentations at PANPA was a sense that the newspaper industry understands full well the scale of change required to act in their best interest, and that of the traditional "audience", as "new" media quickly becomes the "normal" media we all use on a daily basis.

Cameron Reilly has done part of my reporting job for me with this post. He even recorded a video podcast with yours truly and Hugh Martin. Man, I agree with Hugh's sentiments. Cam, *lift* the camera up next time to look after our egos! : )

Finally, here's my pic of the better quotes from Monday's proceedings. Enjoy.

Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer

“I have quite an elaborate view of the media. At least you are mixing with someone who is held in as low a regard as you.”

Gold Coast Publications editor in chief Bob Gordon

“The only people writing letters to the editor are people over 50 with long socks.”

PANPA President Robert Whitehead

“We no longer fear change, we no longer fear the future, we no longer question our role.”

“We are one of the few media anywhere where the readers actually look forward to the advertising we carry.”

ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel

“We must make sure the existing players will not be allowed to use their power to close down new forms of competition.”

Fairfax CEO David Kirk

“Media is always evolving, changing, and the audience is always fragmenting. That has always been the case but it’s fair to say it’s accelerating.”

Media analyst Jim Chisholm

“None of you would pay to watch content on your TV.”

Rebecca Huntley, author, writer & social researcher, on why “Generation Y” is different.

“Mobile phones are a reflection of who you are and an extension of your personality.”

“I actually think technology has changed this generation’s approach to time and space.”

Mark Jones, IT Editor, The Australian Financial Review (yes, I’m actually quoting myself before C. Reilly is true to his word and steals this quote for himself… heh. ; )

“What we’re seeing now is the rise of conversation journalism.”