To an unexpectedly sober snippet in PS-sssst! to open this week with the unexpected news that an Australian State – which shall remain nameless – appears to have stepped over the limit of politics and issued a printed ‘Guide’ for its local journalists to follow when writing their news reports.
As a journalist of more than 30 years, PS-sssst! is of the view that such an imposition has no place in a free country such as Australia.
This is because Australia’s journalists do exactly what their name suggests – their news reports are in fact ‘journals’ recording for history every day the activities and events of the people in our towns, our communities, our States and our nation.
In doing so it is the journalists’ solemn duty to ensure their reports are as accurate an eye-witness story as they can be and that the readers either now or in the future can take that as a given fact
To produce a document calling on them to ‘Report it Right’ as this State does is – apart from collectively insulting thousands of professional journalists all across the nation – to imply they are not being accurate in their reporting when they are!
What fears PS-sssst! most is that the State’s new ‘Guide’ might be tested one day when a professional journalist is found to have breached its anti-accuracy demands and is penalised for telling the truth!
In support of its misguided demand, the State revealed that surveys had been conducted in which more than 70% of respondents admitted being unhappy with news reports and were therefore in favour of the guidelines.
Well that would be the case of course if the news stories were troubling people and they wanted change, but to link public unhappiness from what they read or hear as a reason to j ‘shooti the messenger’ is to point the need for improvement guidelines in the wrong direction.
As we’d all expect, the PS News story that reported the State’s new Guide was as professionally accurate as all PS News stories and made no reference to the seriously dangerous damage such actions have led to in the past.
However, one has only to tune in to the likes of Adolph Hitler, Donald Trump and hundreds of other would-be dictators and despotic autocrats to find their versions of ‘Report it Right’ which served as the thin edges of wedges that went on to deprive communities and nations of their freedom and in many cases, their future.
So endeth the gospel according to PS-sssst! (for this week!)
In goats we trust
To NSW now where the Rural Fire Service has enlisted 40 new members to help reduce the extent of burnable grasses and other fuel loads in fire-prone areas.
Proudly announcing that the new recruits were none-other than ‘four-legged firefighters’ in the form of 40 goats, the Fire Service explained they were enlisted because they could work in the bush where firemen or firewomen couldn’t reach.
“You ‘herd’ it correctly” the RFS announced hotly.
“No kidding”, it assured us.
Bean there, munged that!
Meanwhile in Queensland an international breakthrough has saved the health of the State’s lucrative ‘Mungbean’ crop which they say returns around $100 million to the Australian industry each year.
Discovered by scientist Lisa Kelly in Queensland’s Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, the breakthrough was welcomed by the local Minister for Agricultural Industry Development who said the problem had been a problem for 60 years.
Congratulating Lisa with a shower of creative congratulations, the Minister for Mungbeans said the industry was very lucky she had “bean” there to wipe out the “mouldy oldie” and “cracking the case”.
Such compliments and credit must be celebrated with congratulations to both Lisa and the Minister.
We Mungs need to stick together!
Reading the brave way!
To Rama Gaind’s ever-popular giveaway again now in which we find two lucky PS News readers become the proud new owners of Sheila Vijeyarasa’s roadmap book for working women Brave: Courageously Live Your Truth.
To take the prize, all we needed to do was tell Rama what Ms Vijeyarasa teaches is the path to living a most authentic life.
The correct answer is ‘The Courageous Path’ and the first two correct entries to emerge from the PS News Barrel of Booty were from Dana T in the Department of Defence, and Kyla P from the South Australian Ambulance Service.
Congratulations Dana and Kyla, your new book will be on its way soon and thanks to everyone who took part in Rama’s giveaway game.
To take part in Rama’s giveaway this week all we need to do is open up her smart and sophisticated reviews of either this DVD Silent Night at this PS News link and answer her easy question or her other Book The Wise Enterprise at this link, and answer her question there.
Good luck to everyone who does!
Ana one, Ana two, An-agram
And finally a quick visit to the world of appropriate anagrams where Queensland has been active above the call of duty in the past week, providing a pair of word-plays we can all be pleased and proud of.
Declaring that a new war on wild dogs had been let off the leash, Queensland’s Department of Agriculture and Fisheries announced that the new strategy would be developed by its Queensland Dog Offensive Group, which was eminently named for the task tagged with the anagram QDOG!
Brilliant!
And not to be out-anagrammed, the State’s Griffith University has entered the affray hosting a special training course for policepersons to hone their much-cherished skills for dealing with domestic and family violence.
Naming the program ‘Motivating Action Through Empowerment’, the Uni ensured that at the very least it would be warmly welcomed by the fighting families as its abbreviation was all of affable, affectional and amicable.
Yes, it reduces to MATE!
How Australian can we get?
Till next week……
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