There is a video going around online of a press interview with NSW Premier, Gladys Berejiklian and NSW Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance in Newcastle at the launch of the light rail.
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A Newcastle Herald journalist - the Herald is part of the same company we are - asks some pretty standard questions of the Minister and the Premier, one such being "You committed four years ago to release a business case for the extension - we still have not seen it?"
You'd think this is a pretty fair question to ask of the politicians in office. The journalist is simply doing his job and while it might be an uncomfortable question for the person it's directed at, the fact is that promises were made and not followed through on. This is worth questioning.
The Minister begins to answer before stopping himself to ask what media outlet the journalist works for. The Newcastle Herald of course. To which the Premier replies "Yep, that's normal for them" before awkwardly looking around for a validation for what she just said.
She again says "that's just operation normal for them".
So what we have here is an elected official bullying a journalist for doing their job and keeping them to account.
Do we need to be reminded that the world we live in now is one of the most hostile it's ever been for journalists around the world?
The President of the United States' modus operandi is to constantly attack and devalue the work of the media outlets that keep him to account and ask questions he doesn't want to answer. This is far beyond pretty ordinary.
The next time you see someone having a go at the 'mainstream media', consider what their agenda might be.
- Benjamin Palmer
We all know the term 'fake news' has become shorthand for 'this is news I don't like' rather than actually identifying factually incorrect news.
It says a lot of these politicians that they chose to attack a journalist doing his job rather than simply own up and honestly answer the question put to them.
Our job, here and at places like the Herald, is to question those in power and to dig deeper when we deem necessary. We aren't their spin team here to print only their good news.
The next time you see someone having a go at the 'mainstream media', consider what their agenda might be.
George Orwell once said "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations."
