Crikey apology 2: if all you need is love …
As I reported earlier,Crikey editor Jonathan Green made what seemed like a half-hearted apology for the e-zine’s atrocious attack on Sarah Palin’s Down Syndrome son, whose name, as in “A Mongrel Called Trig,” was used in a Crikey contest to select a name for Barack Obama’s new puppy.
Green seemed more concerned that the appalling error of judgement and taste had allowed journalists Andrew Bolt and Tim Blair to criticise Crikey.
And he dismissed two of Australia’s most widely read and iconoclastic journalists as “right wing bloggers”.
What was also galling was his dismissal of their criticism as being because “There’s not a lot of love in those houses (their blogs)”.
Where there is not a lot of love is at Crikey, which parodied a defenceless young Down Syndrome baby boy, just because they disagree with the politics of his mother.
Blair and Bolt do indeed run blogs, in addition to their other editorial duties like writing newspaper columns.
They conduct those blogs with a huge degree of good humour. Even when they are taking issue with the left wing commentariat, they usually do it in a relatively soft, ironic style.
Witness this criticism of Anthony Loewenstein from Tim Blair, who is also renowned for his love of cars:
“The defeat of America and its allies in Iraq is vital,” insurgency urger Antony Loewenstein once wrote. Alas, this was the closest metrosurgency lad Antony ever came to claiming victory: Working towards, and advocating, “Coalition” defeat has been achieved.
The Achievin’ Advocator recently turned up deep behind enemy lines – inside the US itself, where Gitmo W. Bushopath’s illegal regime declined to have him arrested. Taking advantage of this lapse, Antony proclaimed: September 11 should have been the perfect opportunity for the Western media to hear the grievances of the Muslim world.
Andrew Bolt regularly stands up to defend gays and Muslims. He is a staunch advocate of the rights of the unborn child, and this week defended Julia Gillard’s partner after he was criticised for growing a moustache and being appointed a men’s health ambassador. He has also given Gillard a big tick for her education policies.
Contrast that with the treatment of Trig Palin by Crikey, and I think I know which house has more love.
I often wonder how the concept of “courageous journalism” got so haplessly inverted. There was a time (I’m sure) where journalists actually derived praise from challenging articles on difficult subjects and/or dangerous individuals.
Today, however, we live in an age where the mainstream media refuses to run articles for fear of offending a religion and the only ones who will are either wearing pajamas and working on basement computers, or penning Danish cartoons and consigning themselves to a life spent under heavy guard.
Yet it’s the people who play it safe, slamming American Presidents or Presidential candidates and their Down Syndrome offspring (safe in the knowledge that none of them will retaliate in any way)… and these are the people who will receive acclaim and plaudits – from one another, naturally.
Have these people no shame whatsoever?