Re: Does Rudd inspire confidence?
maybe its only some of us who woke up to this a long time ago....
absolutley no reporter saying anything against rudd and his team of misfits...
so I have given up reading or listening to any of them.....ie the reporters or the labor party.....luckily its different in the states...where information flows into the public view....
note an article today about Bligh....keeping kids in a tent etc....
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Rise of Rudd's sentinels of spin
Team Rudd is about disguising the leader's weaknesses, including a short temper and a certain lack of spontaneity, says Gazard. "He doesn't perform well when he's under pressure, and he's not particularly strong at thinking on his feet. By contrast, John Howard really enjoyed the likes of Kerry O'Brien and Laurie Oakes; he enjoyed the conflict and didn't shy away from a tough interview
Twenty months after Kevin '07 swept to victory, the PM's burgeoning media machine has become so practised at controlling his image and massaging his message that some political analysts liken it to a PR state, one exceeding the sheen of former prime minister John Howard, whose renowned National Media Liaison Service (nicknamed aNiMaLS) set a new benchmark in spin. While ostensibly serving as a liaison between the press and the Prime Minister, Rudd's media advisers serve one principal function: to boost their boss's image, say observers.
"He (Rudd) is a micro-manager, he doesn't know when to stop, and that flows through to everything he does, including trying to control the media," says one member of the press gallery.
Largely invisible to the public, the Rudd Government's growing force of press secretaries, media advisers and consultants is nearly double the number employed during the Hawke and Keating eras.
After initially vowing to slash ministerial head counts, including media, across all departments, the Rudd Government employs 40 communications staff in the Department of Agriculture, 30 in the Department of Innovation, 23 in the Department of the Environment and six in the PM's office. Communications spending on consultants is also rising. The departments of immigration, broadband and innovation forked out $7.4 million for public relations experts in 12 months.
Yet figures alone can't convey how the media machine is controlling the day-to-day discharge of information. Gallery journalists describe how Maria Hawthorne, a media adviser in the Prime Minister's office, prowls the gallery each day unashamedly asking journos: "What are you writing?"
"It's very obvious what the strategy is," observes one member of the press gallery. "Get an image for the nightly news for people who don't follow politics - an image that makes the Government look like it's frenetically trying to help people through the economic crisis - and then make life as hard as possible for journalists who try to analyse the Government."
It's probably a measure of how tightly controlled the Rudd machine is that few journalists in the press gallery are willing to go on the record on the subject, afraid of alienating hard-earned contacts. Explains one reporter: "Our job is hard enough now, without making life even more difficult for ourselves." Says Ian Smith, a Liberal Party consultant who worked on the Telstra sales of T1, T2 and T3, now a principal with consultancy Bespoke Approach: "Part of the Rudd Government's success has been the ability to cut out the press gallery and undermine its influence by managing the media flow beyond. Why deal with the media who ask the informed questions if you don't need to do so?"
Central control of media inquiries has become the cornerstone of the Government's strategy, say observers. All press releases and media, including even those by the CSIRO, are first to be approved by the PM's office. Complains one member of the press gallery: "Senior public servants are now saying, 'Sorry, I just can't talk to you. I could be prosecuted.' The traditional sources of information have dried up."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25593811-5013871,00.html