19.9 C
Byron Shire
March 28, 2024

Editorial – A personal take on politics and media

Latest News

Splendour 2024 cancelled

It's official, Splendour in the Grass 2024 has been cancelled.

Other News

NORPA’s wild ride at Lismore Showgrounds

NORPA is taking audiences on an adventure outside the theatre once again, announcing it will stage its original work Wildskin in a warehouse space at the Lismore Showgrounds. A sensory, destination theatre experience, Wildskin inhabits an outrageous and unpredictable world that’s part bush-thriller, part road-trip and a whole lot of NORPA’s signature theatrical style.

State of confusion

If any of you watched Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, you would know that it was a...

Richmond MP again called on for immediate Gaza ceasefire 

On Saturday, March 16 Northern Rivers Friends of Palestine unfurled a 20m scroll with the names of murdered children and host a ‘die-in’ action at the office of the federal Member for Richmond, Justine Elliot (Labor).

Safety and preparation saves lives on the water

A large number of boaters are expected to hit the water over the Easter long weekend and Marine Rescue NSW is reminding boaters to be prepared and log on to the Marine Rescue NSW app.

We just love him!

If you’re over 50 you might not be a fan of Tom Jones, but you can bet your mum is. If you’re under 40 you might not even know who he is, but your grandmother probably wet her pants at the mere mention of his name.

Richmond Valley Rail Trail grand opening

The latest leg of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail opened in style on Saturday, with hundreds of two-wheeled travel enthusiasts spinning along the newly opened 13.4 kilometre section from Casino to Bentley.

Hans Lovejoy, editor

I’ve been The Echo editor for eleven years now, and am the third, after founder Nicholas Shand. Michael McDonald was the second.    

It’s a very privileged job where you act as a conduit, or curator, to the community and the many visitors who holiday here.

The Echo comprises a dedicated team of passionate long-term locals. Some sell the advertising and design the pages, others throw the paper onto driveways and others do the book keeping and debt collection.

Deciphering and questioning the sophisticated messaging from the governing and monied class is part of this job, as is reporting on the better angels in the community.

The better angels do remarkable things, yet are not necessarily looking for accolades.

Beware of the self-serving attention seekers!

Since its inception in 1986 by a bunch of ratbag hippy locals, The Echo has championed the voice of the afflicted, not the comfortable. That should be the aim of every media organisation.

‘Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable’, as Finley Peter Dunne was supposed to have said of a newspaper’s role.

While the national and international optics are carefully curated by mainstream media to protect corporate interests, locally, the optics from The Echo have, and will hopefully always be, independent.

Free from the stench of compromise. Yay!

Anyway, what I learned early on in this job was that politics/governance is like a poorly rating TV game show, generally presented by the least among us.

Behind the curtain hide the unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats, who run almost everything.

There’s generally two types of political actor:

Reformers are rare, for they soon realise they are no intellectual match for the unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats.

And besides, they generally can’t outspend the monied class.

Instead, most political actors, with their thin skin and overinflated egos, will dive headlong into the job with ambitions to become careerists, welded to a political party’s values. These party values, of course, are largely at odds with the nation’s interests, and are not geared for independent, critical thought.

And anyway, business, without question, needs to be done.

Big business donate to the major parties, so fancy footwork and smoke and mirrors are deployed to convince the public that the actors act in the public interest. Instead, they provide their donors/masters with solid returns on those investments.

The two interests are generally not compatible.

It would be hard to argue that integrity, empathy and trust in politics and media is improving. It appears to be becoming more tribal, if anything.

Yet while it’s easy to dismiss most political actors as self-centred, shallow, ineffectual and greedy, it’s not always the case.

And this is where we come to Mandy Nolan, who will be the federal Greens candidate for the upcoming election.

She has been part of community and The Echo for decades, and has been consistent with her beliefs and actions.

Unlike careerist politicians, she is self-made, smart and entertaining. That presents a threat to the establishment.

Good luck Mandy! (Pity it’s the Greens party, but hey). Thankfully, local politics is about to get a lot more interesting.

News tips are welcome: [email protected]

Previous articleMullum’s green spine
Next articleSkennars Head

Support The Echo

Keeping the community together and the community voice loud and clear is what The Echo is about. More than ever we need your help to keep this voice alive and thriving in the community.

Like all businesses we are struggling to keep food on the table of all our local and hard working journalists, artists, sales, delivery and drudges who keep the news coming out to you both in the newspaper and online. If you can spare a few dollars a week – or maybe more – we would appreciate all the support you are able to give to keep the voice of independent, local journalism alive.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Attention seekers… a weird breed who never quite know if they’re coming or going – so thank
    the elements for the Echo. No compromise – exactly – & go get it Mandy.

  2. Add-on – worth checking out; the Australian Citizens Party, Friday 19 Feb. 2021 video “taking on
    the banks” where Lib-Nats wrought the post offices.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

We just love him!

If you’re over 50 you might not be a fan of Tom Jones, but you can bet your mum is. If you’re under 40 you might not even know who he is, but your grandmother probably wet her pants at the mere mention of his name.

Peter Garrett gives Bluesfest the nod

If I say the words ‘US Forces give the nod’, I can pretty much guarantee that you will hear the unmistakable voice of Peter Garrett ringing in your ears. Your head may even start to bob up and down a bit. 

Save Wallum finalist in NSW 2024 environment awards

The Save Wallum campaign has been named as a finalist in the Nature Conservation Council of NSW Environment Awards 2024. The award ceremony will be held in Sydney tonight, and Save Wallum spokesperson and ecologist James Barrie will be attending with Tegan Kitt, another founding member of the group.

New report highlights gaps in rural and remote health

The second annual Royal Flying Doctor Service ‘Best for the Bush, Rural and remote Health Base Line’ report has just been released. Presenting the latest data on the health of rural and remote Australians and evidence on service gaps, it identifies issues in urgent need of attention from service providers, funders, partners and policy makers.