Alarm bells started ringing early at the Holt Street headquarters of Brand Murdoch and before 9am the offending piece had been taken down from the paper’s website with an incredible Rupert Murdoch type mea culpa, not unlike the one delivered by the octogenarian publisher in the British House of Commons Inquiry into News limited (which is far from over).

Here’s how The Australian tried to squirm their way out of the mire yesterday:

THE AUSTRALIAN published today an opinion piece by Glenn Milne which includes assertions about the conduct of the Prime Minister.

The Australian acknowledges these assertions are untrue. The Australian also acknowledges no attempt was made by anyone employed by, or associated with, The Australian to contact the Prime Minister in relation to this matter.

The Australian unreservedly apologises to the Prime Minister and to its readers for the publication of these claims.

Milne had not only repeated the lie, he foolishly didn’t have the wit or the guts to check the story with the Prime Minister’s office.

Milne is like that blithering idiot in Sydney, Alan Jones, who steadfastly refuses to let the facts stand in the way of making up any story that makes the Prime Minister look incompetent or small or foolish.

continued

source. http://www.independentaustralia.net/Wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Glenn_Milne_Walkleys-300x205.jpg

NO it's NOT fair.

It's a shame you support the billionaires club instead of good hard working Australians.

Obviously dumbed down by Murdoch media.

Poor baby.

Gimme Gimme wrote on Sep 23^rd, 2011 at 2:28pm:


If you think they havent been fair in the past, wait for it.......
Gillard's latest serve today of tripe to the media blaming Abbott for the arrival of these latest two boats will send the media into a tailspin.
She continues to go from bad to worse.
Any decent politician would admit their mistake and move on, but not our Juliar.

I, for one, have no doubt that this whole thing was cynically staged from the outset...

First the Bolt rumours of an expose...then the publication of said article...then the much-publicised retraction and apology...but the libelous contents were left out there in the public domain cos Bolt had simply quoted most of the original article and such was neither removed nor apologised-for...and the controversial publicity was priceless...

Clearly, the idea was to get the rumours out there - and then keep them in the public eye through the scandal or plausible-albeit-contrived-deniability...

The Government’s announcement on the media inquiry is another victory for the Corporate News thugs who run the country these days, says JD Lang, who dramatically recreates the last few months of threats and wrangling.

Yesterday, The Government finally announced an inquiry into Australia’s dodgy media. Though it sounded promising, and there was some rejoicing amongst a few gullible people, it was in the end, of course, yet another victory for the grey suited mobsters that run the media in this country, set Government policy and tell us who to vote for.

For months now, sinister revelations from the UK phone hacking scandal have shone a light on disgusting criminal activities sanctioned by Corporation News Executive mobsters in England. Hacking dead girl’s phones. Bullying, bribing and paying off policemen. Vendettas against non-compliant politicians, cosy arrangements with others. They paid off those who would take their shekel and denied all but the other most obvious allegations to try to abort the tide of resentment growing against them, but the truth slowly emerged anyway.

Meanwhile, last year’s Australian election delivered a rarity, a Government that Corp News didn’t select in their editorials. Worse, it delivered some power to a Party the company had previously vowed to “destroy at the ballot box”. The mobsters hated to lose in races they thought they’d fixed well. The campaign it had waged before against the Government, which toppled the previous Prime Minister, was replaced by an ever more relentless and savage campaign in which no lie or slur was too obvious or too distateful not to publish. On contract, out of control shock jocks urged open revolt against the Government and loathsome old crocodiles like Alan Jones openly advocated old school Mafiosi tactics against the Prime Minister — put her in a bag and make her swim with the fishes, he told anyone who would listen, which many did. Few complained.

Finally, Julia Gillard said that Corporation News had some questions to answer. The ensuing fury and disgust made the Corporation – that owns 70 per cent of Australia’s print media interests as well as a cable news network – turn into a News Godzilla. With eyes like burning coals, it climbed to the top of Centrepoint and began bellowing at the top of its lungs, swatting anyone that came too close. Every senior writer for The Australian, the Sun Herald and the Daily Telegraph was cattle-prodded forward by management to pour scorn on the merest suggestion that any improper practices could occur in Australia like those that happened in the UK. That there was any bias or manipulation of the news. In short that there was a need here for any sort of an inquiry into the media in Australia. What happened in Britain couldn’t possibly happen here, they cried! How dare anyone suggest we abuse our power, they screamed! It’s a meaningless political stunt, they bellowed! The worst Government in history has the audacity to blame us for their poor polling, they thundered! Freedom of speech!

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Is this your 3rd thread. Good to see you co-operating.