da Scriffles

NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen gave a keynote address at the Walkley Public Affairs Conference last Thursday at 8.30am - the auditorium at the NSW Teachers Centre in Surrey Hills was almost empty.

His flight was way-laid in New Caledonia so he gave his speech a day late - lucky for me because I didn't attend the journalism strand (Mon-Wed).

After listening to Rosen talk about how journalists need to lift their game because journalism, per se, does not really contribute (as claimed by some) much to the democracy and culture it supposedly serves.

Sadly, I tend to agree with much of what he said.

I think the electorate is politically illiterate and disinterested - if not ignorant - because they switched the news off 15 years ago and started watching reality TV.

That's when TV news ratings surveys started showing a decline in viewer numbers - I used to do the weekly ratings reports on Mondays back then.

"Just putting news out there isn't good enough if you want an informed public any more" - you need to put it into CONTEXT.  

Rosen's major concern is that news organisations continually spew out "updates" that carry no meaning to the general public unless they have a vested interest or at least some kind of interest that has them actually "following" an issue in some depth - like climate change or the Louisiana oil spill. 

Rosen gave an example of good journalism.

It is a one-hour radio documentary which explains how the economic meltdown happened from the perspective of ordinary people at every level: the wage earner on $25,000 a year who borrowed $400,000; the banker who approved the loan...etc ... The American Life's Giant Pool of Money .

Rosen thinks that if journalism doesn't lift its game then we will have a "split public". Read his blog post: The Citizens' Agenda in Campaign Coverage

"Some people will understand what's going on. And there will be a mass of people who don't know what's going on." - he said.

So the "representatives of swill" (if you will allow me a Paul Keating pun) will feed upon a diet of entertainment and cheap and free superficial news - my interpretation of what Rosen said.

Perhaps something along the lines of Big Brother, Dancing with the Stars or - dare I say it - Master Chef.

I'm not particularly worried about insulting Master Chef and its fans - I've done far worse in my life as a journalist.

Once I  questioned John Laws on his credibility.  :o   .... Phone call ....  "How dare you talk to a respected bla-bla-bla ... who do you think you are ... bla-bla-bla".

I'm not bragging at all.

I'm just explaining how I learned that some people - like John Laws - are sanctified media Gods not to be questioned by mere mortals.

Quick question: Do you think that your average political journalist is a class above ordinary citizens by right of their access to the corridors of power?

Do you think that they think that they are?

Now, Jay Rosen says that journalism played a crucial part maintaining democracy since the French Revolution by keeping citizens informed - and democracy has flourished hasn't it?

But he warns that "the whole idea of a shared world of facts" is a "fragile, flimsy idea" now because journalists are failing to ask the right questions and produce meaningful reports - all the updates, the gossip grabs and quick picks just aren't producing an informed public.

We might all end up living in a realm akin to that of the French King Louis 14th - The Sun God.

Politics was known as "The King's Mystery" and was "the possession of the king" - Rosen said.

Politics was not debated - it was dictated. There was no political reporting at all, in fact.

If journalists fail to inform us properly then we can't scrutinize the facts for ourselves and decide whether the political system reflects our beliefs and serves our needs - sound familiar?

But there's something worse: parties and politicians who do not just deny facts - they re-invent the facts (once a hallmark of oppressive, totalitarian regimes: think Soviet Russia) 

Politicians and parties have no qualms about inventing the truth - not just denying the facts - and people are gullible because they are not properly informed. Think GFC.

It's like my 8-year-old niece who calls Tony Abbott stupid because he doesn't believe in climate change - she only knows this because she's taking someone's word for it. 

I wonder what Barnaby Joyce's children believe. Blindfold anyone?

"It's not the politics of denial or ignorance", Rosen said, "it's "verification in reverse: the undoing of facts."

"That's not ignorance, it's way beyond that," he said. "The idea that an open society can breed that is astounding."

I asked Rosen whether part of the problem is that democracy's watchdog - the media - identifies itself as a "privileged class rather than identifying with community and "ordinary" citizens. 

Rosen replied: "Definitely."

So why is journalism failing? Why are we spiraling back to a situation of "ignorant masses" at a time when information has never been more free?

They used to say that the quality of an answer is only as good as the quality of the question - do you think that the right questions are being asked?

I don't know but when a politician running for PM talks about "family values" and being a "family man" I want to know: How much time did he spent with his children - changing nappies, singing lullabies, explaining the world?

I'd be insulted - if I were an atheist like Julia Gillard - about being singled out for scrutiny over honestly-held (but socially unacceptable) belief while all Tony Abbott has to do is claim some holy status as a "parent" and no one actually bothers to find out his track record. It's actually a more prickly question because it may make a lot of people squirm - or not.

At least it's obvious that this blog is nothing but my opinion and I have no faith in "objectivity" - I prefer to place my trust in "good faith".

Oh for the old-fashioned tabloid journalism that served the news in a fashion that was blunt (to the point) and sharp (clued in) - watching the election coverage reminds me more of a media wheel barrow race.

Journalists running politicians back and forth, back and forth.  

So my question is as the title of this post suggests: Are we facing a cultural revolution against a class which no longer serves its purpose?

And is this part of the reason that this election is so boring? To hell with the election! ;)

Twisted Pair

Fibre Optic

Heard Stephen Conroy talk National Broadband Network at Mansfield State School on Monday night: young and old in a small audience listened.

They want real broadband and their abhorrence of the twisted pair was palpable.

The problem with wireless (as the Coalition wants) is that it deteriorates the further you go from the stations - unlike fibre optic cable to the home.

And you have fast upload speeds - not just download speeds. 

Anyone who likes to post music, art, video, blogs, or uses Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Vimeo wants good upload speeds.

The Townsville rollout started today - North Brisbane, Toowoomba, Springfield Lakes are up next early next year.

Broadband will fan out from these nodes and communities need to lobby their councils and parliamentary reps and business communities to get in the face of the NBN engineers to get their service ranked as high priority.

Lateline's Leigh Sales interview with Tony Windsor and Bob Katter.

will you accept the call please??

Sydney? Melbourne ?

Are you there?

Broadband is not just infrastructure - it represents the hopes, the dreams, the survival and the future of young people, farmers, teachers, business people, entrepreneurs, students, the elderly, the sick.

It represents a creative nation which has been waiting to be born since the Keating Government was thrown out - along with the visionary Creative Nation policy. WASTE!

Before the Internet took hold, Paul Keating recognised the value of digital "CONTENT" and "CREATIVITY" in a digital economy.

So when I discovered Paul Keating was at the University of Queensland's Centennial Oration by Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz recently I had to ask why no one ever took up the Creative Nation vision since.

"They don't understand the information economy," he said.

Creative Nation talked about CD ROMs and such now replaced by websites and blogs and interactivity yet to be created and enjoyed - such as augmented reality. 

Creative Nation captured my imagination in 1994 - I was an arts reporter for the Courier-Mail furiously writing stories that almost snared Naisda away from Sydney to live in Brisbane's Powerhouse.

A lot of good gets thrown out when governments change - as public servants know.

As I listened to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy at a community meeting this week, I tossed around my objections to the silly idea of a general internet filter and my fear of losing the NBN - just like we lost Creative Nation. I don't know whether the Opposition's broadband policy will work. I do know that the NBN is underway. I believe it's as crucial to the future of this country as addressing climate change. 

I've waited for someone to come along again who could resurrect the Creative Nation vision. Now there's a chance - the National Broadband Network is that chance. Funny but ordinary people - like those at Stephen Conroy's community meeting at Mansfield State School - do understand the digital economy. They LIVE it! The loss of the NBN will be deeply felt by many. WASTE!

The Government's announced $11B Telstra deal  retrains all of Telstra's linesmen to work on broadband fibre optic instead of copper which is being pulled out of the ground.

The Government has even forked out for Telstra to meet its "universal service obligation" to provide equitable services to regional and isolated communities - THAT is impressive! 

We want migrants to move west don't we? Well they need infrastructure too to secure their future and become productive citizens. I'd move if there was broadband.

Telstra abhors the imposition of the universal service obligation because there's no profit - the deal protects Telstra shareholders! 

Considering Telstra's plummeting fortunes - people tossing in fixed lines (copper or the twisted pair) - this is like a lifeline, isn't it?

Conroy said the new broadband plans offered by Primus, Telstra, Optus, iiNet vary from $30-$130 for voice & data -  25 MB download speeds but only 3MB upload speeds.

Townsville, Albion, Ascot, Nundah, Toowoomba, Springfield Lakes as well as Armidale and Brunswick rollouts are next.  Townsville will be live in March-April.

The NBN workers continue the rollout despite the uncertainly of not knowing if they have jobs after Saturday - if a Tony Abbott Government is elected.

Are we a "young" and "vital" nation? It doesn't feel like it. ALL this negativity. WASTE!

Meanwhile, there's a school in Gladstone with kids learning Korean who are looking forward to video conferences with Korean classrooms - video conferencing requires fast upload as well as fast download which is not possible often on wireless, as being offered by the Opposition.

Creativity is forged by hardship but in the end there's got to be OPPORTUNITY. Jericho, Emerald, Darwin are on the same map as Sydney and Melbourne and Brisbane - the NBN map.

I guess I'm the only one who felt the loss of Creative Nation. I even kept the press release and book.

I DON'T want to hear about the debt Mr Abbott - I want to hear about investment in the future, in people, in infrastructure, in a Creative Nation which will pay it's debts by building a new economy.

Bio sequestration is a productive, "sustainable" solution to reduce our carbon footprint - an experienced mining & finance industry player told the Women in Technology BioTech Forum this week over breakfast at Brisbane's PriceWaterhouseCoopers office overlooking the river.

As the audience of scientific and business folk tucked into fruit salad and poached eggs on toast, the guest speaker introduced them to a humble bacteria an alien born on Planet Earth that doesn't like "organic" food. 

Mine bugs don't need oxygen or light - they eat toxic chemicals. They feed upon stuff such as CO2.

Maree Klemm,  who has 35 years experience in the finance and mining industries, explained her belief that nothing - not even CO2 - should be considered "waste". Instead it should be seen as the input for another process, part of the system.

It was biotechnology that allowed the mining industry (in 1947) to start leeching or extracting metals from low-grade ore by speeding up the reproduction rates of "Mine Bugs".

This process allows mining companies to extract a few grams of gold from tons of low-grade ore.

Now it's being tested at Tarong Power Station as a means to grow "sustainable" oil - they will feed the bugs CO2 emissions from the stacks to grow algae.

Mine Bugs require a "radical eco-system". The nutrients this bacteria needs to survive are inorganic compounds.

So the perfect test facility for the "Bio Carbon Capture and Storage (bio CCS) Synthesiser is one of Australia's three largest power stations.

The Tarong trial, which is about to start, takes research out of James Cook University and puts it into the real world to grow algae that feeds off the CO2 emissions produces useful by-products: oil used in plastics, jet fuel and fertilisers. The algae can also be used for stock feed. The bio mass can also be used as fuel for power generation. It will grow in a buffer zone around the station.

Here's a comparison table for land use by crop:

0.24ha algae produces 100,000 tonnes of oil.

715ha corn produces the same amount of oil.

100ha canola ....................

20ha Palm Oil ....................................

The cost of the trial? $3.5m. Full-scale project would cost $300m consuming 1.4m tonnes of CO2 to produce 700,000 tones of algae, 250 tonnes of oil and 450 tonnes of algae meal.

Compare this to geo-sequestration - or carbon sinks - which costs $5B to set up and $2.2B to operate.

Australians - are finally present. They have not spoken, they have issued a blood-curdling cry.

What all sides of politics should realise is that the CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER is the lack of attention to what's important - community, not individual, not personal, not party, interests.

There's evidence that Australians are thinking - thinking about the future. Independent for Kennedy, Bob Katter, has a 70pc swing of support.

Rural Australia is finally being heard but Mr Katter, Mr climate skeptic, the swing to the Greens means we - as a community - are worried about climate change.

One scrutineer found Family First preferences leaking to the Greens in the Queensland electorate of Forde.

The politicians are finally standing to attention before the nation.

This is a declaration of war - this revolution has just begun.

This sentiment is a groundswell that will change Australia in the next 10 years - five years ago, no politicians (let alone Bob Katter) talked about broadband.

Five years ago, the climate skeptics had the upper hand. "We" were "all" in denial.

Now, we have a 3.6pc swing to the Greens.

Ain't it grand Mr Abbott? Do you really think you can deliver stable government without addressing climate change and broadband?

If Australians are willing to think differently then I think it is incumbent upon our politicians to do the same.

NEW POLITICS. New media. New thinking. WE WANT UNPRECEDENTED for the GOOD of the NATION! Or...

The Big Kiss-off

By the time this film ended (minutes literally take an hour) I'd forgotten my philosophical objections - I couldn't completely suspend disbelief because I was thinking, not feeling and then I got confused about what I was thinking and started questioning myself.

What is reality? That's the question being asked. Take my advice: you don't want to sit next to a kid crunching chips and rustling and slurping for two hours here. Get up and move.

It's the question at the heart of Buddhist philosophy that teaches that this life we live is only a dream - what we experience is a perception of true reality, a dream. 

Inception only almost gets it right - unlike the beautiful Japanese animation Totoro, a tree spirit seen only by children.

Inception takes us to the shore of the subconscious - a nice idea.  Trouble is if you actually reach that place then I believe your mind is still and you are at one with the universe - not a separate consciousness building, loving, feeling, killing, wanting ... that's the whole point of the end of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. He forgoes the thing he has worked for all his life - release into perfect enlightenment - to remain in the realm of hungry ghosts because his love for her finally overwhelms him on the brink of death. Too late. Now that's tragedy. Inception just doesn't get it right.

Leonardo DiCaprio is great - though he doesn't reach the level of his performance in one of my most favourite films, Blood Diamond.

 And Ellen Page is distracting - she's a charismatic leading lady and this is a minor role that goes nowhere. 

Director Christopher Nolan has shot extraordinary action scenes with suspended gravity effects - it had me leaning in my seat. Thank God it wasn't in 3-D or it would need a health warning.

Absolutely perfect finale - the ultimate finale that is.

But the "revelation", the story resolution, the last piece of the hero puzzle isn't a surprise ... what is surprising is fact that they shatter a woman's entire reason for being and she just let's it go as if it's nothing much really to her that the man she loves has betrayed her in a horrible, horrible way. Interesting reality that is.

Ideas are best when they are simplified to their essence - I'm paraphrasing a line from the film.

With clouds above, 

the rain falls.

Above the clouds,

the sun rises.

People scurry past torn hoarding,

so not glimpsing earth, grass and sky.

Silent, padlocked, empty city block,

forgotten like the first colonial sentinels,

standing small by the expressway, 

dwarfed by the 21st century,

standing small on rock solid foundations that built this city.

This peep hole is in the hoarding at the street level above the hole in the ground - what you see walking along Ann Street. The Cathedral on the hill view is from a street below.