Letter of the Week
Have strong opinions, write in an engaging way? You could win our Letter of the Week, and with it a book from our friends and sponsors, the publishers HarperCollins. This month’s book prize is Those Other Women by Nicola Moriarty. Rivalries and resentments between mums and child-free women spiral wildly out of control in this compelling new book by the bestselling author of The Fifth Letter.
Rules: Best letter competition runs untill January 19 next year. Entries close each Thursday at 5pm. The winner is selected by 2pm each Friday. Book of the month valued up to $49. Entrants agree to the Competition Terms and Conditions located at www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/ entertainment/competitions, and our privacy policy. Entrants consent to their information being shared with HarperCollins for the express purpose of delivering prizes.
A NEWSPAPER was traditionally revered in the community it served. As the record of what was happening locally and in the wider world it was trusted as the primary source of truth for its readers.
Then television created a parallel view of our world. Originally, it held the promise of universal education and enlightenment but was eventually bastardised by so-called reality TV which, in truth, is often a stage-managed farce that titillates and disempowers, sullying the senses of all those who become addicted.
As if that were not transformative enough, the recent tsunami of social media delivered instantaneous universal communication for those with the technology. The pulpit of the people became pervasive. This all seemed like a boon for society, promising as it did emancipation through ubiquitous access to information. Sadly, we are left to wonder how it can have all gone so dreadfully wrong.
At the same time, new forms of cheap production led to a deluge of print publications catering for ever narrower niche audiences which has worked to weaken the primacy of the daily or weekly newspaper. As elsewhere, Gold Coasters are retreating from traditional print media in a dramatic fashion.
There is clearly a massive commercial imperative to protect revenues and enhance a media outlet’s digital presence. But the very nature of social media dictates that immediacy dominates accuracy and we are left to confront what a bloke called Trump labels “fake news”.
Unfortunately, while Trump is a ruthless abuser of this phenomenon, we now find ourselves mired in a swamp of media sources in which, just as Hitler demonstrated, repetition creates the new ‘truth’.
This is where the Bulletin’s recent full page exhortations that “We’re for fighting the good fight” in which political reporter Paul Weston says our paper “must be beyond just a paper of record” causes concern.
With more than a century of service to Gold Coast, the Bulletin and its antecedents have helped make this place what it is. Now, more than ever, we need a clear focus on establishing truth, favouring objectivity and ensuring a clear demarcation between reporting and commentary. Retaining the trust of this community has never been more necessary or valuable.
DAVID M RUSSELL, TWEED HEADS SOUTH
Editor’s note: Mr Russell is right about the need for objectivity and maintaining clear lines between reporting and opinion. But papers have a huge role to play in campaigning for better outcomes for their readers and for their communities more broadly. These are not mutually exclusive ideas. We can report objectively and in the same paper campaign on that very issue. Indeed the strength of any paper’s campaign is contingent on
its ability to canvass all sides of a debate. That’s what we are striving to do at the Bulletin.
MY mate and I are here for the two weeks of the Games from Auckland, New Zealand.
So far we have had a wonderful experience and hopefully our highlights are still to come. Gymnastics, weightlifting and track cycling were all fabulous. Extremely well organised, comfortable venues and slick productions.
Swimming and athletics were good too but both had a few problems. Both the Carrara Stadium and the Southport Aquatic Centre are exposed to the blazing Queensland sun with minimal shade. This makes it uncomfortable for spectators in the day sessions.
Absolutely the worst thing is being forced to tip out water bottles to go through security and then having to line up for 20 minutes or more to refill those same bottles. Volunteers are shouting through their megaphones for people to keep hydrated. That’s fine but I am guessing they haven’t had to line up for their water.
The cycling velodrome had water filling stations where six or more spectators could refill their bottles simultaneously. In my view it’s still not too late to get this set up at Carrara for the remaining track and field events. Then a bronze medal experience could become a gold one.
GLEN STANTON, AUCKLAND