Jones back to facts school
Deep Heat for the Bended Elbow
RADIO shock jock Alan Jones w i l l undergo training after 2GB admitted it failed to properly check facts and present a range o f opinions on a number of his programs.
The Sydney radio station launched an internal review in June, after the Australian Communications and Media Authority found it had breached the Commercial Radio Codes of Practice.
The breaches relate to unsubstantiated claims made by Jones in March last year that ‘‘ human beings produce 0.001 per cent of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere’’.
2GB said the review ‘ ‘ highlighted shortcomings’’ in programs hosted by Jones.
The shortcomings involved the accuracy of factual material sourced from third parties, and whether a range of views were canvassed when controversial issues of public importance were discussed by Jones.
The station’s licensee, Harbour Radio, had agreed to overhaul its processes so that efforts were made to verify facts and present significant viewpoints in its current affairs programs, ACMA said.
The station has given an assurance that the executive producer of Jones’s programs will fact-check any material provided by third part i e s o r non- media sources before it is broadcast.
Records would be kept to verify this.
The producer would also be responsible for ensuring other 2GB current affairs programs presented an alternative viewpoint to that given by Jones.
The controversial broadcaster will have to undertake training by the end of next month, ‘‘ focusing on ACMA’s findings concerning factual accuracy and significant viewpoints’’. THE Rio Carnival-themed album cover is the first giveaway to Oh Mercy’s new sound.
On their third LP, the Melbourne band has ditched the moderate strummings of the acoustic guitar and embraced some colourful Rhythm and Blues grooves and an up-tempo vibe.
Frontman Alexander Gow said the new album, Deep Heat, was heavily inspired by songs from the 1970s and ’80s and his party playlists.
‘‘I’m the guy at the house party with the iPod, so it’s no surprise that the album sounds like it’s coming from that direction.’’
Oh Mercy’s national tour brings them to Geelong tonight for a gig at Bended Elbow.
The musical curve ball on their new record, produced with former Gerling frontman Burke Red (The Drones, Wolf & Cub) in Portland, Oregon, has been a Triple J feature album.
It has also garnered the band an ARIA nomination for best rock album, up against The Jezabels, The Temper Trap, Cold Chisel and Children Collide.
Gow, who has moved away from writing about personal experiences to third-person explorations, has embraced his new-found swagger.
‘‘I just love seeing people respond with their bodies to music,’’ he says.
Oh Mercy is also performing at a free all-ages gig at Point Lonsdale Primary School on Saturday night, with Split Seconds, The Tiny Giants, Jamie Pye, and Katy Nethercote.
They will be supported at Bended Elbow by Brisbane’s garage- pop rockers Millions, who are scheduled to release their second EP next month.
They will be back in the region to help close out 2012 with a set at the Falls Festival.