Press Secretaries

The two biggest stuff-ups of the political year to date have said little about the conduct of our politicians and everything about the judgment of the advisors they employ. Given that 2012 is not yet five weeks old, these two remarkably stupid episodes confirm the extent to which the black art of media management has become an unchecked cancer on modern politics.

The irony is that in both cases the very people who were hired to make life easier for our politicians, ostensibly with their capacity for crisis management and flair for finessing a message, have in one case created the crisis and in the other mangled the message.

This should not be of interest solely to political tragics and Canberra insiders. The punchline to the joke is that the mugs who are footing the bill are, of course, the taxpayers, who over the past two decades have funded an ever-increasing number of spin doctors, speech writers and media advisors for politicians of every hue at both the state and federal level.

Latest 2 of 133 comments

View all comments
 
  • Zoyd says:

    05:29am | 02/02/12

    Stooping to the old shft the goal posts trick, and the old make up things I didn’t say trick, there. What a trickster. No more to be said.. Read more »

  • marley says:

    06:17pm | 01/02/12

    @zoyd - you agree with Shepherd’s article.  Now that article has two elements - a timeline, and an opinion on who is or is not to blame.  You’ve justified your agreement with the timeline, but not with the conclusion she draws - that everyone or no one is responsible.  I’ve… Read more »

 

A couple of years ago in one of his excellent machine-gun sprays Paul Keating lamented the emergence of a new class of political leaders who wouldn’t get out of bed in the morning unless they had focus group research telling them to do so.

Moving forward…Julia Gillard at a press conference in Canberra. Photo: Getty Images

The jibe was aimed at the thinness and timidity of what was then the Kevin07 juggernaut. This new political glibness was again in evidence during this year’s campaign, reaching a low point with Julia Gillard’s “moving forward” slogan, a catchline so dead in meaning that The Real Julia had it euthanased.

The debate over the rise of focus groups, spin and message management in modern politics is now being conducted vigorously within the ALP.  Labor heavyweight John Faulkner used this week’s launch of the excellent book by former NSW Minister Rodney Cavalier on the shambles that is NSW Labor to take aim at what has been called “the NSW disease‟.

Latest 2 of 55 comments

View all comments
 
  • lpqglpvzsnt says:

    09:19pm | 03/03/11

    utu1Lu sbkxlsydxtzl, voiukripijql, [link=http://bqsxzvpljull.com/]bqsxzvpljull[/link], http://exkfjyuntfpk.com/ Read more »

  • Steve Putnam says:

    06:47pm | 18/10/10

    Did Joh have a colorful phrase for accepting money offered to him in brown paper bags? Read more »

 

Facebook Recommendations

Read all about it

Punch live

Up to the minute Twitter chatter

Paul Colgan

RT @BusInsiderAU: Tajikistan Blocks YouTube After Video Of Dancing President Goes Viral - http://t.co/QYCQ6f3m8W

Paul Colgan

@JohnBurnsST I will save you the trip mate - back home around the 17th of December for a couple of weeks

Paul Colgan

@JohnBurnsST Do you know if the SBP will publish that Apple story online?

Paul Colgan

French Soldier Stabbed In Neck In Paris http://t.co/FzmOcCx8RN

Recent posts

The latest and greatest

The Punch is moving house

The Punch is moving house

Good morning Punchers. After four years of excellent fun and great conversation, this is the final post…

Will Pope Francis have the vision to tackle this?

Will Pope Francis have the vision to tackle this?

I have had some close calls, one that involved what looked to me like an AK47 pointed my way, followed…

Advocating risk management is not “victim blaming”

Advocating risk management is not “victim blaming”

In a world in which there are still people who subscribe to the vile notion that certain victims of sexual…

Nosebleed Section

choice ringside rantings

From: Hasbro, go straight to gaol, do not pass go

Tim says:

They should update other things in the game too. Instead of a get out of jail free card, they should have a Dodgy Lawyer card that not only gets you out of jail straight away but also gives you a fat payout in compensation for daring to arrest you in the first place. Instead of getting a hotel when you… [read more]

From: A guide to summer festivals especially if you wouldn’t go

Kel says:

If you want a festival for older people or for families alike, get amongst the respectable punters at Bluesfest. A truly amazing festival experience to be had of ALL AGES. And all the young "festivalgoers" usually write themselves off on the first night, only to never hear from them again the rest of… [read more]

Gentle jabs to the ribs

Superman needs saving

Superman needs saving

Can somebody please save Superman? He seems to be going through a bit of a crisis. Eighteen months ago,… Read more

28 comments

Newsletter

Read all about it

Sign up to the free News.com.au newsletter