For most of my adult life I was an avid reader of The Australian and The Weekend Australian. I have to say that its been several years since I purchased either paper. With one exception I now no longer trust anything in The Australian or it's Saturday stablemate. The exception is the writing of George Megalogenis (but even then you sometimes need to ignore the headline).
Why don't I trust The Australian? I feel that it's no longer a newspaper of record. Instead it seems to have become an agenda driven publication. There is no way for me to tell if an article is accurate or biased. To me the Australian is no longer impartial.
I also find the paper incredibly arrogant and thin skinned, even bullying and vindictive. Woe betide anyone who criticises The Australian.
All this is a shame as The Australian can be a very good newspaper at times. It has carried out and reported on investigations that any editor would be proud of. But for me that's now all for nought, because as I said, I no longer trust it. Nor do I need it any more, the Internet now brings me other sources of news.
It is widely reported that The Australian runs at a loss and that Rupert Murdoch keeps it going for the influence it brings. But, one day Rupert will be gone. When that day comes many expect his replacement to close the loss making venture. I will be saddened when The Australian dies. Not for the loss of what The Australian now is, but for the loss of what it might have been.
Articles on the Australian
John Quiggin: The Oz is not a newspaper
Robert Manne: Margaret Simons and the Australian
Robert Manne: Payback: The Bullying Tactics of the Murdoch Press
David Marr: The Politics of News: David McKnight’s 'Rupert Murdoch: An Investigation of Power'
Tim Dunlop: Manne up: taking on The Australian
Sally Neighbour: The United States of Chris Mitchell: The Power of Rupert Murdoch and the Australian’s Editor-in-Chief
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