One thing that often bugs The Bug’s Media Glass House researchers is the number of “analysis” pieces posted by ABC News Online.

Don’t get them wrong, many of the items do add to the sum total of a reader’s knowledge about a subject or offer a unique insight of some sort, especially those penned by reporters in war zones or other crises or disasters.

But many, mainly from the “celebrity” wing of the ABC stable of reporters, are often little more than a recitation of recent events and already-known facts.

Take for instance a piece by former 7.30 show host Leigh Sales published just a few days before Donald Trump appeared at the Republican Party convention which in turn was just days after escaping a shooter’s attempt on his life. (below)

Go find and read it yourself, but our MGH teams did not think it gave any extra information or unique insight into Trump’s personality or political tactics.

A few days later it was the turn of Michael Rowland, co-host of ABC TV’s News Breakfast show to offer “analysis” on the US political scene.

Once again it was a simple blow by blow account of recent events – including the attempt on Trump’s life – that happened to happen while Mr Rowland was in the US on a pre-planned trip to conduct interviews to be aired in the lead-up to the November elections. Again, go read it and make up your own mind.

Last week it was RN Breakfast host and occasional host of the very occasional Q&A show, Patricia Karvelas.

It began by alluding to an Australian National University study showing that voters have not much more confidence in the Albanese Government than they had in the government of Scott Morrison.

“Great!” yelled our MGH researchers, “Some useable new and informative analysis.”

Sure, but to get to the ANU stats PK (trademark pending) revisited the ins and outs of the recent cabinet reshuffle.

Only then did she air the ANU data, so basically the rest was padding. Our MGH teams also suggest that the “analysis” was actually a news story that should have been half the length and should have focussed on the ANU work since it was the uni boffins, not PK (trademark pending) who had done the leg work.

As noted above, our MGH teams value the real analysis that appears on occasion under that banner on the ABC’s site, but don’t value the retelling and retailing of well-known facts.

***

Our MGH teams noticed that News Crap Australia’s national broadshit The Australian recently announced it was lifting its hardcover cover prices.

The Monday to Friday edition of the Murdoch family newsletter jumped from $4.00 to $4.50 from the start of this week and The Weekend Australian will now cost $5.50 instead of $5.00.

So, that’s a 12.5% price jump for the weekday paper and a 10% rise for the Saturday version.

Oddly, the rise wasn’t featured in The Australian’s news pages where our MGH researchers thought it would fit perfectly into a story on above-inflation price rises that are aggravating cost-of-living pressures on average families – perhaps it was missing because average families don’t buy it anyway.

Of course the price rise announcement contained glowing words about the newspaper including reference to its “world class reporting” and how the paper promotes “a contest of ideas” through its news coverage and “diverse commentary”.

Regular readers would know that the writer of those in-house testimonials actually meant “world class right-wing reporting”, “a contest of right-wing ideas”, and “diverse right-wing  commentary”.

On that point, our MGH teams suggest that on specific metrics The Australian actually does remain very good value even after its price increase.

They work out that even at $4.50 or even $5.50 on weekends, readers pay only about one cent for every far right-wing columnist The Oz employs. Bargain!

***

There are not many hardcore sports buffs among our MGH research team members.

Most are pale, weedy nerds so they haven’t exactly been glued to their TV sets in the early hours watching the Olympic Games live from Paris.

Nevertheless they have another reason for looking forward to the end of the current all-day avalanche of news from the Games.

Many of them say they can’t wait for the Olympics to be over and everyone can stop referring to the main Parisian waterway as the “Sen” and go back to the “River Sane”.

Want to be alerted immediately a new blog hits Australia’s longest running and most offensive satire site? Simply click on the Follow sign or the link below to be emailed new yarns the moment they are uploaded! The very second we go far too far – and trust us we will – you can then quickly unfollow via the three dots!

Follow The Bug Online on WordPress.com