Victoria
has had a number of shocks recently. The latest was a 5.3 earthquake situated
near Moe in the state’s south-east. I was watching Foreign Correspondent on ABC
TV when the sliding door nearby rattled for a good few seconds. While my couch
didn’t move (too weighed down perhaps?) it was pretty obvious that we had an
earthquake.
After
checking everything was ok and there hadn’t been a short windstorm outside the
patio, I jumped on the iPAD and checked Geoscience Australia. No joy there, the
site crashed with all the traffic ( when will governments learn to fund their
websites appropriately??) then turned to Facebook and the Amercian Geological Survey which gave
accurate data about the quake within about 15 minutes.
I didn’t
turn to the Age website, the Age newspaper or any other media outlet,
other
than Facebook. I went directly to the source of technical
knowledge, repute and
interest – the geologists who have sensitive machines measure these
things. I
also turned to my friends who are inhabiting social media.
This also
illustrates the other quake that hit Melbourne and Australia in the last couple
of days, the shedding of thousands of staff at Fairfax media empire.
I don’t buy
the newspapers except for the Saturday edition. I do the crosswords and look at
the magazines and occasional business stuff. My other half reads the main pages
and does the Sudoku. The rest gets turfed into recycling bin or used for
cleaning the fire.
So here is
the dilemma. I buy the Age, read it at the library occasionally, but don’t
support it financially.
I certainly won’t buy the Age newspaper at all if Editorial Freedom is
lost!
I consume media largely from free
websites, such as the ABC, and specialist groups – Australian Conservation
Foundation, government websites, and overseas websites. I watch TV, read blogs
and watch non-fiction DVD’s often sourced from my public library.
So Brave New World – it will rock on whether I like it or not!
