July 13, 2004

OLD MEDIA AVOIDED

Antony Loewenstein -- co-author of Margo Kingston’s Not Sane, John -- hails people power:

We're reaching really encouraging numbers for a book that has, tellingly, received little mainstream press coverage. In other words, the message has entirely bypassed the old ways of communicating and succeeded in getting people excited and active. We reckon the mainstream press are a little scared that something, anything, can sell without their promotions, so maybe NHJ is a taste of much to come.

Here’s an abbreviated list of Margo’s non-mainstream non-promotions that have bypassed old ways of communicating:

MONDAY 21 June 2004, CANBERRA/SYDNEY

7.40am - RADIO 2CC Canberra, interviewer Mike Jeffreys

9.40am - STEREO 974 Melbourne, interviewer Bob Taylor

10.20am - COMMERCIAL RADIO 2UE Sydney, interviewer George Moore

10.40am - COMMERCIAL RADIO 2GB Sydney, interviewer Tim Webster

4pm - 702 ABC RADIO Sydney, interviewer Richard Glover

6.20pm - COMMERCIAL RADIO 4BC Brisbane, interviewer Tony Johnston

TUESDAY 22 June 2004, SYDNEY

10.10am EST, 9.40AM SA - RADIO 5DN Adelaide, interviewer Jeremy Cordeaux

Noon EST, 11.30AM SA - 5UV RADIO Adelaide, interviewer Cath Keneally

12.30pm - BAY FM Byron Bay, interviewer Terrie Wells

12.45pm EST, 10.15 Perth - RADIO 6PR Perth, interviewers Mario Dorazio and Deb Kennedy

5.30pm - ABC RADIO TRIPLE J Nationally, 'Hack', interviewer Steve Cannane

5.45pm - 666 ABC RADIO Canberra, interviewer Ross Sully

10pm - ABC RADIO NATIONAL, interviewer Phillip Adams

WEDNESDAY 23 June 2004, SYDNEY

10am - 936 ABC RADIO Hobart, interviewer Tim Cox

11.30am EST, 11am NT - 105.7 ABC RADIO Darwin, interviewer Annie Gastin

12.30pm - RADIO 927 Melbourne, interviewer Trevor Himstedt

THURSDAY 24 June 2004 MELBOURNE

10am - RADIO 3AW Melbourne, interviewer Ross Warnecke

11.00am - 774 ABC RADIO Melbourne, interviewers Jon Faine and Terry Lane

FRIDAY 25 June 2004, BRISBANE

10.30am - 612 ABC RADIO Brisbane, interviewer Steve Austin

11am - ABC RADIO NORTH WEST Queensland, interviewer Jemma Schweikert

1.10pm EST, 11.10am Perth - 720 ABC RADIO Perth Chat Room Media Section, interviewer Jo McManus

Keep it real, kids.

Posted by Tim Blair at July 13, 2004 02:27 AM
Comments

Well, they lie to us all the time, why not lie to themselves?

Posted by: JorgXMcKie at July 13, 2004 at 02:33 AM

Loewenstein is a liar and a hypocrite. Therefore, it is highly likely that he'll soon be chosen by Latham to run as an ALP candidate.

Posted by: George at July 13, 2004 at 02:40 AM

Why is it that after being on all kinds of talk shows blathering on about their latest books, some people will say their message is being suppressed? They do the same thing when they claim they are being censored. Boggles the mind.

If Lowenstein really believes that " ..the message has entirely bypassed the old ways of communicating .." does this mean he believes radio is some sort of new way to communicate? He must, since he's been on all those stations.

It's insulting to realize people must think we're stupid and believe what they say when evidence to the contrary is readily available. Perhaps they think more books will be sold if they tell us their message has been suppressed/censored?

(Michael Moore has claimed his various 'messages' were being suppressed as well. I don't know many people who have had a larger soapbox.)

Posted by: Chris Josephson at July 13, 2004 at 03:36 AM


>Michael Moore ... I don't know many people who
>have had a larger soapbox.

OK, as straight lines go, this gets 10 out of 10. I'll start the ball rolling...

"He needs it for the twenty-pound bars his handlers use for the weekly hosedowns."

Next!

Posted by: Dave S. at July 13, 2004 at 04:51 AM


Using radio to get a political message out? My God, that's innovative! The left-wing has certainly stolen a march on the right-wing!

Posted by: Dave S. at July 13, 2004 at 04:55 AM

The Left loves to insist it's being censored and has to get its message out by alternative media, when in fact it's all over the awful, corporatized, Clear Channeled, Rush-filled, Fox-dominated, fascist regular media, not to mention right on the front tables at big chain bookstores that have killed the independent bookstore, at shopping mall multiplexes which lead to ever-greater suburban sprawl and emission of greenhouse gases, etc. There's something childish about this eternal need to feel that you're the rebels fighting the big machine when your ideas, or at least attitudes, have long since dominated the big machine.

I remember right after 9-11, I was sending a friend of mine constant updates on Noam Chomsky's latest mass media appearances in which he would discuss being the best-known intellectual who was completely barred from mass media. Fortunately he does seem to have dropped off the radar a bit, in favor of more broadly appealing, dumber rivals like Moore.

Posted by: Mike G at July 13, 2004 at 05:46 AM

hahaha you should be a lawyer TB
after that cross examination/comprehensive dacking , "untenable" sums up the margoloid position on this issue.
shameless faux-outrage is an artform in margoland, and they really believe that everyone is seriously buying their crap.

Posted by: max power at July 13, 2004 at 05:55 AM

Isn't it strange that all the promotion has been by website and radio? Probably to prevent actual moving images of Margo escaping and permeating the public consciousness.

As someone who has (shudder) seen Margo briefly in the flesh - she wafting round like a bad smell at the tally room last Federal Election - I can vouch for the fact that the first thought that popped into my head was "Well, now if that's not a face for radio, I don't know what is." Maybe a new career looms after the package...

Posted by: aquila audax at July 13, 2004 at 06:37 AM

I'm positive that Lowenstein is "Harry Heidelberg" the pretentious wanker and internationalist who used to appear in Margoyle's column.
Anyone else think so?

Posted by: david at July 13, 2004 at 06:54 AM

the message has entirely bypassed the old ways of communicating

Maybe he means old ways such as reason, logic and coherency.

Posted by: PW at July 13, 2004 at 07:47 AM

And no, Loewenstein and Heidelberg may be pseudo-intellectual wankers cut from the same cloth, but they appear to be different people. Not that one could tell the difference between their inane utterances if they weren't signed with their names.

Posted by: PW at July 13, 2004 at 07:50 AM

PW - I agree with your interpretation. After all, it is essential to these types of authors that they convince themselves they are being suppressed, censored, opposed, etc, and that begs the question of why. I think the main reason is that such a viewpoint allows them to claim that, if the book doesn't get read, it's not because it was crappy, but because it was kept down by THE MAN. And in today's world of internet freedom, what else could this mindset be called other than illogical, unreasonable, and incoherent?

Thus, when lefties screeds don't sell, you see them screaming about censorship, as Ted Rall did when his crappy column was dropped by the NYTimes (http://www.theagitator.com/archives/010773.php). What lefties can't admit to themselves is that fully-informed people CHOOSE to reject them. It's much more romantic for them to imagine themselves as flying below the radar.

Posted by: Kimberly at July 13, 2004 at 07:59 AM

The constant shrieking, on national mass media, about dissent being stifled always puts me in mind of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." No, not the "Help, I'm being repressed, come see the violence inherent in the system" line.

Q: And how do you know she's a witch?

A: Well, she turned me into a newt!

Q: A NEWT?!?!?!

A: ... I got better...

The difference, of course, being that today's loud unstifled dissenters are not self aware enough to realize how foolish they have made themselves look.

Posted by: Steve Skubinna at July 13, 2004 at 08:42 AM

Hmm,

as has been said, lets not let the truth get in the way of the leftist fantasy of being oppressed. Lets have a look at some comments from Margo's own site:

I loved the book. And yes, what is happening in Australia is sooo wrong. So what I would like to do/offer if possible is to offer some free web hosting to any individuals and groups that feel they have something to say.

Jack wrote: Andrew: Great stuff, and thanks. Will stick your email up today - just to confirm, is it OK if I just put up your contact email address, and advise interested types to contact you direct?


Side-stepping truth. Again.
Antony Loewenstein 05/07/2004
So, it's two weeks since our book was released. We've been told, by Penguin and other reliable sources

I'm Antony Loewenstein, one of the collaborators and contributors to Not Happy John!. It's been a wild couple of weeks, and the response by all you out there to the book and its message has been really encouraging for us all. The media coverage has also been telling. Who's covered it, who's ignored it, who's praised it, who's trashed it and who has simply engaged in personal attacks

Nothing like no publicity and new ways of communicating eh? Hypocrite. Come and see the violence inherent in the system, I'm being oppressed....... get your hands off me.... fascist.......

Posted by: nic at July 13, 2004 at 11:05 AM

Of course these people beleive that John Howard has stolen their children, eaten them and then defecated on the shoes of the poor asylum seekers.

What a bunch of sad adolescents these lefties are!!

Posted by: Toryhere at July 13, 2004 at 11:46 AM

Poor old andy failed to add that the Margit has been shamelessly peddling the comic in the SMH, but I guess its considered new as its straight ALP propaganda dressed up as journalism.

Also I like Andys little throwaway line from the Not Sane Andy website about "keeping it positive"

He is obviously not referring to the webdiary for the last 12 months, all it has done is bitch about Howard and Bush for 12 months straight.

Forget about "keeping it positive" and get real you fucking idiots.

Posted by: Nuffy at July 13, 2004 at 12:52 PM

Is it just me, or does Margo's fan squad consist mainly of boys?

The only people contributing to the NHJ "blog" are Antony Loewenstein, Harry Heidelberg, Jack Robertson, and errr, that's it. Boys have written almost 90% of the reviews that grace NHJ state-of-the-art pages.

Is NHJ a boy's book? Is it engaging the other 50% of Australians? Is it a book for boofheads? Are women marginalised once again from Australian politics? Why hasn't someone at the SMH asked these questions?

Posted by: Hanyu at July 13, 2004 at 02:14 PM

Antony Loewenstein -- co-author of Margo Kingston’s...

Does this mean he's the one that had to translate it from crayon into some form of english?

Just asking...

Posted by: Timothy Lang at July 13, 2004 at 02:39 PM

Hanyu, maybe Margo only selects males to have any real association with, due to her powers of animal attraction.

Yes, I've seen 'those' photos of Margo with what are reported to be women friends, but bloody hell, if they really are of the female species then they must have been hiding behind the door when God was handing out the looks!

As for those photogenic blokes she has hanging around like bad smells. Strewth! They remind more more of a bunch of eunachs bragging about their prowess at the local knockshop, than crusaders out to spread the word of the holy grail.

Surely there must be at least one reporter who could give an unbiased report of NHJ. I'd suggest naming the piece "Piss Off Margo."

Keeping it positive.

Posted by: Lofty at July 13, 2004 at 03:19 PM

Lofty: Yes, I agree with you about the animal attraction aspect (I've seen the pictures, too). She's certainly attracted animals. But surely someone should be investigating the highly skewed gender split here. Nasty stuff, this gender divide. Very nasty indeed. Especially if you're an SMH femihack.

However, I don't want to seem like I'm sucking up, Lofty, so here's my one quibble with your comments. Given Margo's self-confessed "Don't flush the toilet every time you go wee wees" campaign, I think the unbiased review should be entitled "Piss On Margot".

Which ever way you cut it, Margo's a winner. We're all just stupid losers: losing our right to speak freely, vote, piss and flush...

Posted by: Hanyu at July 13, 2004 at 03:32 PM

Oh, that mainstream press coverage and promotions.

The man's probably right about the mainstream press being scared, though.

Posted by: Simon at July 13, 2004 at 05:03 PM

Have any of you actually read it?

No, didn't think so.

Posted by: Darp Hau at July 13, 2004 at 07:38 PM

Have any of you actually read it?

No, didn't think so.

Well, as it is a re-hash/compendium of previous posts on the webdiary, I'm not sure that there is much to read that hasn't already been read previously.

Your point therefore being?

Posted by: nic at July 13, 2004 at 08:26 PM

What I wonder is, how did you manage to read it with your tongue so firmly up Margot's ass? Good peripheral vision, I guess. Or did you use a text reader and headphones?

Posted by: Andrea Harris at July 13, 2004 at 08:27 PM

(My comment was to "Darp Hau," by the way.)

Posted by: Andrea Harris at July 13, 2004 at 08:28 PM

Darp Hau, I flicked through it in a Brisbane bookshop, but, at $ 25.00 a copy, I wasn't tempted. It's printed on very cheap paper, a sure sign of a brief shelf-life, and I what I read was very similar to Margoyle's dreadful column.

Posted by: david at July 13, 2004 at 08:37 PM

... and, Tim, the book was reviewed briefly in the Weekend Australian.

Posted by: david at July 13, 2004 at 08:39 PM

Interesting....

They no longer percieve the ABC as the mainstream press ??

Anyone told Marr,Phatso and company they are now on the outside ??

Posted by: Shaun Bourke at July 15, 2004 at 12:58 AM