Australian Financial Review - What's the deal?

Flogwater

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For many years, this publication favoured big business and economic liberalism. Which is understandable to point for a newspaper that focuses on finance. For a long time, the paper had a respectable portion of good quality content.

The quality of the AFR has been in decline for a while and this deterioration has snowballed since Nine became the owner of the masthead about two years ago.

What do BigFooty readers of the AFR think?

Here are some opening remarks. On this subject, one could easily write 'War: what is it good for?'.

1. Much of the content is partisan and sound journalism standards are often sacrificed for pushing an increasingly right-wing line. This pattern has been brought into sharp focus by the Financial Services Royal Commission and, latterly, COVID, about which the prevailing thinking is that the economy is all-important and who cares if a few old farts die.

2. True news stories about business or political matters have been replaced by agenda-driven opinion pieces at a concerning rate. The AFR has become overly sympathetic to Trump and Morrison. The contributing factors here are, firstly, the Liberal-aligned Nine, chaired by Peter Costello, a media network that has held at least one Liberal Party fundraiser. Secondly, the AFR's editor is Michael Stutchbury, former editor of the appalling Murdoch vanity project, The Australian.

3. There are few journalists who produce genuine news articles of quality. Adele Ferguson and Michael Roddan (recently joined from The Strayan) are about it, while Phil Coorey is a pedestrian bet-hedger.

4. Rear Window, especially when Joe Aston is a contributor, produces some good columns, but the strike rate is pretty ordinary.

5. Letters to the Editor are often more engaging and hit the mark much more than the content from AFR contributors. Except when delusional rants from Kevin Rudd, New York (or Sunshine Coast) get a run. And they get a run quite often.

6. The 'Saturday Lunch' interview in the weekend edition is sometimes excruciating, e.g. the interview several weeks ago with demographer Dr Liz Allen, who relentlessly pushes a high population growth line. Why the feck do they publish the bill for the meal?

7. Appalling editorial judgment, such as running whole page or double-page incoherent rants from Clive Palmer about border closures, replete with a garish yellow background. Or running large adverts from Harvey Norman.

8. A growing stable of terrible journalists or other contributors who consistently produce heavily-biased bollocks. Aaron Patrick (COALition fanboy), Jennifer Hewett, Karen Maley, Rowan Dean, John Roskam (IPA), Parnell Palme McGuinness, David Leyonhjelm, Alexander Downer, Tom Switzer, Tanveer Ahmed, Jennifer Westacott (BCA), Adrian Blundell-Wignall, Nick Hossack, Daniel Wild (IPA), Sam 'Killer' Lovick, John Kehoe and occasionally, Senator Andrew Bragg, author of that anti-super pamphlet 'Bad Egg'. It is a pamphlet, not a book, a la Jason Alexander's pamphlet 'Acting Without Acting'.

9. The fact that the likes of Dean, Roskam, Leyonhjelm and Downer write regular columns of rabid, ideologically-driven bile indicates that the AFR is fast approaching The Australian in the depths of sub-standard journalism.
 
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I know this is the "Media" board but I think these threads would probably do a lot better for you over at Society, Religion and Politics, as a tip.

Anyway, you're right about the AFR going to the dogs. Financial newspapers are always going to be right wing by design, but catering to an audience who want to be well informed and so want a reasonably "no bullshit" explanation of the news.

Stutchbury as editor lacks the intellectual rigor to do anything like this and has just turned the paper into a cheap echo of The Australian, and so it's just become another trashy sensationalist right-wing rag. Which is a shame, as I always found it one of the more informative newspapers, irrespective of its ideology.
 

Flogwater

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I know this is the "Media" board but I think these threads would probably do a lot better for you over at Society, Religion and Politics, as a tip.

Anyway, you're right about the AFR going to the dogs. Financial newspapers are always going to be right wing by design, but catering to an audience who want to be well informed and so want a reasonably "no bullshit" explanation of the news.

Stutchbury as editor lacks the intellectual rigor to do anything like this and has just turned the paper into a cheap echo of The Australian, and so it's just become another trashy sensationalist right-wing rag. Which is a shame, as I always found it one of the more informative newspapers, irrespective of its ideology.

Thanks, Spiny. That's a good suggestion about the SR&P board.

I am a BigFooty newcomer and I have a nagging feeling there could be an issue if I post the same thread to two or more boards. I will have to check the rules, or ask a mod if the rules are grey on this point.
 
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For many years, this publication favoured big business and economic liberalism. Which is understandable to point for a newspaper that focuses on finance. For a long time, the paper had a respectable portion of good quality content.

The quality of the AFR has been in decline for a while and this deterioration has snowballed since Nine became the owner of the masthead about two years ago.

What do BigFooty readers of the AFR think?

Here are some opening remarks. On this subject, one could easily write 'War: what is it good for?'.

1. Much of the content is partisan and sound journalism standards are often sacrificed for pushing an increasingly right-wing line. This pattern has been brought into sharp focus by the Financial Services Royal Commission and, latterly, COVID, about which the prevailing thinking is that the economy is all-important and who cares if a few old farts die.

2. True news stories about business or political matters have been replaced by agenda-driven opinion pieces at a concerning rate. The AFR has become overly sympathetic to Trump and Morrison. The contributing factors here are, firstly, the Liberal-aligned Nine, chaired by Peter Costello, a media network that has held at least one Liberal Party fundraiser. Secondly, the AFR's editor is Michael Stutchbury, former editor of the appalling Murdoch vanity project, The Australian.

3. There are few journalists who produce genuine news articles of quality. Adele Ferguson and Michael Roddan (recently joined from The Strayan) are about it, while Phil Coorey is a pedestrian bet-hedger.

4. Rear Window, especially when Joe Aston is a contributor, produces some good columns, but the strike rate is pretty ordinary.

5. Letters to the Editor are often more engaging and hit the mark much more than the content from AFR contributors. Except when delusional rants from Kevin Rudd, New York (or Sunshine Coast) get a run. And they get a run quite often.

6. The 'Saturday Lunch' interview in the weekend edition is sometimes excruciating, e.g. the interview several weeks ago with demographer Dr Liz Allen, who relentlessly pushes a high population growth line. Why the feck do they publish the bill for the meal?

7. Appalling editorial judgment, such as running whole page or double-page incoherent rants from Clive Palmer about border closures, replete with a garish yellow background. Or running large adverts from Harvey Norman.

8. A growing stable of terrible journalists or other contributors who consistently produce heavily-biased bollocks. Aaron Patrick (COALition fanboy), Jennifer Hewett, Karen Maley, Rowan Dean, John Roskam (IPA), Parnell Palme McGuinness, David Leyonhjelm, Alexander Downer, Tom Switzer, Tanveer Ahmed, Jennifer Westacott (BCA), Adrian Blundell-Wignall, Nick Hossack, Daniel Wild (IPA), Sam 'Killer' Lovick, John Kehoe and occasionally, Senator Andrew Bragg, author of that anti-super pamphlet 'Bad Egg'. It is a pamphlet, not a book, a la Jason Alexander's pamphlet 'Acting Without Acting'.

9. The fact that the likes of Dean, Roskam, Leyonhjelm and Downer write regular columns of rabid, ideologically-driven bile indicates that the AFR is fast approaching The Australian in the depths of sub-standard journalism.
lol at Bomberboyokay liking this when you just know he has never read anything in it.
 

Flogwater

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The AFR ramped up the "let's go back to the office" push during the week. The catalyst was a shocking Saturday Lunch interview with the Dexus CEO. Self-interest much?

I slept better at night knowing that $10 was spent on mineral water during the meal.
 

Flogwater

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You could say the same of ABC being blatantly left wing and that’s publicly funded.

Take it to the SRP board.

My opening post in this thread was about a newspaper. As a result, posting on the Media & Entertainment board was reasonable. As I acknowledged earlier, the post could also qualify for the SR&P board because of the strong ideological and political bias of much of the AFR's content. So your suggestion is fair enough. The problem is that the BF rules don't allow the same thread to be posted in two or more locations.

However, your statement about the ABC is not relevant to the AFR topic, regardless of whether the arguments of left-wing bias have substance.
 
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