Julia Gillard’s creepy good luck message to tabloid The Sydney Morning Herald
CREEPING, much? The relationship between the powerful and the media them is tight in Australia. The country’s PM Julia Gillard has a few words to say on the new tabloid-sized The Sydney Morning Herald:
For generations, for the people of Sydney and beyond, the thud of The Sydney Morning Herald on the doorstep has been a welcome sound.
The Herald, first published in 1831, now stands as the longest continuously published newspaper in the southern hemisphere. So old and trusted is this newspaper that it is affectionately known as ”Granny”, an old insult that became a lasting badge of honour and the name of the paper’s most loved column: Column 8.
The Herald’s remarkable pioneer John Fairfax declared he would publish his newspaper ”upon principles of candour, honesty and honour” with ”no wish to mislead; no interest to gratify by unsparing abuse or indiscriminate approbation”.
This is a lofty aim and a continuing ambition for the new Herald.
As a free society we must always value a free press, and that goes for politicians, too. I’ve received my fair share of criticism from the Herald, as has my party. But I have never doubted that the value of the debates the Herald starts and the debates it reports on…
With this new compact format, the delicate task of unfolding those huge broadsheet pages and the occasional wrestle with them will become a memory. But the Herald will endure.
It is my sincere hope that whatever its format, The Sydney Morning Herald will remain a great newspaper of record, which repays the faith of its readers with quality, integrity and a recognition that with great power also comes great responsibility.
I warmly wish the Herald every success in its new compact edition.
Julia Gillard is the Prime Minister of Australia.
Talking truth to power.
Posted: 11th, March 2013 | In: Politicians Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
