The following commentary is from the FB page “Veganurth”:

 “Malala Yousafzai & Kylie Jenner just turned 18 – Kylie got a brand new Ferrari and spent $10,000’s on plastic surgery and botox. Malala was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize, survived a gun shot to the face by the Taliban, opened a school for Syrian refugees and is inspiring education for kids around the world. What’s upsetting is the media is only covering Kylie as “breaking news” and not mentioning a word about Malala’s powerful strength and courageous passion to change the world…. Kylie is immortalized because her parents are rich, she shops on Rodeo Drive and gets drunk at parties….. Malala is infinitely more beautiful!” 
The dumbing down of both us, and how the media treat us, has been an interesting exercise to watch over the decades. A news item during the weak was….Woolworths dropping its grocert prices! Really! News? I just laughed it was so ludicrous. Then we have Tracy Grimshaw – a journalist I USED to respect before she fell into mediocrity – and her “A Current Affair”…not! Since when are neighbourhood disputes, germs on kitchen sponges! And old people being ripped off been “current affairs”? Current affairs used to be commentary on the hews, an extension and clarification of important daily news items, but now – with the exception of non-commercial television – nothing but social drivel We see it every day now, news that is aimed at the most stupid and impressionable sector of the community. You only have to hear talk-back radio to see how it filters down to inane, racist and prejudicial argument, people babbling on about things that they know absolutely nothing about. The whole Halal issue was a very good example of social rantings from people who didn’t even know what it was! And don’t even start me on the cult of celebrity! Or our use of the word “hero”! The above is a great example of how the “news” distorts values, gives credence to the undeserving, while the people and ideals we really should value are trampled under foot, and left as footnotes! Thank heaven for unaligned, freelance journalism! These are the only ones observing our politicians, leaders, big business, and world affairs, and commentating on it in a realistic and responsible way! Commercial news services – and those owned by so-called “media magnates” who use the services to espouse their own perverted world view…Rupert Murdoch and his disgraceful Fox News is a great example – make the future of nees reportage very frightening! When truth is swallowed and exchanged for digestible drivel, those of us who think, analyse, research and voice alternative opinions to the tripe and inane diatribes that are vomited out by our daily newspapers, and television news services, truly have to be concerned.

Truth Rules! 

Tim Alderman (C) 2015