Breaking the Leftist stranglehold on journalism

"Journalism courses run by the University of the Sunshine Coast, the University of Western Sydney and the private Brisbane college Jschool have been judged the best by their students"

JSchool? It's a private journalism school run by the excellent Professor John Henningham, who you might recall is the man whose famous survey established what your ears and eyes already suspected - that most journalists are far to the Left of the public they are meant to serve.

The question now is why Henningham's private school is held in higher esteem by its students than are many of the expensively maintained (by taxpayers) journalism schools run by universities such as RMIT and the University of Technology, Sydney (of which more in the next post).

Are private colleges forced to be more responsive to their students? Are they more likely through necessity if nothing else to understand the society from which they draw their students and livelihood? Are they less likely to be the rigid ideological factories that so many media employers now suspect university schools have become?

And do we really need so many taxpayer-funded journalism schools that produce far, far more graduates than will ever get media jobs and aren't much respected by the students they purport to teach?

Bravo Professor Henningham for shining another light on production of groupthink in the mainstream media.

(Comment above by Andrew Bolt)





Good old government "security" again

The watchers were all asleep

Craig Verrall did not mean to infiltrate the wharf that leads to the Prime Minister's Sydney residence. He was just trying to get to work. But the 35-year-old made the inadvertent entry on Tuesday morning when he was dropped at the wrong wharf. He spent about five minutes trying to get the attention of security staff before using a CCTV pole to climb a barbed wire fence to freedom.

It is the second breach of security at Kirribilli House this year. But a spokesman for the Australian Federal Police was confident "the layered security arrangement in place at Kirribilli House and its surrounds are appropriate".

Mr Verrall, a filmmaker, said he was not approached by any Protective Service officers. This is despite him disembarking from a grey ex-navy inflatable assault speedboat - the yacht's tender - while wearing arctic camouflage pants. He said he was ignored as he waved at the cameras and yelled for help. Mr Verrall had been staying on a 20-metre yacht he had helped sail from Noumea in New Caledonia. The yacht arrived in Sydney Harbour on Monday afternoon. When Mr Verrall was called into work on Tuesday morning, the captain of the yacht agreed to take him to a public wharf at Kirribilli using the tender, Mr Verrall said. However, he was dropped at the private Admiralty Wharf rather than one of the nearby public ferry stops.

"I turned around and first off I saw a pile of security cameras," Mr Verrall said. "I saw three tracks and looked to see which one I was able to use to get out and realised they all kind of went nowhere. The only exit was to go for a swim." He said that there were also large signs warning it was government property and not to enter. "There may be some other exit, but I didn't want to go wandering off in camo gear. I was concerned I would have a SWAT team jump me or get a fine for being in the area. Meanwhile, I've tried to call my mate in the boat to come and get me, but he couldn't hear me over the engine."

Mr Verrall then tried to get the attention of the person manning the bank of security cameras. He said he did not continue calling the captain as he knew the craft was low on fuel. "I waved my arms in front of the cameras and sensors hoping that any minute security would come down to help me out off the property and onto a street or public land to then walk to work," he said. The plan failed, so he had a cigarette and decided to jump the barbed wire fence. "The only option I could see was to scale the fence. I climbed up the camera pole using the cameras as steps to get over the barbwire, drop over into the apartments' front yard and walked across their yard."

The Prime Minister was not in residence. Federal police confirmed "a man" was captured on security footage on the wharf on Tuesday at 10.20am. A spokeswoman would not say when the Protective Services officers became aware of the man or how he was able to leave. She questioned the time Mr Verrall said he was on the wharf. He told the Herald it had been at 11am for about 15 minutes, but later said he had arrived at work at 11am. She said security at Kirribilli House would not be reviewed. The yacht's captain declined to speak to the Herald. Customs would not comment on whether it had a record of boarding the yacht on Monday.

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New tanks set for battle



The Australian Army's new tanks are likely to see battlefield action, Defence Minister Brendan Nelson has warned, as the first arrived in Melbourne. The first 18 of 59 Abrams battle tanks - bought from the United States at a cost of $528 million - were unloaded at Port Melbourne today. Each weighs in at 63 tonnes and at full-throttle can hit almost 70 km/h.

Chief of Army Lieutenant General Peter Leahy told a delivery ceremony in a container terminal that the Abrams were much superior to the army's 30-year-old Leopard tanks, which are being retired without ever having seen battle.

Dr Nelson said that while he hoped the Abrams would also never be used in anger, he suspected they would be. "The 59 Abrams tanks that we are likely to be using over the next 30 years, I hope and pray that they will never have to be used in anger," he said. "But I fear that those hopes may be dashed. "The reality is that we are living in a world that is changing very quickly - it has changed enormously over the last five years especially."

The army's Abrams tanks have been reconditioned from a model first built in 1989, but Dr Nelson denied suggestions Australia had bought second-hand goods, saying most components were new. "These are brand new tanks. They are as well-developed as they can possibly be," he added.

Lt-Gen Leahy said the Abrams was combat-proven. "It will deliver superior levels of firepower, protection, mobility and communications," Lt-Gen Leahy said. The US ambassador to Australia, Robert McCallum Jr, described the Abrams as one of the most "effective and lethal" weapons. "We are delighted that our oldest and closest ally in the Pacific will be operating the Abrams tank alongside us, increasing our joint operational capabilities," Mr McCallum told the crowd.

The 18 tanks delivered today will be taken to army bases at Puckapunyal and Bandiana in Victoria. The remaining 41 tanks will be delivered to Darwin by mid-2007.

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"Equal opportunity" dictates who can enter a bar???

More craziness in Victoria

A swank city bar wants the right to keep an even mix of men and women within its walls if noisy mobs threaten to wreck its atmosphere. Comme's owner this month applied to delay entry for some patrons to stop either sex swamping his serene wine bar. Renowned Melbourne restaurateur Frank van Haandel lost his bid to be exempted from equal opportunity laws at certain times in the Alfred Place hotel's bar areas. But the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal left the path open for him to try again.

Mr Van Haandel argued that delaying entry to keep an even split of the sexes would help block big rowdy gatherings of men or women invading the venue and ruining the relaxed vibe. The push follows past rulings on gender balance affecting some other bars and nightclubs that promote the mingling of men and women. But it sparked fears of disruptive queues from local residents' group Melbourne 3000 Inc.

Mr Van Haandel, who also owns the Stokehouse, Circa and Prince of Wales Hotel, said Comme's bar suited professionals and he was keen to retain its ambience. Some patrons had complained of groups of raucous men or women encroaching on the CBD after footy and rugby league matches, the tribunal was told. His company Halifex Pty Ltd's legal bid excluded the venue's private function and dining areas.

VCAT deputy president Cate McKenzie was unconvinced that a gender balance was the best way to prevent excessive noise. But in a written ruling she left the option of re-applying open if extra material was presented. Mr Van Haandel declined to comment. The chief executive officer of Equal Opportunity Commission Victoria, Helen Szoke, said: "Comme can deal very simply with the issue of noise and inappropriate behaviour by asking people to leave." [The stupid bitch should try kicking out drunks herself. She might learn something]

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