A sad trend in Australian political commentary.

[Elfster]

Is it just me, or does anyone else notice an increase in more rabid partisan comments in various blogs in Australia. Trawling through some opinion pieces in the SMH and Australian recently I am seeing increasingly vitriolic rubbish as opinion. The recent shootings in Arizona have brought out posters blaming the media, the right, the left with a callous disregard towards the victims. The current floods in Australia have brought out all and sundry trying to scare tawdry political points.

Very little sympathy towards the victims. Very little attempts at understanding or trying to seek knowledge. Just petty name calling and gloating over some shallow smug political point deemed to have been won.

Really not much humanity. Which is quite unfortunate and sad.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

It's both the good and bad part of the Internet age, Elfster. More access to more information than ever before, but equally, more inane blowhards to go with it.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

With a smirk, I'll also add this from another forum I follow:

"“toxic rhetoric”? This lot have obviously never listened to Paul Keating, or the abuse emanating from the NSW bear pit, also known as the parliament.

 

[wal]

Not just you elfster. I agree completely. My problem is that everyone thinks they have the right to write opinion pieces and hide behind the veil of journalism.

 

[Aussie D]

Been saying this for months on here - even mentioned it on the hate thread over at rugby discussion. It is not just the opinion pieces but the sports sections as well e.g. I was reading the terrorgraph today (I didn't buy it - took the kids to maccas for a play on the equipment and it was the only paper they had) and they had a cricket story about Christian (think that is his surname) and all they were kept repeating was 'he played league' and 'better at league than cricket' and stuff like that and it was only as an aside that they mentioned he scored a half century against the poms. Before Connolly got the nod for the Wallabies head coach role the SMH stories were about what he was wearing and not what skills he would bring to the role and what his plans for the team were. I now go to the punch if I want to read opinion pieces as they generally have one article from each side of politics every day.

 

[Bruce Ross]

I agree totally with the sentiments expressed by Elfster and the other posters above. "Not much humanity" indeed.

 

[matty_k]

And then you have this guy who is just plain evil.
http://catchthefire.com.au/blog/

 

[Ash]

Elfster; I've had a theory for a while that Young Liberal and Young Labor members actively push party cliches on SMH, News, ABC, etc comments sections. You see many similar tired vitriolic attacking posts repeatedly pushing party points, many of them quite innapropriate. Some of the stuff posted on the US shooting comment sections and the Queensland flood comment sections are quite miserable.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Yep, some of the comment threads on big media outlets websites are just comical in their trollishness. I tend to be pretty selective about what I follow online and look for comment/opinion that a, has some data or at least factual basis and b, is more measured in the delivery. The more hyperbolic the language, the less I pay attention.

I will also agree that people have lost their minds over this shooting in the US. Some of the commentary has been ludicrously over the top.

 

[kambah mick]

I agree with all the above. The democracy that the internet allows is being warped by ignorant people and organisations that mindlessly push barrows that dont need to be pushed, often at completely inappropriate times. The attempts to politicise these floods are a good example. I was pleased that a thread on this blog wished the SE Qlders well in this time of strife. It probably indicates a more intelligent audience for this blog than others.