Media Release: 5 Feb 02 (for immediate release)
Gutter Journalism Hoax Exposed
Last night the big guns of Tabloid TV fell victim to their
own sleazy
set-up tactics.
Both Channel 9's A Current Affair and 7's Today Tonight ran
competing
stories on the fictional group the "Dole Army".
They claimed to expose
gangs of jobless militants inhabiting Melbourne's drains,
surfacing only
to scavenge food from bins and organising through the internet.
Today Tonight reporter Norm Beamans introductory voiceover
began: if it
wasnt true, it would almost be comical. It wasnt true and
the jokes on
you, Norm.
These ridiculous stories of sewer-dwellers would have more
accurately
described the journalists themselves.
We approached them with the exactly the kind of story they
love and they
lapped it up like dogs, said the Dole Armys Emma Goldman.
They enjoy
nothing more than victimising the poor and unemployed. We
did it to
avenge the Paxtons.
We also wanted to publicise our website, www.dolearmy.org
added Kool
Keith. And its worked the website has received literally
thousands of
hits since the stories went to air last night. Thats thousands
of unemployed people now better equipped to deal with the
inhuman
Centrelink bureaucracy - and wed like to thank these TV shows
for
helping us get the message out. Not to mention the $1000
Today Tonight
payed us which will help keep the Dole Army website alive.
The shamelessly ratings-driven bully tactics of these two
programs are
well known A Current Affair were publicly embarrassed by
their hatchet
job on the Paxton kids, the Robert Bogucki banana chunder
blunder and,
most tragically, by Benny Mendoza, a repairman who committed
suicide
after ACA accused him of poor workmanship.
Mike Munro is not known for his honesty but the following
closing
comment surprised even us: let me assure you that we did
not pay anyone
from that charming and courageous pack back in the Dole Army.
Well give
Mike the benefit of the doubt and assume the producers neglected
to
mention the 30 blank digital videotapes (worth $360) they
gave us in
exchange for a video of masked figures pretending to play
Cluedo in a
tunnel, and the $2000 they offered us to deny Today Tonight
a chance at
a follow-up story.
Today Tonight is also no stranger to the invented story paraded
as fact
the infamous Majorca Skase Chase report was mocked up in
the theatrical
district of Barcelona. True to form while shooting the Dole
Army expose,
the TT crew happily colluded in setting up a fake drain dwelling
in an
above-ground brick factory.
There are bludgers who are in work and there are bludgers
who make
millions of dollars. There are people who don't want to work.
The
reality is we can't put everyone in work. There wouldn't
be a percentage
point difference in the unemployment figures if every person
desperately
wanted to work, unless you're going to get down to sub-third-world
wages. Why do journalists dish out this crap? It's pathetic."
(Former MP
Phil Cleary, in reference to the ACA/Paxton saga).
--arkan.
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