The ability of the media to ‘spark’ a controversy, and that of social media to ‘fuel it’ has rarely been better illustrated than the histrionics raging in Australian over the comments made by the new Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, when asked the question: what advice would you give your daughters about sex before marriage.
The question was posed by The Australian Women’s Weekly when doing a personality piece on Abbott. His response [not to give away their virginity lightly] is, I would have thought on face value, acceptable enough fatherly wisdom.
However, when you are a politician, nothing is taken on face value.
As would be anticipated, the reaction to his comments has been as diverse as ‘a brilliant answer’ to ‘yet another self-acknowledged one-time drug-taking, Vatican roulette-playing, shagabout, white, middle-aged male telling young women not to do what he did when he was their age’ (an Australian comedian).
Now Abbott is an experienced politician, and his media minders are hardly likely to be lightweights, so it’s not unreasonable to assume he knew what sort of reaction he was likely to generate. The decision to answer the question the way he did had to be deliberate, and was designed to achieve a specific result.
Post coverage analysis will tell him whether he obtained what he set out to achieve.
By and large, New Zealand politicians have steadfastly refused to allow or inject their families into media coverage to raise their profile. In Australia, some at least are obviously not so reticent.
I think the Kiwi approach is the wiser.
What is of real interest to those of us who work in the media world is the power social media has to take the initial story, and fragment it into stories about politics, parenting, morality, religion, feminism, manipulation (of the media), hypocrisy and personal choice, to name a few.
For those who have doubts about the power of social media, have a read.
One only hopes that the media does not seek to prolong the controversy by asking Mrs Abbott and her three daughters as to their views on Mr Abbott’s musing. Enough is enough!
1. Where did the man on the street go?
We’ve all heard plenty about the potential threat to the reputations of business and brands posed by new online tools.
Google’s Sidewiki, an application that appears as a browser sidebar where you can read and write entries along the side of a webpage, could become the ultimate platform for those who like to share their views and opinions. Brands and business had better sit up and take notice of this development.
There is a fascinating story in today’s National Business Review about some alleged liquidation hi-jinks. Basically it is about the suitability of a parade of possible liquidators, but our interest is not in the substance of story but the issue of over-disclosure.
It’s fair to say that traditional media has envied the huge freedoms Internet publishers enjoy. On the Internet, any man and his dog can be publishers, editors, ad sales people – at the same time, without the “Chinese Walls” traditional media like newspapers and television are required to have, to avoid accusations of bias and advertorialising.
Let me get one thing off my chest, whether it was on the record, off the record, a throwaway comment, a personal observation or an official declaration, fortunately for President Obama he was right on the money. Kayne West is a jackass.
Social networking sites Twitter and Facebook have been hacked, and much to the consternation of millions of users it’s not the first time the online giants have had their security tested and found wanting.
As we have come to grips with the online environment the rules of engagement have, for the most part, followed the same niceties and social etiquettes we apply in our other interactions. Those who have transgressed have been outed and dealt with by the group.