It all seems a bit....staged. It's good for Rudd, and it's good for The Australian :
Kevin Rudd last night attacked The Australian as "right-wing" and less than objective, particularly on the issue of climate change."If you cite your source as The Australian newspaper, I simply say this: (It is a) free country; every paper can express their point of view -- the editor of The Australian has said that he edits a right-wing newspaper -- and so he does," Mr Rudd said.
"Let us not pretend that it (The Australian) would seek to present itself as an objective source of information. It opposes the government's actions on climate change, and has done so consistently.
"That's their democratic right; we have a free press. And so they should; that's a matter for them."
The editor-in-chief of The Australian, Chris Mitchell, responded last night: "The actual quote referred to The Australian as a centre-right paper but the PM is loose with his verballing these days."
More than anything else, it shows just how unimportant KevinRuddPM and his advisors think The Australian is as a part of the national debate, or as an influential force on the Australian public, at large.
Kevin Rudd reaches more people, directly, on Twitter, than he does when he gets written up in The Australian. Rudd's 'circulation' on Twitter, is many hundreds of thousands higher than the current newsagent, and free-in-the-foyer-many-city-offices, circulation of The Australian.
He doesn't need The Australian to be on his side.
A disregard for 'The Heart Of The Nation' that would been almost incomprehensible a few years ago.
