Daily Telegraph: "Revolting Ferals" Are Anyone Opposed To Abbott, Apparently

 

 By Darryl Mason
 
I find it absolutely bizarre that the Daily Telegraph would slam March In May protesters in Sydney as "revolting ferals." It's very clear what the headline and image is implying. Protest against PM Abbott, and you're nothing more than a Feral.

Uni students, and 'anarchists', or ferals if you want to go that far, made up a tiny percentage of the 15,000 to 20,000 marchers in Sydney last Sunday. 5 per cent at most, probably less.

I stood near the entrance to Victoria Park at the conclusion of the march and watched more than 10,000 people walk by over an hour. Families, elderly people, disabled people, 'Mosman Mum's', lots of people from western Sydney, it was more like a crowd at the Royal Easter Show than a traditional 'Lefty Students' protest. There were at least 1000 kids, many with signs they'd made themselves. And most of the protest signs I saw were funny, or heartbreaking, very few were insulting to Abbott in any way. Most just asked variations of 'Why Did You Lie To Us? Why Are You Punishing Us? What Did We Do?'

The Daily Telegraph's "Revolting Ferals" front page seems to have pissed off and disgusted many of the families who turned out for March In May. Not surprisingly.

Image via @NewsAustralia

And some more of the "ferals", as claimed by the Daily Telegraph:

Reaction on Facebook and Twitter is absolute disbelief, and disgust, and strong feelings of betrayal, that the Daily Telegraph would brand them as "revolting ferals" simply because they are opposed to Abbott government lies, budget cuts and backflips on very clear election promises. People were carrying copies of the Telegraph under their arm to read in the park. Then they get called "Ferals" on the front page the next day?

Seriously, talk about burning your readership.

Who does the Daily Telegraph think will buy the paper when they trash families from Western Sydney?

Just bizarre. But it does show just how out of touch the Daily Telegraph's editor Paul Whittaker is with his dwindling readership.

Here's Whittaker laughing it up with Tony Abbott on Budget Night, before his newspaper gave Budget 2014 mostly glowing coverage and headlines:

Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Daily Telegraph editor Paul Whittaker, Budget night 2014

Perhaps sucking up to the prime minister is more important to Daily Telegraph editor Paul Whittaker than fairly representing his readership? Or putting into print their overwhelming shock and disgust at the deceptive way Abbott ran his election campaign, and the brutal punishment of families in his first budget.

More At Mumbrella

Why Did Police Suddenly Change Their Mind About Investigating Bondi Brawl By Packer And Gyngell?

Australia's richest man and the CEO of a top-rating TV channel shame themselves

By Darryl Mason

UPDATE: Australia's richest man James Packer and Channel 9 boss David Gyngell want their ugly Bondi Bash to go away, fade from view, but it won't. As an example of how international this story now is, Taiwanese animators have immortalised the brutal street violence and police investigation:

For someone trying to maintain casino licences in Asia, and score new ones, this is about the worst headline you could get on the BBC, short of being accused of murder:

Headlines and opinion pieces in Asian business media are unanimously negative about James Packer, it doesn't seem to matter that he may not have started the fight. Anti-casino campaigners couldn't have dreamed of a better way to attack Packer's character and ability to control himself.

Police investigations are underway in Sydney, and the pressure is on.

Previously, May 6:

Last night, police were not going to investigate the brutal street brawl between Australia's richest man James Packer and Channel 9 boss David Gyngell. The following screengrab is of a NSW Police message to a Twitter account that tweets on media issues, there were a number of others who asked why police had not launched an investigation and police responded with the same tweet:

NSW Police: "As we have not received any reports regarding this specific incident there is no current investigation,"

It seemed odd that after all the media and police campaigns to stop Sydney street violence, they weren't going to do anything about two men violently smashing the shit out of each other on a Bondi street on a Sunday morning, an event captured on cameras, and blasted across the media.

But procedures are procedures.

Someone had to call it in.

So what happened overnight?

Australians on Twitter learned that the street brawl had to be officially reported to police, Bondi police station's phone number appeared on Twitter and people started calling in reports, and tweeting reports, of the street fight to Bondi police and the official NSW Police Twitter account. The disgust from a handful was palpable. Why should these two get away with it? Why shouldn't they have to live by the same laws as the rest of us?

This morning, while Ray Hadley on 2GB, Karl Stefanovic on The Today Show, and virtually every other friend or associate of Packer and Gyngell in the Australia media tried to dismiss and talk down the seriousness of this street violence - "just two mates biffing" "just a bit of slap and tickle" - police dramatically announced they were investigating the incident and went out and started doorknocking in Bondi,

Some media commentators could hardly disguise their disbelief. But the police said last night they weren't investigating!

Yeah, that was last night.

I know all this because I was following Twitter accounts that were talking about it, and posting under #PackerGyngell. There was anger, people expressing disgust that Packer and Gyngell "were going to get away with it:". Should rich people brawling in Bondi be treated differently to suburban kids fighting in the streets of Penrith or Kings Cross? Most of what was posted was true. So they took action, and began encouraging each other to report the Bondi street fight. I saw a whole series of such reactions unfold on Twitter late last night, and early this morning, and it was remarkable.

This was the real power of Twitter in action. People saw what they believed was an injustice, they learned what they had to do to try and set it right and they moved into action.

And by 9am, with police officially investigating, suddenly the media couldn't pretend this street brawling wasn't a big deal and the whole thrust of coverage changed. Well, some of it. Panelists on morning breakfast shows, including formerly avid campaigners against street violence, were still cracking jokes and trying to convince viewers Packer and Gyngell's Bondi Brawl was "no big deal."

But it was clear, once police began investigating, and once the possible repercussions for Packer and Gyngell's business interests, and their jobs, started to be examined, the Bondi Brawl began to look very, very serious indeed. And it was serious, it is serious. The tweeters were right. If it was Aboriginal youth videod brawling on a Bondi street, or Muslim teenagers, radio shock jocks would have demanded their community leaders denounce their appalling behaviour.

If the same media personalities who shed tears on TV over coward punches and ugly street violence earlier this year weren't shocked and disgusted by these two men punching each other out in broad daylight, then, seriously, what the hell was the whole anti-street violence campaign about?

But be sure of this one thing - if people on Twitter hadn't rallied and taken action to make sure even James Packer and David Gyngell are dealt with by police the same as the rest of us, and have to live by the same laws, their media pals, and employees, who were talking down this brutal act of street violence and pretending it was meaningless and "no big deal" would have won, and no police investigation would have begun today. Or at least, it would have been far less likely to have begun.

The prominent media identities who used to determine what events the mass public should be outraged about, and which events should be quickly forgotten, would have beaten down any and all opposition to calls for police action this morning. We probably would have seen Packer and Gyngell's political mates hitting the airwaves to hose down any public anger.

The script would have been shaped and set. Those demanding something had to be done about an ugly, offensive street brawl, by two men who should know better, would have been dismissed as "whingers" and "haters" and "jealous of rich people" and all the other garbage lines used to try and steer people without power and influence from making sure those with power and influence have to play by the same rules.

This story has a long way left to run, and serious implications for both men seem to be piling up by the minute. But there are only two people to blame for what is now happening to James Packer and David Gyngell, themselves.

They did what they did, and now they have to live with the results of their actions.

Just like you and I have to.

A detailed timeline of the Bondi Brawl and its repercussions will be posted here later tonight

MORE TO COME

Paul Woseen's 'Bombido' And His Attack On The Angels Over Doc Neeson

By Darryl Mason



The Screaming Jets Paul Woseen is grabbing some attention for his debut acoustic album 'Bombido', released on my label Misty Mountains Music, and available here. Sadly, he's also grabbed a few headlines for attacking The Angels, who are now fronted by The Screaming Jets lead singer Dave Gleeson.

First the piece on 'Bombido', by Danielle McGrane for AAP:

It took just 12 hours for The Screaming Jets bassist Paul Woseen to record his solo album Bombido.

"Pretty much every song on that (Bombido) is one take, the first take," he says.

Woseen did some metaphorical time travelling to achieve what he wanted with the album, which comprises new solo tracks alongside hits he wrote for the Jets.

"I did it the way I wanted to do it, I had in my mind of how they used to do singer/songwriter records `60s/'70s style - come in, sit down, play the songs, record it and that would be it - and that's just how I approached it," he says.

"I recorded it in two six-hour blocks."

The Screaming Jets fans who have come to check out Woseen's shows have been surprised by Woseen's voice.

"They don't expect it (the voice) to come out of the head they're looking at ... such a rough head," he says.

"Singing and sitting around writing songs is a pretty good way to earn a living," he says

It's every musician's dream.

You can hear an exclusive short preview of Paul Woseen's 'Bombido' album here:




 Woseen is also attracting mainstream media attention for diving headfirst into a horrible pile-on over over Doc Neeson's serious illness, and how members of The Angels, the band that made Neeson famous, and are now fronted by Woseen's friend Dave Gleeson, have supposedly had 'no contact' with Neeson since he was diagnosed with cancer, after The Angels parted in 2011 and then formed two separate line-ups in recent years.
 
The Doc Neeson line-up, 'The Angels 100%', announced their 2013 tour after 'The Angels with Dave Gleeson' had a solid run of sold-out shows and scored huge gigs on the Day On The Green tour.

But Neeson's 'The Angels 100%' had to cancel their tour in early 2013, which would have seen the two line-ups of The Angels in the same cities in the same weeks, after Neeson was diagnosed with brain cancer.

I've been told there has been contact between the The Angels founding members, Rick and John Brewster, and Doc Neeson, but because the Brewsters haven't been public about the contact, and because they chose not to take part in the recent Australian Story episode on Doc Neeson, they've been absolutely slammed on social media, and elsewhere, by people who don't know what's really going on.

People like Paul Woseen:

It's all very unfortunate, and ugly, and the Brewsters will hopefully clear the air soon by talking to the media. It's just wrong that they have to do so.

Some background:

As any old fan of The Angels know, Rick and John Brewster formed the earliest line-up of The Angels with Doc Neeson in 1974, and they then played thousands of shows, and recorded more than 14 studio and live albums together, before Doc announced he had to leave The Angels in 2000, due to a back injury.

They reunited for a tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their mega-multi-platinum Face To Face album in 2008, and split again in 2011, when Doc Neeson decided he didn't want to record another album with the band, and pursued a solo career instead. A dispute over who owned the name of the band then erupted. Again.

Original members Rick and John Brewster and bassist Chris Bailey (who died of cancer last year) brought in The Screaming Jets singer Dave Gleeson and recorded the Take It To The Streets album, toured, and released a second album with the new line-up, Talk The Talk, earlier this year.

So, yeah, the bassist of The Screaming Jets, Paul Woseen, is attacking members of The Angels, who are now fronted by his long-time friend and bandmate, The Screaming Jets' vocalist Dave Gleeson.

Rock n' roll can get pretty stupid and ugly sometimes.

More To Come....

DOC NEESON TOLD HIS BRAIN CANCER MAY PROVE "FATAL" IN THREE TO SIX MONTHS