I was out last night but when I arrived home my wife was disgusted. Not with me; ha, ha… but with a report she saw on 60 Minutes. Katrina doesn’t usually get so fired up by these sorts of things, but she was really livid.
Many average people all over Australia would have gone to bed last night gripped with fear. Sections of the media are loving this. Parasite is the best word to describe those who feed off others. This sort of irresponsible journalism (and 60 Minutes are not the only guilty culprits) was akin to the paparazzi attempting to take photos of the misfortunes of a well known figure with complete disregard for the impact their actions may have on “their victims”.
The attitude of “the end justifies the means” does not wash with me… sadly it does in many segments of the media, however.
Here’s what Katrina had to say about what she saw… She’s so fired up I think she’s going to send it in to the 60 Minutes mailbag:
That would have to be the most irresponsible journalism I have ever seen. Tabloid journalism! You began with “so what’s behind this crisis”. Had you actually researched what was behind the crisis and the very fundamental differences between the US and Australia instead of using the worst case scenario victims and the most pessimistic economist to paint a picture for all Australians, people may have the opportunity to “think” for themselves instead of being railroaded with emotion and fear. Confidence is a critical factor in the economy but you successfully managed to remove any hope of that for the average Australian watching your show. The government is attempting to bring some confidence back into the market but the media continually undermine that. The media have a lot to be accountable for in this current economic climate.
Did you read Part 2 of my current DEBT series writings? I called it DON’T PANIC. Click here
Happy investing,
Nick Lockhart
Reader Comments
So the economist on 60 Minutes is going to sell his home and do what – RENT??
Everyone has to have a roof over their head, they either buy it or rent it. Vacancy rates are at record lows in Australia, around 2% in SE Qld, not like the 10% vacancy that has been running in the US. So if people follow his advice and sell their homes they will add to the pressure on rental accommodation and push rents up further?
Michael Matusik recently reported that Australia’s current population growth of 337,000 p.a. is the fastest on record (mostly going into Qld and Vic), the vacancy rate is 1.4% and falling. The market is under supplied and deteriorating further.
While media reports say that 800,000 are suffering from “mortgage stress” the actual figures are that 0.41% of mortgages are in arrears by 3 months – that’s 17,000 people not 800,000!!
If we are going to see businesses closing, please let it be the newspapers and TV stations first so the rest of us can get on with life!