Mining industry’s big lie
The New York Times recently asked its online readers a simple question: should the newspaper check the claims made by politicians before it reports them? The response was a torrent of bemused hostility. What, the readers wanted to know, did the newspaper think its job was? Much has been written in recent years about the difficulty that the media seems to have sorting fact from fiction and distinguishing balance from barracking but the mining industry provides a clear example of the difficulties that all our media seem to have dealing with – an industry that spends more on public relations than some industries spend on research and development.
Related documents
Between the Lines Newsletter
The biggest stories and the best analysis from the team at the Australia Institute, delivered to your inbox every fortnight.
You might also like
Facts are among the biggest casualties in the war against renewable energy
Around this time 12 years ago, Barnaby Joyce stood up and declared the average family lamb roast was about to cost $100.
Australians told to take the bus as mining diesel use soars
New research reveals that mining companies use 8 billion litres of diesel per year, while the government is urging ordinary Australians to take the bus and pump up their tyres to save fuel.
New push to outlaw lies in NSW politics ahead of next election
Dishonest political campaign advertisements – like those falsely claiming a party will introduce a new tax or cut a government service – could be outlawed in time for next year’s NSW election, if a new petition is successful. The petition to the Legislative Assembly is calling on the NSW Parliament to implement truth in political advertising laws, like those