What’s with all the horror stories lately on TT?
Last night they started with a story about a couple who were miserable about the .25% rate rise (they had a huge mortgage on their property and also an IP they were “talked into buying”) – they were moaning and groaning about how they were battlers & couldn’t afford the extra dollars. TT was saying people were going to have to start selling their homes, as the rates were about to skyrocket etc etc…
Their next story was of a horror tenant who had refused to pay rent for 3 mnths (always makes for good viewing as they chase the tenant around trying to get a comment) [
]They have been predicting doom and gloom in the market for a while now… are they trying to help create it or something? Talk about making impressionable people nervous!
Yeah, it’s called “ratings” – people are drawn to doom and gloom, especially someone else’s. Pay no attention, I see it as comedy[:0)]
Haha yeah I know, don’t worry I’m not taking it seriously… I think it’s funny too, the way they try to twist things to suit themselves [
]Ratings, Ratings, Ratings, nothing else matters to them!!!
Fudge111[
]No need to tell you that these hype ‘journalists
are worse than scum.They aren’t really ‘journalists’ at all (look up the meaning of the word).
Journalists are people who report the facts.
Instead these people are in effect sensationalists, all out to attract idits by spouting hype and not caring whom they hurt with many of their unbalanced stories in their quest for big stories and ratings.
I guess a better name for them is ‘unscrupulous hypist’ rather than reporters.
Reporters report the facts and set out to make their story balanced.
I didn’t see last night’s report which Soleil is talking about but it makes me sick seeing or hearing people squeeling and moaning how they were badly done by (having been sucked into buying an investment property or having gone into a loan the interest of which now is, horror horror, going up etc) rather than accepting responsibility for their own behaviour.
Pisces133
I walked past the newspaper section in my building today. every newspaper was about the interest rates rise. Feel sorry for those that got greedy on property without doing any risk management…. I mean why wouldnt you expect interest rates to rise eventually?
They obviously fell into the hype without any education first. I think this is only the begining of the “horror stories”*exasperated sigh*
yeah it’s like nobody’s ever heard of fixing interest rates.
yah one of my biggest hobbyhorses is that the media is not just biased and spreading propaganda (sept 11, war on iraq) but cares about ratings more than truth.
So yes – interest rates rising would have an effect on the market for sure – but FEAR has a bigger one – and it’s the media spreading it and shaking buyer confidence. fear and panic spread like wildfire….which makes what the media are telling us a self-fulfilling prophecy.
since i stopped watching TV (apart from Australian Idol) and that includes the news, I’m so much happier. try it. if you dare. if you can!
cheers-
miniHey Mini
I haven’t watched news or current affairs for more than 10 years now, no loss!! []Keep smiling
FelicityHi…
As a few of you know, I’m one of the producers for National Nine News here in Melbourne… the real estate horror stories are more for the likes of TT and ACA than us, we just report the fact that interest rates rose, and that some people will be hit by them, because they may have over-committed themselves. That’s a fact. To bolster my argument, here is the precise transcript of one of our stories from last night
[ReadRate:18]
The Reserve Bank’s decision to end a 17-month freeze on interest rates,[TAKE: CHYRON]
|(CHYRON)|has banks looking at following suit, passing the quarter percent increase onto customers.
[TAKE: LOSE CHRYON]
|(LOSE CHRYON)|And sentiment among economists suggests there could be more to come.
[TAKE: UPSOT
NAME: Interest rates tape John Edwards – HSBC
OUTCUE: by late next year
AT: 12’00’51”
TO: 12’01’02”
DURATION:0’11”]
|(UPSOT)|
<I think it will increase interest rates by another three quarters of a percentage point BUTT EDIT in the second half of next year.>But the Prime Minister remains unconvinced.
[TAKE: UPSOT
NAME: JOHN HOWARD
NUMBER: Canberra Feed
AT: 21’14’32”
TO: 21’14’39”
DURATION:0’07”]
[Notes:There is no case in my view for a significant lift in Australian interest rates over the near term.]Mr Howard appealing for perspective.
[TAKE: UPSOT
NAME: JOHN HOWARD
AT: 21’14’12”
TO: 21’14’20”
DURATION:0’08”]
[Notes:Even in the most benign of economic periods, interest rates will be adjusted from time to time.]
|(UPSOT)|[TAKE: CHYRON]
|(CHYRON)|Home owners and investors with a $150,000 mortgage at the standard variable rate, will pay an an extra $24 a month.
[TAKE WIPE]
|(CHANGE CHYRON)|For a $200,000 mortgage, repayments jump $31.
[TAKE WIPE]
|(CHANGE CHYRON)|And for those who’ve borrowed $300,000 …. $48.
[TAKE: LOSE CHYRON]
|(LOSE CHYRON)|[TAKE: UPSOT
NAME: John Edwards #2
OUTCUE: one percentage increase
AT: 12’03’14”
TO: 12’03’19”
DURATION:0’05”]
|(UPSOT)|
<I don’t think house prices are gonna fall in value, in fact I don’t think they’ll fall in value even with a one percentage increase.>And this advice from the Treasurer for those entering the property market.
[TAKE: UPSOT
AT: 7’14’45”
TO: 7’14’52”
DURATION:0’07”]
[Notes:I would say to people pitch for price which builds in a bit of a cushion on your interest rate.]
|(UPSOT)|I agree with Mini that sometimes some sections of the media can be accused of spreading propaganda (Fox News in the USA for example, is shocking), but I can assure you there is no grand plan of supporting certain political points of view that is happening (with us anyway).
True, some reporters can be classed as scum, but not all of us in the media are… and yes, we depend on ratings, it’s our measure of success, just like newspaper circulation, just as sales measure the success of so many other businesses.
“The media” is not some headless beast trying to take over the world, and to think of it as such is a rather narrow view point to have… akin to the narrow view point the media itself is too often accused of having.
Cheers
r
What’s with all the horror stories lately on TT?Last night they started with a story about a couple who were miserable about the .25% rate rise (they had a huge mortgage on their property and also an IP they were “talked into buying”) – they were moaning and groaning about how they were battlers & couldn’t afford the extra dollars. TT was saying people were going to have to start selling their homes, as the rates were about to skyrocket etc etc…
Their next story was of a horror tenant who had refused to pay rent for 3 mnths (always makes for good viewing as they chase the tenant around trying to get a comment) [
]They have been predicting doom and gloom in the market for a while now… are they trying to help create it or something? Talk about making impressionable people nervous!
Maybe Stokesy wants to pick up some cheap property in the near future[}
][]Hello All,
Just wanting to know how the rise in mortgage repayments is worked out. I have worked out for a mortgage of $150,000, repayments would go up $31.25, not the $24 stated in the article.This is how I worked it out:-
$150,000 * 0.25% / 12 = $31.25.
Am I missing something?????
Hi Richmond,
> I can assure you there is no grand plan of supporting certain >political points of view that is happening (with us anyway).
i totally disagree, there always is – per country, if not exactly per station. The telly IS the voice of the government – this isn’t something i got off a conspiracy site either – this is what I have figured out after travelling to the US after sept 11 and seeing what they see on TV and the slant it was given, and also watching it on NZ tv too. shockingly biased – what they show, and what they leave out. And if you don’t KNOW what they leave out, you don’t know it exists….and most people only get their news from the tellie….so if it’s not on telly it didn’t happen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and they show what they want to show to have the desired effect. Just know that (in NZ at least, and i’m sure it is the same in Aus) the government is concerned about the housing boom and WANTS people to start getting back into investing in the sharemarket and businesses – wealth creating things, from the country’s point of view. So they WANT to slow the market, so putting out a few press releases, edited quotes from experts saying the market will slow, and the resulting fear spread by the media, makes it happen.
To me that is all pretty obvious.
>True, some reporters can be classed as scum, but not all of >us in the media are… and yes, we depend on ratings, it’s our >measure of success, just like newspaper circulation, just as >sales measure the success of so many other businesses.
Yep, and…the media controls the music industry, by deciding what they will and won’t play, what they think their advertisers will like. The public only get to hear what passed through that bottleneck. that’s why people complain about the radio being bland and boring – it’s because only that kind of song gets through. you only get to hear about 1 percent of what’s released on the radio.!
>”The media” is not some headless beast trying to take over >the world,
no, but IF there was a headless beast trying to take over the world and they were a smart headless beast, they would use the media to spread lies and disinformation, in order to divide and then conquer…a la napoleon – hey it worked for years – the reason it works is because fear is so damn contagious.
ever played the game of risk? Sometimes i wonder if someone is playing risk with the world. One by one countries get made bankrupt and taken over…countries with resources buoying whole economies coincidentally have wars which they lose, and then the countries that needed the resources end up with them….
>narrow view point the media itself is too often accused of >having.
well, i’m afraid that….the news seems to be the focal point of the viewpoint du jour, and that always seems one-sided with a token ‘appeal for perspective’. I mean, perspective isn’t something we can take for granted any more –
so i’m always going to be one of those people who will ‘appeal for perspective’ – and take everything i read or hear or see on tellie with a grain of salt – and continue to read, ask questions, and THINK!
cheers-
miniGreat post Mini!!
The difficult part of what you say is that most people don’t WANT to believe that sort of stuff….thats why they get away with it.
Very few of my friends, and none of my family (with the exception of my wife) believe it, so it is not often discussed.
this is the part i like best about your post:
“take everything i read or hear or see on tellie with a grain of salt – and continue to read, ask questions, and THINK!”
Cheers[
]
Waynethanks wayne,
“The difficult part of what you say is that most people don’t WANT to believe that sort of stuff….”
yeah..i think a lot of people that would care don’t, simply because they don’t have TIME. the ‘rat race’ takes up all their time – they have their kids, their job, their house, their hobbies and clubs, their lives to worry about. they just want to come home, have dinner, watch the news and then maybe sex and the city or six feet under. anything more is just way too much thinking and work and hard and stuff.
‘the media’ makes it very easy for people to absorb the popular view and very difficult to have an opposing one. Remember how americans came down like a ton of bricks on anyone that was anti-war? Stars had their shows cancelled, were yelled at, called un-american, the whole bit. ‘
in their coverage of this, in effect, ‘The media’ was showing people what opinion they *should have* and what would happen to them if they thought the opposite.cheers-
miniHi again Mini,
I respect your posts and always enjoy reading them, but I cannot agree with you in this case. The government does not control the media. I can assure you that in the Melb newsroom of 9, we do not give a stuff about government agendas. Yes, government press secretaries always try and put their “spin” on things, but I’m stunned to think that you believe we just swallow it hook line and sinker. There are often stories on TV and in the paper critical of governments, be they budget blackholes that they have tried to cover up, or general policy blunders that might have been overlooked had it not been for a journo uncovering them.
By the way, the media is very different here than in the US… I was shocked myself to see the blind patriotism shown when I was there 12 months before Sept 11. Watching CNN and Fox after Sept 11, some of the angles taken in their stories were a disgrace. I’d love to believe that people “think” more when they’re listening to the radio, watching the telly or reading the paper, but it’s a fact that a lot of people just couldn’t be bothered, and will take whatever information they’re fed as being set in stone. That’s not the media’s fault. A lot of people are too busy simply trying to make ends meet and look after their families to be worried with the “bigger issues”… it’s a shame, but that’s the way it is…
I agree that things should be taken in perspective, and it’s a sign of a healthy society that things on telly or in print should be taken with a grain of salt. However, I think, in this case, that your views are a bit paranoid and that sweeping statements generalising the entire media (which is bloody big) are a little bit off the mark… we are not all unethical (some are) or liars (some are) or puppets of higher powers (again, some are). As I said, I just don’t like simplistic, sweeping generalisations of any sector, be they unemployed people, aboriginals, tenants, or, as is the case here, the media. Any area of life, especially the media is not black or white, there are lots of different shades of grey too.
That’s not to say you’re entirely wrong… we just have different opinions on the matter.
Cheers
rps (I’m just adding this after reading your earlier post mini, and as I alluded to before, what happens in the American media is a whole different discussion to what goes on in the Australian media, it’s like comparing apples with oranges… I’m defending the Oz media, or at least, some sections of it… as I said before, I have issues with the crap that ACA and TT cover)
hi again Richmond!!!
yeah i like your posts too!! and i also respect you as an intelligent person with whom i’m debating…hehe…
> The government does not control the media.
I didn’t say that??? but come to think about it, how does an Australian journalist get anything *other* than the US press release which arrives in time for the 6 o’clock news complete with pretty pictures? So they screen that.
“press secretaries always try and put their “spin” on things”
…they sure do, that much we agree,
“but I’m stunned to think that you believe we just swallow it hook line and sinker.”
i think there is a lot of swallowing going on, actually – not because people are stupid and gullible, but they are too busy to get any info from sources other than the tellie, most nights…
>There are often stories on TV and in the paper critical of >governments, be they budget blackholes that they have tried >to cover up, or general policy blunders that might have been >overlooked had it not been for a journo uncovering them.
totally. thank god. but notice the timing of those. by the time these journalists find out this stuff it is way after the event – months, years, decades! and it’s kinda too late.
>By the way, the media is very different here than in the US…
really?????!!!!! I don’t see much difference…i think it’s easier to see in another country than ones’ own.
>Aus is totally linked to the US.
ahm,,,, yeh…….>I was shocked myself to see the blind patriotism shown >when I was there 12 months before Sept 11. Watching CNN and Fox after Sept 11, some of the angles taken in their stories >were a disgrace. I’d love to believe that people “think” more >when they’re listening to the radio, watching the telly or >reading the paper, but it’s a fact that a lot of people just >couldn’t be bothered, and will take whatever information >they’re fed as being set in stone.
this is the bit where i totally agree with you and tried to say exactly the same thing before.
>That’s not the media’s fault.
aaaaaahhhhmmmmm. *clears throat*
I don’t GET how you can say that! Who’s fault is it then????>A lot of people are too busy simply trying to make ends meet >and look after their families to be worried with the “bigger >issues”.
yes……
“.. it’s a shame, but that’s the way it is…”
The biggest problem I have with your whole post is this sentence – to me, that’s a passive acceptance that we are powerless and there’s nothing we can do. But of course we can do stuff, absolutely, look at Erin Brockovitch types.
I think it’s brilliant that some people – investigative journalists included – possess the calling to go out on a limb and find stuff out for the enlightenment of everybody.“I agree that things should be taken in perspective, and it’s a sign of a healthy society that things on telly or in print should be taken with a grain of salt. “
OK, now we’re back to agreeint!!
>However, I think, in this case, that your views are a bit >paranoid
who me, paranoid? *looks over shoulder nervously*
no seriously – I don’t like live my life in fear or anything, however I KNOW – not just believe – that in various ways, world governments are wanting increasing knowledge about the actions of their people. Whether that is just so that ‘terrorists can be apprehended before they strike’ or whether that’s the ‘fear’ reasoning given so we’ll all go for it, i don;t know – but check out these stories –http://news.com.com/2010-1069-980325.html
and
http://news.com.com/2010-1071-979276.html?tag=nl
This isn’t conspiracy stuff, as far as i can tell, it’s just mainstream internet news.
>and that sweeping statements generalising the >entire media >(which is bloody big) are a little bit off the mark…
ok maybe I meant ‘the tellie’. ooops, that didn’;t make it any easier on you then, sorry…..
>we are not all unethical (some are) or liars (some are) or >puppets of higher powers (again, some are).
i agree. But I guess, I don’t like that it’s possible for even SOME to be puppets of higher power.
>As I said, I just don’t like simplistic, sweeping generalisations >of any sector,
no – me neither. but the trouble here is that because you are in the media yourself, in television, then you can differentiate between which channels, people, networks, programmes are good and which aren’t so good. whereas me, as a punter, doesn’t necessarily remember on which channel I saw the things I felt were totally biased and fear-mongering.
>That’s not to say you’re entirely wrong… we just have >different opinions on the matter.
i’m ok with that if you are!!
we partially agree then,,,,>I alluded to before, what happens in the American media is a >whole different discussion to what goes on in the Australian >media, it’s like comparing apples with oranges…
I really think that Australia is buddy buddies with the US these days and lines are blurring more and more.
> I’m defending >the Oz media, or at least, some sections of >it…
yes indeed – your section, i presume,,,,and that;s OK….
>as I said before, I have issues with the crap that ACA and TT >cover)
can you speak of some of these issues?
cheers-
MiniJust an addendum… I’m not sticking up for these shows, but I seem to remember that whenever ACA or TT ran a positive property investing story not so long ago, several around here clamoured to tune in… yet they run a negative one here and there, and suddenly they and the rest of the media cop flak… why is that? That little fact only just occurred to me… as I’ve said, I don’t rate either show very highly at all…
Cheers
rat the filming, you should have heard what they were trying to make Steve say, which he refused to say! if he would have said those words they tried to put in his mouth (you know, ‘sensational’ stuff etc – ) you’d bet that *those* were the soundbites they’d have used to promote the show….
Hi Mini,
“can you speak of some of these issues?”
Well, doing stories on things like killer washing detergent and how to make a million dollars in property in five minutes (but look out for those nasty tenant) type pieces are a start… current affairs? Give me a break…
Also, I know that producers on those shows do try and put words into people’s mouths, which is simply wrong. No further explanation needed.
“but I’m stunned to think that you believe we just swallow it hook line and sinker.”
by “we” in that sentence, I meant the media…
“but notice the timing of those. by the time these journalists find out this stuff it is way after the event – months, years, decades! and it’s kinda too late.” – just last week, a funding black hole came to light at the Royal Children’s Hospital down here in Melbourne that involved kids being turned away from getting treatment for cancer, because of a massive budget blow-out that the State Government was turning away from and refusing to do anything about… the weight of attention the story received and the pressure brought to bear resulted in $6 million emergency funding being released… if it wasn’t for the media, that would not have happened…
“passive acceptance that we are powerless”
my comment that “that’s a shame but it’s the way it is” or whatever it was, doesn’t mean that we are powerless, it means that some people are too busy just getting by in their day to day lives to take an in-depth interest in the whole gamut of issues that arise every day…
“but come to think about it, how does an Australian journalist get anything *other* than the US press release which arrives in time for the 6 o’clock news complete with pretty pictures? So they screen that.” – we have reporters in the States who piece together their reports from dozens of news feeds… one of our guys there, I’m not going to name him, seems to take the George Bush ra-ra line, while another is more objective… it’s a judgement on the journo’s behalf on what line to take… have you noticed the amount of stories being done on the fruitless search for WMD’s, the rising body count in Iraq of US soldiers, the increasing dissent in Washington about how they went to war on the basis of a pack of lies etc etc… it’s not all one-way traffic…
Anyway, I have to write some updates, so it’s back to spin-doctoring I go, with my evil plot for world domination… heheheheheh (evil laugh)
Cheers
rfor my 2 cents worth some of these programs do help out genuine battlers, but the majority of stories are “poor me” and its everyones fault but mine. Granted there are scam merchants out there and you have to be wary, but these scammers arent that smart. So the old adage applies, if it looks to good to be true then it probably is. Risk & return, there is no such thing as a few lunch yada yada yada
Steve
steveatfhog.com.au
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