Friday, January 16, 2009

A day to remember


Sticking out the heat in West Australia takes quite some tenacity, one punter who could only make it mid-summer was the editor of The West Australian, Paul Armstrong, who it seems could only be replaced by one of his peers, Brett McCarthy.
(PAUL ARMSTRONG - PIC COURTESY OF WA TODAY)




Though The West has weathered many storms over its 176 years, indicators are that it may still be some time yet to go before we see even remotely newsworthy pulp dumped on our front lawns.

Margaret Simons' analysis of Paul Armstrong's conundrum, is, as her work always is, perfection and virtually donated to the independent media outlet Crikey. This may be the reason why we don't see her articles in The West.(watch out for the imposing advert that will begin loading whether you like it or not, Crikey's new owners lerv advertising!)

Perhaps we may see in the years ahead, a gradual return of the excellent Perth journos who left as a result of Armstrong's... ahem... unique editorial style.

However much one disliked him, during Armstrong's uncompromising reign we saw the demise of a number of uber-schmoozy life-long Labor political careers that were founded in corruption and had cemented corrupt hierarchical networks in place in Perth, the most isolated city on the planet.

Perhaps if it were not for his radical biases, and his pig-headedness, these 'slippery little suckers' may have still been able to wriggle off the fourth estate hook - so do radical times call for radical measures?

During the time Armstrong was the editor, The West was disproportionally represented before the Australian Press Council over a dozen complaints. Not the least of these complaints was the irreparable branding of an Indigenous 9 year old child as an 'urban terrorist,' shouldering massive responsibility at home, who was photographed, named and shamed on the front page of the state's only daily paper for his anti-social behaviour.

Let's hope that the last 6 years, the slaps over the wrist from Uncle APC, & his sacking, may have taught Armstrong - a resources and finance journo, the impact of poverty and social exclusion on one little person's life. But, after earning almost half a million dollars every year for the last 6 years, it would probably be safe to assume that his feet won't be touching the ground anytime soon.