I hauled up in Cooroy just now, on the way back from a spot of shopping.
It’s where Noosa does country – rather well these days, when the shops are open – and a smart streetside café delivered coffee and a bite… and the Sydney Morning Herald.
And what a delight: The first time I’d caught Saturday’s paper since the switch to an all-tabloid product, it’s a visual and intellectual feast, well arranged and full of tightly-written content. Just the thing for someone who takes pride in his bullshit-filter and short attention span. And, I’d have thought, just the thing for this digital age.
I should explain: Up the road only a few kms at Cooran – where the GX office is – locals have to make do with a fare of News papers, the Australian and/or the Courier-Mail (we take both) and APN’s less satisfactory Sunshine Coast Daily, of which I find little need with the excellent biweekly Noosa News. The Fairfax metros don’t make it to the village, even by late morning, and my general store was surprised that it got to Cooroy.
A much-needed caffeine hit and an elegant brunch – the lady wife is in London at present – put me in the mood to appreciate the Herald package. At its best, Fairfax design has always trumped News and the Herald is an example of what a serious tabloid can be, of which Rupert (and Lachlan)’s Times and Sunday Times in London could take note.
Yes, I enjoy the Australian, much improved in recent years and tipped by GXpress for a Newspaper of the Year gong a year ahead of it achieving its most recent one; the Courier-Mail, I’ve said before, I wouldn’t now want in the house if we still had children at home.
But isn’t it time the Australian stopped airing its endless (ABC-like) obsession with Fairfax, and settled down to a pro-active promotion of the Australian press as a whole. Friday’s paper had me reaching for the chunder bucket as it went on and on about Lachlan’s grudging return to the line of succession, even including a leader on the subject; and that Herald line from The Godfather and Michael Corleone – “just when I thought I was out… they pull me back in” – clearly cut. Little mention of the Ten TV network and none of that embarrassing dance programme in which his wife featured.
News’ 7pm announcement was most likely a deliberate tease, but Herald readers would still have known about Lachlan Murdoch’s appointment on their mobiles before the Oz got it into print. Meanwhile, the lack of a delivery address – we collect papers from the village shop – still apparently means News is unable to package print and digital news for us... or apparently care.
And yes, it seems Paul Barry overstated losses from the print edition – Friday’s paper had all of five ads (one of then a five-by-two) plus public notices – but there is no denying the perceived political and media industry influence of Australia’s last remaining broadsheet comes at a cost… of which we suspect Rupert finds it worth every cent.
One criticism, and you’ve heard it before: While News envisages dropping local ads into copies of the (Melbourne) Herald-Sun digitally printed in Brisbane, shouldn’t Fairfax be exploiting its first-class content with a Queensland-tailored product based on the efforts of its Queensland news resources? Yes, I know News would give them hell, but some print competition in this one-voice town would be welcome. Not even the Saturday Paper – for what little it’s worth – gets this far north.
And the Oz and Courier-Mail? I might cancel.
Peter Coleman