Australian media looks to philanthropists
September 3rd, 2010
Sleeves rolled up, a hardened look in his eye, he says, “Some people deserve to die”.
Perhaps it was his time in the prison system. It’s obvious he’s seen it all. And not just seen it. Noted it, scrutinised it, sniffed it, and if it wasn’t clear the first time, revisited it and fossicked through the remnants, just to make sure he didn’t miss something.
Gary Tippet is from the old school of journalism. A seasoned features writer, who this week honored us with his presence in Reporting 101 at Monash University.
The lesson: journalism is about storytelling.
The message: suck in everything, learn the lingo of your subjects, use pause and rhythm to lure your reader in. But never forget, at the end of the day it’s about getting to the truth.
And the truth is, Gordon Kerr, murdered by a man he repeatedly raped as a child, probably did have it coming.
Tippet’s story about a child abuse victim that went on to kill his tormentor is repulsive content, told beautifully. It earned Tippett a Walkley, and was eventually made into a documentary. Tippet now sits on the board of the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma – an organisation that acts an advocate for journalists that cover violence.
Stories like these have impact. The problem is, Tippet says, the market for them is drying up.
It’s an issue that was discussed widely at this week’s New News conference. Who will pay for long-form journalism, now that the magazine and newspaper markets have dried up?
Tippet is hopeful demand will remain for weighty, honest journalism that takes readers to a place and guides them through it in an analytical and detailed way. He says newspapers might emerge from the current reign of confusion in a better place than they were before.
But if they don’t, Margaret Simons and the rest of the journalists behind the Public Interest Journalism Foundation are working hard to deliver some alternatives.
Simons told the New News conference audience it’s time to take an optimistic view of the changing media landscape. The PIJF hopes to build a sense of optimism within mainstream media, the public and journalists. Rather than treat the impact of new technology on journalism as a universally bad thing, Simons says we should embrace the opportunites it delivers.
The latest launch for the PIJF mirrors US community funded journalism initiative spot.us. YouCommNews allows the public to commission and pay for stories, which YouCommNews then distributes to news organisations.
It’s an honourable idea. Anyone that is a fan of ProPublica will understand the impact philanthropy can have on journalism. Bill Birnbauer, a member of the Public Interest Journalism Committee behind YouCommNews, asks “Are there any mini –Herbert Sandlers in Australia?”.
Now that YouCommNews is on the scene, it’s just a matter of time before we find out.
P.S. You can blame Bill Birnbauer (my lecturer at Monash Uni) for the soft intro to this post. He threw a pop quiz on us this Monday – we had to write five pars in feature story style about guest speaker Gary Tippet. We were given 10 minutes.
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