What is it about Journalism??

Recently, a car-oriented site here in Australia ran a survey of drivers to find out the best and worst parts of driving in this country. A very worthwhile task indeed.

In my opinion, this would have to be the ONLY time in recent memory where a journalist has written anything resembling the factual state of the roads. It seems that editors deem that someone who has a drivers licence is qualified to write ABOUT cars and the state of the roads.

The results of the survey were published and everything was great until it came to the usual "Tell Us What You Think" segment. I have been sucked in by this before and I refuse to be sucked in again - especially considering that some clown thinks that he can edit the opinion of someone and retain, in full, what that person was saying.

I did respond, but this is what they got:
What is the point in commenting on the situation about the survey? I am very experienced on the subject of traffic legalities and how to fix the problems, but some junior-league wannabe-editor hacks to pieces everything I write.
Typical Australian journalism at work: sensationalize without knowing the facts!

The thing is that I DO know the subject I am writing about - moreso than the fools at Monash University with endless government grants who claim to test ideas and practices and come up with solutions. Truth be known, they are typical academics with no real-world knowledge.

Anyway - this blog is about journalists who think they know better than their readers and show their contempt by rewriting and editing the letters and comments, most likely to change the tone to suit their own political bias.

Like a good friend told me a few years ago: The only good journalist is one who no longer works for a newspaper (or TV). Funny thing is that he himself was a journalist for many years and knows the industry far better than I will ever want to.