Falling Off The Media Cycle

I was amused by Christian Kerr's article at Crikey about Kim Beazley's apparent obliviousness to the Michelle Leslie case. This now-notorious lapse occurred during the same Leon Byner I blogged the other day and I meant to note it, but I must admit I actually couldn't believe my ears. Does the man not own a TV? A newspaper? Eyes? Ears? Does he actively avoid the news?

Kerr contrasts this to the Prime Minister's own personal `media cycle' (the newspapers, AM on the walkman during the morning trot, Lateline with Janette in the evening (so you can listen but you can't give Richard Alston a boot up the bum for slagging them ...), and also makes reference to his own media cycle ... I had to have a chuckle. He's a media tragic, just like me ... right down to Tony Delroy's ABC 702 segment `What The Papers Are Saying at about 11:30pm each night.

If I was Kim Beazley's (Sydney based) media advisor, I'd probably give him the following list to be followed each day.

6:00-7:00 - Wake up. Listen to Early AM over breakfast. Browse the headlines of Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, The Age and News.com.au at a minimum.
8:00-8:30 - AM on ABC 702
8:50-9:00 - (Fridays only) Mike Carlton's Friday News Review on 2UE (actually ... Beez might not be too keen on that but the rest of you readers might get a kick out of it ... John Howard's diary is also a laugh)
9:30-9:45 - Barrie Cassidy segment with Virginia Trioli on ABC 702.
12:10-13:00 - The World Today, ABC 702 (or Radio National if you prefer).
13:00-17:00 - A random sampling of the afternoon's radio Drive shows - perhaps the last hour of Steve Price on 2UE depending how cranky he is and what his Talking Point is; Richard Glover's State Politics report on 702 at about 4:45pm ... (I know 2GB has been conspicuously absent so far, but it's important to keep up with what Alan Jones is saying just to know what you're up against and occasionally get a big surprise - such as finding the phone number for asylum seeker advocate Marion Le on Jonesy's website. Fortunately, he now podcasts ...)
17:00-18:00 - As much of the Channel 10 news as can decently be borne (I'm only doing this because Beez would have to know who Michelle Leslie is and who won Australian Idol and so forth.
18:00-19:00 - An hour's respite or PM
19:00-19:30 - ABC TV News
19:00-19:30 - The 7.30 Report if you can stand the strain
22:30-23:15 - Lateline (a must)
23:30-00:00 - The aforementioned Tony Delroy's What The Papers Are Saying.

And then to bed with a head full of issues and a mind full of fight. There, that wasn't hard! I do it every day!