Completely Biased

Friday, September 10, 2004

Election 2004 | Day 12 | Mass Debating (har de har)

I checked the 60 Minutes website after seeing the Channel 9 ad for The Debate (well, after the footy ended anyway - Craig Gower is SO COOL):
In a special edition of 60 Minutes... the great debate between Prime Minister John Howard and Opposition Leader Mark Latham, live on Sunday night at 7.30pm. The commercial-free debate will feature questioning of the leaders from a panel of five senior political correspondents and journalists representing television, radio and print media. It will be followed immediately by an analysis of the debate featuring the movements and verdict of Nine's "Worm", the on-screen graphical display of the views of 90 uncommitted voters, judging the debate live from a separate studio at Nine. The journalists selected for the debate panel represented the cream of the nation's political journalism and commentary: Laurie Oakes (Nine Network), Michelle Grattan (Fairfax), Jim Middleton (ABC), Neil Mitchell (Radio 3AW) and Malcolm Farr (News Limited).

Okay!

The 11th Commandment was:
There will be no "worm" or broadcasting of an audience response.

What I think that means is that the worm is not to be used during the debate. So 9 have done some dodgy loophole finding, and are measuring audience responses during the debate, but not broadcasting them until the end of it, where they'll no doubt do a recap and highlights reel.

Does anyone know where each of these journalists stands with regards to bias?