In his letter to Media Watch, Mr Southwell mentions that seven stockbrokers were contacted about Gunns and five of them thought it was a “buy”.  This is in response to the CommSec report, which Media Watch used as a central example of its argument last night.

Forgive me if I’m wrong, but the CommSec was not about the financial viability of Gunns Ltd, the public company.  It articulated the financial pressures, as likely to be felt through the stock market, that might emanate from this company if the pulp mill is approved and Gunns goes ahead with it (which of course it will, if all the hoops are safely navigated).

This is why The Examiner should have acquainted its readers with the report’s details before allowing Gunns Ltd a free kick.  “Trust us to tell you what’s in this report; you don’t need to bother yourself with it…”

This is simply not a good look for the paper and Mr Southwell can protest all he likes.  Anyone would think this is an isolated incident from the Paterson St Press.

Roll on, Senator Coonan’s media reforms; give us some choice. Please.

Had a good belly laugh at the examiners “Its all a green conspiracy” defence to mediawatch questions in the Sunday Examiner.

And this was a day after the Saturday Examiner headlined the Gunns Pulp Mill IIS and also happened to include a glossy Gunns advertising insert a “mini IIS” that could have given the ignorant the impression that this is the world’s greenist pulp mill. Good timing though!

This is the same paper that on sunday gave a fairly glowing movie review to Kokoda and then in the last paragraph tells its readers that the movie has finished its run in Launceston. Not the first time the examiner has reviewed something that has finished. A joke of a newspaper.

Well, The Examiner has to do something to repay the Tasmanian Government for providing a host of transcripts to use against Wes Young in his Industrial Relations Commission hearing last year.

Transcript documents usually cost about $30 per broadcast minute, so their provision saved The Examiner hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.  Shame the lawyers acting for The Examiner forgot to remove the Tasmanian Government logo before bringing out said transcripts in the IRC hearing.

THE EXAMINER SHOULD BE RENAMED GUNNS WEEKLY AFTER THE HUGE LIFT OUT SECTION ON THE PULP MILL LAST WEEK.CRUD,BEACONSFIELD.

Quite frankly, I am surprised anyone takes the northern newspapers seriously. Last time I looked at the Examiner it seemed all about social events and parties, all about the stange bourgeoisie set of Launceston. I may be a southern snob myself, but I wouldn’t be looking at any provincial newspaper for quality news and commentary. Although, I must say that the Mercury has been giving the local politicians a deserved hiding in recent times. They certainly went after Bryan Green in a concerted, and I think appropriate, way. And the editorials have been of a fairly high quality of late.

Sorry, Cameron, but the Coonan reforms won’t change a thing in Northern Tas.

We shall only get more choice in print media if someone invests in a rival newspaper, and I can’t see that happening.

Does anybody remember what happened to the last person who seriously tried to crack the Ex-animate’s monopoly?  Very nasty indeed. 

That, of course, was back in the bad old Rouse days.  It couldn’t happen now, could it?

I know, JB, I know.  Purely wishful thinking on my part. But these are desperate.

Perhaps News Limited will buy Rural Press out one of these days.  I know that that will barely constitute an improvement…

To its credit, the Ex ran a story on the ‘deal? what deal?’ between Gunns Ltd and Forestry Tas, that suggested that the price Gunns pays for forestry resources to lock up pulp mill supply might not exactly be competitive.  It even appeared near the front half of the news section. I wouldn’t be so cynical as to think that anything has changed since Monday night….

(And this is the deal which won’t additionally intensify forestry practices, according to Mr Gay in Saturday’s eight-page IIS-lite.  Nope, nothing wrong there.)

On it goes.