News organizations have a close relationship with politicians and power. There are unspoken rules of what can be covered and what cannot. Those that don't adhere to the rules get ostracized, and sometimes replaced blatantly with reporters like Jeff Gannon who are there purely for throwing softballs.
Others news outlets are obviously part of the political scuffle, such as Fox News, and the op-ed writers, like Robert Novak, who meet each Wednesday with political operators and thinktanks to ensure the whole political vehicle is on message.
There is an expectation that the punk news outlets will not be 'on the drip' and Crikey has made its name selling itself in that way.
Gary Sauer-Thompson has an interesting comment on the Nelson-Turnball scuffle for leadership which is being played out in public:
Nelson's office certainly had no interest in leaking the email, and Crikey understands there has been no third-party access to the email at Nelson's end. That leaves Turnbull and his office as the only credible source. And so it goes it. It reads as if it were written by Nelson's office.It is so anti-Turnbull. Crikey's on the drip feed. Sad to see.There is probably a half-life for any punk news outlet that gathers an audience before it intertwines itself that way with power.
