About

Glen - Breakfast Host

I mentioned the New York Times yesterday. Continuing the media theme…

A study this week said public trust in the US media is eroding and increasing numbers of Americans believe news coverage is inaccurate and biased.

Just 29 per cent of the 1506 adults surveyed by the Pew Research Centre for the People and the Press in July said news organisations generally get the facts straight.

Sixty-three percent said news stories are often inaccurate and that’s up from 34 percent from a similar survey more than 20 years ago.

Sixty percent said the press is biased - up from 34 percent in 1985.

I hasten to add most respondents were referring to TV and newspapers - not that trusted source - radio.

Meanwhile, the International Press Institute says it is ’shocked” that Spanish prosecutors have demanded that a journalist be slapped with a three-year jail term for allegedly revealing state secrets.

Apparently, Antonio Rubio of the El Mundo newspaper wrote an article that contained lengthy excerpts from internal memos that were leaked from Spain’s anti-terror unit dealing with warnings given to Spanish authorities three years before the Madrid train bombings in 2004. Sensitive stuff obviously.

Today’s wire story :

Paul McCartney topped a poll of Americans’ favorite Beatles, but nearly a quarter of those surveyed said they didn’t like the British rock group.

And 3 percent of the 4,837 American adults questioned in the survey said they didn’t know the Fab Four’s music well enough to make a decision.

Nearly 30 percent of Americans questioned in the poll selected McCartney, compared to 16 percent who chose John Lennon, 10 percent for George Harrison and 9 percent for Ringo Starr.

“Americans over 30 and those over 65 love Paul,” said John Zogby, the CEO of Zogby International which conducted the survey.

“It must be the crazy love songs and ‘Yesterday’. Interestingly, John is the main answer for people who never go to church,” he added.

Most of those who were not familiar with the Fab Four’s music were 70 or older.
The Beatles, arguably the most successful band ever, are enjoying a resurgence in sales as fans scramble for the group’s digitally remastered reissues.

The Beatles sold 626,000 albums during the week ended Sept. 13, according to tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan, nearly as much as their total, until last week, for this year.

“Abbey Road” and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” were among the best sellers.

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Mark - Breakfast EP

Scott Wales had a particular spring in his step when he breezed into the ABC NewsRadio office yesterday.

When I turned a raised eyebrow in his direction, he was quick to explain.

“First Group One race of the Spring Racing Carnival this Saturday!” my equine-mad colleague offered.

Officially Australia’s premier race-fest doesn’t begin until the 30th of September, but this weekend’s 1800 metre Underwood Stakes at Caulfield is the ultimate curtain raiser, featuring two Melbourne Cup Winners (Viewed, Efficient), a Caulfield Cup winner (Master O’Reilly) , and a mouth-watering array of current top performers, including Whobegotyou, Heart of Dreams, Vigor, Typhoon Tracy, Predatory Pricer and Scenic Shot.

No wonder Scott’s grinning from ear-to-ear.

You can be sure he and Debbie Spillane will dissect that race to bits this Sunday on Weekend Half-Time at 10am AEST on ABC NewsRadio.

But until Tuesday afternoon, there was a big cloud hanging over the Spring Racing Carnival, with jockeys threatening more industrial action unless the complicated rules governing the use of the whip in the final stages of a race were eased.

Under a deal hammered out between the Australian Jockeys Association and the body which regulates the rules of racing — the Australian Racing Board — jockeys can now use their discretion to strike their charges up to seven times consecutively in the final 100 metres to the post.

Jockeys and trainers insist the padded whips used don’t actually hurt, but serve as an important reminder to well-trained horses to stay focused in the crucial last seconds of a race.

Good then, issue solved…..

Except it’s not that simple, according to the CEO of Thoroughbred Breeders Australia, Peter McGauran.

The former Federal Agriculture Minister (whose long love-affair with horses and punting began when he was a boarder at Caulfield Grammar School and spent far too much time at the nearby racecourse) points out that there are still major racing integrity issues.

“What happens to the losing horse, particularly if its a narrow margin, whereby the winning rider exceeded the set limit of seven strikes…perhaps eight…nine…but the losing rider adhered to the rules of racing and only struck the horse seven times?” he told ABC NewsRadio.

As Peter McGauran points out, the stewards can take sanctions — including fines and suspension — against naughty jockeys who won with one or two too many strikes of the whip….but under the current rules….THE RACE RESULT STILL STANDS.

And as someone who doesn’t mind the occasional flutter (Editor’s Note: this is an understatement) — only to often see his favoured neddy beaten by a short half-head on the line - I reckon that’s a real problem.

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By the way, if you’re wondering why we suddenly had to cross to the BBC at 8:16am AEST this morning, that was because the fire alarms started going off and a breathless security guard appeared telling us we had to evacuate the building…because - get this - there was a fire in the Fire Control Room.

The emergency was over in 10 minutes or so…just as well, because Glen was still trying to get out of the building….only to find the door he usually uses was locked.

Luckily the fire didn’t spread - don’t fancy working with singed presenter….

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Debbie - Sport

Got this message a short while ago from a mad Everton fan, who also happens to be the media manager for Gold Coast United in the A-League

Hi Debbie,
Woke up as usual to your dulcet tones this morning and listened in on the way to work also…. not sure if your listeners have got the message about Arsenal coming back from the abyss and nailing a win with two late goals - maybe you need to run that throughout the day to drive the message home!!
Almost an Arsenal catastrophe!
Cheers,
Neil

(OK, I will admit to giving Neil a tough time about Everton’s start to the season.)
Diplomatic relations are being maintained between NewsRadio and Gold Coast United though.

Their coach, Miron Bleiberg will be one of our guests on Weekend Half Time on Sunday morning.