Since Australia's "night of nights" — the Logie television awards — current affairs and news programs of various television stations have been crowing about their Logie award-winning formula and presentation.
It is precisely the formula nature of nearly all current affairs programs that makes for a slick presentation — often, however, with little substance.
While these programs examine the problems of society, the blame for the ills of the world is shown to rest with the unemployed, single mothers, small-time shonky business people and individual cases of welfare rorting.
These "news and analysis" programs well and truly fail to identify the real culprits — the owners of business empires and their mates in parliament who deliver policies designed for profit making, not in the interests of working people and their organisations.
Unlike the distorted, pro-government and business coverage, we at Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly pride ourselves on the news and analysis we present, looking deeply at issues both global and local.
We proudly admit that we cover a particular point of view, that of ordinary people, who remain largely unrepresented by the mass media's narrow voice. Although we have fewer pages than Murdoch and Packer's daily rags, our pages are not filled with advertising and other blather, but are bulging with meaty issues and alternative, insightful comment.
While commercial current affairs programs are trying to whip up a frenzy with hysterical claims about wharfies' wages, Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly points out that the reasonably good (but not excessive) conditions on the wharves have been brought about by years of militant struggle, and the strength of the union. By the way, how much is in Chris Corrigan's pay packet? His dirty hands are not the result of manual labour.
The role of Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly in getting out information about current struggles, and those of the past, is essential if ordinary people are going to empower themselves to fight back against the attacks being carried out by the federal government.
One role you can play is to keep up to date with the news in Â鶹´«Ã½ by subscribing to the paper, and by making a contribution to the Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly Fighting Fund, to continue the work that should be winning awards. Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly — it's your paper.