Some background for all our readers who don’t obsessively follow all the sparks of outrage constantly exploding in the twitterverse:

James Massola an online reporter for The Australian, outed anonymous political blogger Grog’s Gamut as Greg Jericho — a public servant working in the film area of the Office for the Arts of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Twitter and the blogsphere went off like a frog in a sock full of wasps. Blog posts sprouted all over the internet and The Australian followed up with self-justifying/aggrandizing pieces by Massola (who has only been at the Oz for six months) and others.

Truthfully though, it was only a matter of time until Grog was outed. He became either the hero of the internet or public enemy no 1 (depending which side of the divide beween journalist and blogger you sit)  last month after he wrote a scathing post about the mainstream media’s performance during the election. It was mordacious assessment, all the more resented by the media because it was true. The Oz earned itself specific mention in the post:

“Take for example The Oz’s recent coverage of the Auditor General’s report on the Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program. They screamed “rorts!!!!” Though their argument lacked any logic or intelligence. You see it is not enough when analysing such things just to read the executive summary and re-write what you see there – or even what you will find on page 35. You actually need to pause and think it all through. To see how it is done – go over to Possum at Crikey – it is brilliant work.”

As Tom Cowie said on Crikey, “From the outside it appears as though the paper’s editors have used one of their green reporters to incite a debate — worthy or not — and then sat back and hung him out to dry as they feed off the fury. Bravo, Holt Street.”

Whether you care about the outing of a blogger or not, the deteriorating standards at our national broadsheet is something we should be concerned about. Politicians and the media feed off each other, when they’re feeding each other horseshit laced with laxatives the whole nation get the runs.

As for the blogger himself, well, in his own words “I guess the lesson here is if you want to blog anonymously, don’t do it effectively”.

And now, to the actual article by Black Dog

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I’ve been trying to get this post out for nigh on a fortnight now. It hasn’t been easy, and not just because I’m incredibly lazy. What has made it practically impossible is that every time I start a fresh draft someone on the intermess says part or most of what I intended to say – and generally with an eloquence which is well beyond the fumbling grasp of this humble and utterly amateur scribe.

The Australian has been waging war on Labor for some time. Everybody knows this. Well beyond the honourable journalistic endeavour of holding government to account, the Oz took editorial affront at the existence of Kevin Rudd and his attempted management of the media. It is to the eternal shame of the Labor party that its members scurried like cockroaches under a false light to do the bidding of a marginally relevant broadsheet’s will. The people let out a collective cry of WTF, and punished both major parties at the polls. The result? Possibly the most democratic lower house we’ve ever had. Certainly in my lifetime. The Oz should be happy, right? Hell no.

We, the people are wrong. We have been judged so by the sole voice of reason, as it will undoubtedly inform us once it’s through with its blog war with Grog. That most of the Oz comment condemning Grog has been anonymous is something small folk like me are not meant to understand. A fool would consider it blatant hypocrisy. The Oz knows better than that. It has told you. Anonymously.

Likewise we have been told that anyone who voted for the Greens (like I and another 14% of voters did) is an enemy of democracy. My vote is invalid and I am an idiot for having wasted it. Fortunately the Oz is there to save me by pointing out my errors, and doing everything possible to correct my folly and installing the government I would have wanted if I’d been paying attention.

Enough. Jonathon Green struck a chord with me when he posted a picture of ‘Zulu’ to describe the war we’re facing. He didn’t go far enough. We are at war, and the redcoats are a great pictorial description of The Oz. We’re not savages, however. This fight only came about because we are smarter than those who would seek to remind us of our place.

I consistently hear ‘don’t read what they write’ posts. I completely disagree. Read them. Note the advertising. Write to the advertiser and tell them that you think The Oz is against democracy, and you are withdrawing your custom, then actually do it. The Oz is waging war against us. It is time to fight back.

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