We saw yet another excellent example of linkbait in this brilliantly ambiguous headline "Labor Shredding its Secrets",  that appeared last weekend in one of the unsatisfactory publications that passes for a journal of record in Sydney.

The ability to know that a headline will draw in both the informed and uninformed - but will elicit the biggest reaction from the uninformed - is a key skill of the Tele’s editorial staff, who all appear to have trained as the hucksters at the door of a carnival.

The great malaise of the uninformed is to be uninformed and most of the news media seem to assume that their readers are the uninformed who’s raison d'être is to wallow in bewildered outrage over any perceived breaking of laws or general evil behaviour.

Those who read beyond the headline still need their kindling dried out by one or two tinder filled paragraphs, and our alleged journalist Linda Silmalis, really strikes some matches in the initial paragraphs of this particular example. She describes "politically sensitive documents being destroyed" so as to leave "no damaging traces" and how "crash courses on how to destroy documents" have been given with "offices…upturned in a frenzy". Stirring stuff, just enough of a whiff of illegality, without deliberately calling out any specific criminal behaviour.

Now I'm not an expert in record keeping, but I'm pretty sure the reference later in the article to "NSW State Records report into document destruction obtained" probably referred to the disposal guidelines in the Government record keeping manual as defined by the State Records Act 1998*  . Ironically available for me, or any other hack, to discover thanks to the “Gov 2.0” policies pursued by the previous Labor Government** being sorely chastised.

Now I'm not writing this in defence of the alleged actions of the NSW Labor Party. If they are engaged in actions which breach the Act, then they need to be investigated. But I don't think shoddy journalism, which refers to locked wheelie bins being used “to cart away shredded reports, facsimiles, briefing notes, copies of emails and other potentially incriminating material”, does anything but tell us that records not required to be retained by the Act are being destroyed in order to make room for whomever we are next voting into the plush offices of Governor Macquarie Tower.

My experiences tell me that is fairly standard procedure for any normal business in the event of a move of office, the termination of staff or even its shuttering. Presenting it as “news interest” makes no sense when it’s full of as much spin and nonsense as everything Keneally and her predecessors have been serving us for the past 10 years.

It's clear the publisher of the article under review have, for some time, had a strategy of setting fires under the flawed administration in this State. It beggars belief that they think exaggerated rubbish like this is still required to fan the flames of the popular revolt at the March 26th Election.

Perhaps they are just as uninformed as they assume a large portion of their readers to be. They say it takes one to know one after all.

* For those of you who breathlessly shared the worthless article, I recommend visiting State Records site. It includes easy to access and eminently searchable information on what can and can't be disposed of Governments and all publicly accountable agencies.

** thankfully we can finally say "previous" (4 years too late) now we are in "caretaker mode".

Gavin Costello is a writer, blogger, tweeter and future Bon Vivant (pending approval by Bon Viveur society of Planet Earth, otherwise known as the Mortgage and the Wife). Read his blog here and follow him on twitter here

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