Internship

Nearing the end of my studies, I have been looking into what the market has to offer.  It seems like competition is going to be tough.  The criteria set by many prospective employers are various and demanding.  However, I am up for the challenge.  Almost everybody wants 3 to 5 years of experience.  Although that might be a difficult hurdle to overcome, I am still confident that somebody would value my particular set of skills.  However, the next "requirement" is the one that totally takes the wind out of my sails, every time :

Please note that this position is an unpaid internship.

I discussed this issue with some of my (younger) classmates and even tutors.  The consensus was that it is simply expected in today's marketplace and a quick search on the net provided a range of articles highlighting the benefits of unpaid internship. However, this trend still does not sit well with me.

Why unpaid internship is not such a good idea

  You have accumulated a massive financial debt in acquiring the knowledge needed to perform a certain
job.  In my eyes taking on a position like this is short selling yourself, your potential and your degree.  Some argue that this time is valuable for you to learn how an office operate.  Guess what?  If you are hardworking and clever enough to earn a degree, you will be able to grasp that in no time.

  No employee at a fast food chain or an apprentice is expected to work for free, why should graduates?  These positions require you to attend meetings and operate in a professional environment.  Surely you would have to adhere to a certain dress code and use transport to get to and from work.  How is an unpaid worker suppose to afford it?

 

The fact is that in most cases it is NOT experience that is on offer, but exploitation.  Know your rights! 

 Unpaid internship is actually illegal in Australia.  

University of Adelaide professor of law Andrew Stewart is one of the authors of a report released by Fair Work on this issue.  He summarizes the issue as follows:

"It's clear from the Fair Work Act that if you are doing work experience as part of an authorised educational training course, then that's perfectly OK.  Outside that, if you've got a pretty firm agreement with your employer and it doesn't have to be in writing to come into work and to get something in return and that might be just experience or being able to add to your resume, your CV, that is capable at law of amounting to an employment contract, [you] therefore should be paid at least the minimum wage."

Where to start when you need to write a speech

As communication professional it will be expected of you to write a speech from time to time.  Speeches are great tools to put a personal face on an organisation.  Your message will be delivered in a more persuasive way than through advertising.  It is also an effective way to build up the organisation's profile.

However, as anybody who has suffered through a bad speech will tell you, words alone won't cut it.  In order to make a speech effective, you as writer must take into account the speaker's demeanour, dress, body language, formality of the event and the support materials.

Research

Before you even contemplate writing a speech, do your homework.  Find out what the purpose of this speech is - entertainment, motivation, crisis management?  You also need to know the education level and likely attitude of the audience towards the topic.  In addition, you will need to research the organisation's previous stance on the topic.  Consistency aids credibility.  Lastly, you need to focus on the speaker.  What is the speaker's style?  Would long or short sentences suit this speaker?  

Now write the speech

A good speech consists of an introduction, a body and a conclusion.  The speaker needs to grab the audience's attention during the introduction by hinting what they will gain by listening to his speech.  The body of the speech contains the arguments.  It will be worthwhile to provide the occasional glimpse of the structure of the speech.  Conclude by summarizing and providing a clear call to action.

 

You cannot control social media

Almost every marketer and media person out there recommend that businesses should engage with their public on social media.  We find ourselves engaged in a new game on a new field with new rules.  There has been a definite power shift towards to the consumer.  Just being represented on the various social media is no longer acceptable.  Oh no, the modern consumer demands meaningful interaction, transparency, news about products without the hard sell techniques, choices ... in short, value.

Social media campaigns can change destinies when successful, however, they can also cause immense damage to companies.  The most important fact to remember is that social cannot be controlled.  You certainly need to monitor and react swiftly when things go wrong.  But, customers have their own view and are definitely not afraid to voice it.

Planning a social media campaign carefully is therefore of the utmost importance.  You really need to think outside the box to anticipate all possible reactions.  Let's look for example at JPMorgan's failed Twitter PR stunt.

JPMorgan announced with great fanfare that Jimmy Lee, the company's vice chairman, would answer questions.  Very quickly the company's Twitter account was flooded with sarcastic questions clearly showcasing displeasure with the company on a very big scale.  Unable to rectify the situation, JPMorgan canceled the conversation.

It is almost impossible to believe that the company could be so naive and clueless about public sentiment towards it.  The company has reached a $13 billion settlement with the Department of Justice for bundling up and selling toxic mortgages to unsuspecting investors.

Where do you draw the line?

The Sydney Morning Herald reported this morning that Facebook has lifted its temporary ban on content featuring graphic violence.  You will now be able to view decapitation videos on Facebook.

How do they justify this?
You will be able to post videos or pictures depicting graphic violence as long as you condemn these acts rather than celebrate them.  I am somewhat torn in two about this.  On the one hand I believe that we should not shelter ourselves from violence and acts against humanity that occur worldwide.  If we are not confronted by these brutal images, we cannot fully grasp the impact.  It is as if we have read about it in a book, it simply is not real.

Yet, I wonder: how does viewing these images affect us?   As adults we assume that we will be able to handle it, but it seems that that notion is wrong.

According to a recent study published in Psychological Science, by UC Irvine, frequent exposure to violent images from the Iraq War and the September 11th attacks increases the risk of psychological and physical ailments in U.S. adults

So if we are struggling, what about our children?  I know some people will respond immediately that children are not suppose to be on Facebook.  You have to be older than 13 to legally be on Facebook.

But guess what?  13+ is still very much a child!  Where do we draw the line?  How much exposure is needed to bring home the message?  What are the results that these images aim to achieve?  Shock, outrage, revenge?  How will you know whether viewers condemn or celebrate these images?  What about the dignity of the deceased person, aren't we just continuing to exploit this person's pain/humiliation?

Clearly I have more questions than answers/opinions.  However, there is one little thing that is really bugging me:  if it is acceptable to show decapitation, then surely it must be OK to show women breastfeeding?  Why is a female's nipple deemed inappropriate and offensive (not the case when it belongs to a male), but the depiction of violence is acceptable (as long as you condemn it of course).

Seriously Facebook, this logic simply does not add up.

Why are we so obsessed with numbers?

Social media revolves around interaction and this interaction is displayed rather deceptively through  numbers.  There are plenty of Facebook pages with an astounding number of likes, yet with very little interaction.

Is there any advantage in obtaining 'likes'?

Absolutely!  Likes will get your brand to the top of search engines and thus increase your online visibility. The amount of likes also increases your online credibility.  People are more likely to follow, like or listen to you when you have an impressive number of fans already.

However, according to Brian Moran (get10000fans.com/facebook ) you should not invest too much of your time worrying about fans.  Brian states that fans don't buy from you, customers do.  He points out that people often say that Facebook is useless for businesses because they focus only on creating fans.  We get so caught up in the frenzy of trying to increase the number of likes on our pages, that we forget the number one rule in business.

The number one rule in business is to attract paying customers.

Facebook is merely the first step in a process.  A very important step, but not the end goal.  People have already shown some kind of trust in your business by liking it.  For you to turn these fans into customers, you need to engage with them outside of Facebook.  Do yourself a favour and allow Scott from get10000fans to adjust your focus :-

 

Money or exposure?

What are your skills worth?  The answer to this question very much depends on whom you ask.  Looking at the cost of tertiary education you would certainly place a very high value on education and skill.  However, when you look at a new trend in the workplace, it seems that education, skills and experience have lost their monetary value.

I am referring to the alarming rate of jobs being advertised with no (yes NO) form of remuneration.  What I find utterly ridiculous though is that these arrogant companies have a long list of requirements for the "successful" candidate in terms of experience and education.

It is often encountered when you try to break into a new industry.  You might be expected to work for an extended amount of time in order for the employer to see if you are a good fit or for you to get to know the business.  Well maybe I have just reached that certain age where I am no longer bedazzled by big words and fancy promises, but in my book this is just plain wrong.  If my skills are deemed good enough to do actual work, I need to be paid in actual dollars.

Media Watch exposed that professional photographers are facing this very same problem.  Tennis Australia tried to lure experienced photographers to cover a tournament in Melbourne as volunteers.

A key requirement of this role is that you own your own camera and equipment and have a portfolio of work, especially action shots that can be submitted with your application.
— seek.com.au, 6th September, 2013

So what would this photographer using his/her own equipment, skills and time get by committing?  Well exposure of course!

This seems to be new buzz word - you work for free in order to gain valuable exposure.  It is a well known fact that media is struggling to come to terms with all the changes caused by technology.  However, expecting professionals to work for free or sourcing information and pictures from bystanders are surely not the answer.

Social Media already provides us with all the exposure we desire, what we need is for our work to be acknowledged, valued and paid for.  If you feel as strongly as I do about this, please show your support by joining https://www.facebook.com/fairgoforphotographers

Who's really to blame?

When Woolworths launched their Aussie Animal cards, I reacted like a typical teenager - rolled my eyes and smirked.  Surely a lame old fashioned campaign like this would never work!  Haven't they done their market research?  Kids are simply not interested in anything that it is not digitized.

Boy was I wrong!  This campaign turned out to be a resounding success.  It captured the attention of Aussie kids in a big way.  For starters, the timing was perfect:  it started just before all the sporting grand finals and peaked during the holidays.

Another factor contributing to the success was the "Swap Days" organized by Woolworths.  Children were encouraged to come into the shopping centres to swap around cards with other interested children.

The third stroke of genius was the albums that could be bought to store the cards.  These albums not only housed the cards, but also provided various activities for the kids.  Unfortunately one of these activities brought the whole campaign in disarray for some parents.


A swearword was hiding in a find-a-word game and low and behold quite a few of the children found it.  Some parents were outraged that Woolworths did not pick this up during the proofreading process. 

My take on the situation is that these games are randomly generated and at most you would ensure that all the words you ask the child to find are actually present.  What bothers me more is that a seven year old child actually knows how to spell the swearword!  Should we really be blaming Woolworths or should we be pointing the finger of blame closer to home?


Alternatively we could have a quiet chuckle and know that stuff-ups happen to the best laid out plans of mice and men . . .

Because size really does matter!

It must be plainly obvious by now that I have a thing for advertising and public relations.  Some people collect stamps, others teaspoons and I collect ad campaigns!

So as I was browsing some sites earlier this morning, image my intense delight in coming across this jewel in Business Insider:

Submarine Rises Through Milan's Pavement In Ridiculous Publicity Stunt

 

Picture:  @MediasetTgcom24

Firstly let me put your minds at ease - no actual damage was done.  The campaign called "Protect your Life" is run for Europ Assistance IT, an insurance group based in Italy.  A group of people created the scene very early in the morning - fake submarine and all - and waited for the public to arrive and start spreading the news.

It is a great example of buzz marketing.  Everybody took photos and were on social media in a flash.  In this way the campaign's reach spread far beyond national borders.  It is memorable due to the shock value, but also the connection between protecting your city/country against an invasion and taking out insurance to protect your life.

What do you think - brilliant PR stunt or did they go too far?

Personal Selling

"A salesman is somebody who sells goods that won't come back, to customers that will."  (Anon)

Personal selling is a promotional tool that creates value by establishing relationships based on trust.  A good salesperson knows that the focus is about identifying and providing the best product/solution for the customer's needs.

Advantages

• High customer attention
• Message is customised
• Interactivity
• Persuasive impact
• Potential for development of relationship
• Adaptable
• Opportunity to close the sale

Disadvantages

• High cost
• Labour intensive
• Can only reach a limited number of customers

7 Aspects of personal selling

Prospecting

Use a variety of sources like directories, referrals, trade publications and databases to identify new clients.  However, not all leads will be useful.  It is important to qualify prospective customers and screen out the poor leads.

Pre-approach

It is important to ensure you really understand the prospects' needs, how they use the brand as well as how they feel about the brand.  This knowledge makes it easier to create a sales presentation.

Approach

Armed with the essential background knowledge, the salesperson can be confident when actually making contact with the prospect.

Presentation

It is essential to tell the product's story in a way that identifies the needs and wants of the prospect.

Overcome objections

Objections should be viewed as signals that prospects need more information to make a decision.

Close the sale

Do not be afraid to ask for the sale!

Follow up

This step is crucial for customer satisfaction and to build long term relationships.  Contact the customer to ensure that the entire process was acceptable.

Sales Promotion Ideas (part 2)

Price promotions

What is it?  It is a sales promotion based on a sales discount offer.

Who benefits?  Both retailers and wholesalers depend on price promotions to lure customers into stores and to increase product sales.  However, Harvard Business Review states that these gains are merely short term.  After the promotion the customer reverts to his old ways.  Of more interest to me is the statement that stores may actually be financially worse off when using price promotions.  The argument is that the turnover of the product on special will increase at the expense of its competition, while generating a smaller margin of profit due to the sales promotion.

This clip from Small Business News explains the pitfalls for price promotion:

More SmallBusinessNewz Videos

Should I use price promotion?  Definitely!  What you should NOT to is to make price your point of differentiation.  Ensure that Quality, Selection and Service define your product or business. 

Examples of price promotions

2 for the price of 1

% more free

free delivery

Sales Promotion Ideas (part 1)

There are a myriad of sales promotion techniques being applied successfully.  The key is create excitement among consumers in order to facilitate participation. Consumers view sales promotions as something that add value - they get something for free!

Promotions can be divided into two broad categories:  price and non-price promotions.

Non-price promotions

Premiums

Well-designed premiums are powerful motivators.  Customers view it as an offer they cannot refuse.  Premiums not only rewards the customer but also afford companies the opportunity to get to know their target audience.  Technology can be used to create targeted, interactive promotions.

Companies like Woolworths and Coles use loyalty cards to gain insight into their customers' shopping habits as well as to retain their share of the market.

 Sampling

This is often used to introduce new brands.  A significant change in sampling is the move away from mass distribution campaigns towards narrowly targeted dissemination.  Companies like Pinch Me create databases incorporating geographic, demographic and shopping preferences of customers.  This cuts down on waste and ensure that you have a captive, motivated audience reviewing your product.

Sweepstakes and contests

This is one are where marketers prefer cyberspace due to cost efficiency, immediate data collection capabilities and the ability to keep the consumer engaged.

Contest require entrants to perform some type of activity based on skills, e.g. to state in 25 words why they should win the competition.  The winner is determined by a panel of judges.

Sweepstakes generates enthusiasm as it is based on luck.  Participants are required to submit free entries from which a winner will be drawn.

Event marketing

Most people only classify corporate sponsorship, staged promotions and product licensing as event marketing.  However, this is a much bigger field.  It is also referred to experiential marketing, live marketing or participatory advertising.   Some companies manage to come up with very creative, entertaining and attention grabbing ideas!

Point-of-purchase displays

These displays are specifically designed for retail and directly influence how customers interact with brands in-store.  It determines whether they see your products or whether your brand just blend in.

What if my business sucks at social media?

A lot of businesses are caught up in the frenzy of social media.  They are desperately trying to stay on top of the myriad of  platforms - scrambling to create a very visible online presence.  I often hear small business owners saying that they are feeling overwhelmed by it all.  Another frequent response is that they have created the websites, the facebook pages and twitter accounts, but that they fail to attract customers.

My advice is to relax.  Social media is very important and will only continue to grow in importance, but you have to put it into perspective:  social media is just a tool to reach your target audience.  It certainly is not the end of the road if you need more time to master this tool.  You have an arsenal of other tools you should utilize in the mean time.

Just to refresh your memory, I am writing a short series of blog updates on the more traditional tools. 

Promotional Mix

The promotional mix consists of 7 aspects namely personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing, public relations, corporate image and exhibitions.  Each of these aspects allows the business to connect with its target audience, to communicate key attributes and to build long term relationships.

The most fundamental need of a business is to create sufficient sales. You need to inform customers about the attributes of your product and motivate them to purchase it.  Sales promotions offer a direct inducement to customers, salespeople and resellers to purchase a product.  It is extremely flexible and functions at both the consumer and trade levels, thereby creating high levels of distribution and goodwill.

However, there are also some disadvantages to sales promotions.  When implemented incorrectly it can damage the brand equity.  Care should also be taken to coordinate various messages across all the formats utilized.  When used too frequently it becomes the consumer expectation rather than a temporary sales boost.

Tomorrow's update will discuss specific techniques to inform customers about your product and how to motivate them to buy it.

Are we too sensitive?

 Huffington Post reports on an advertisement for Red Bull that is attracting complaints in the U.K. and yet remains on air.  Personally I love the ad, it incorporates a bit of risky humour, but nothing offensive in my view.  I think enough time has lapsed not to make humour of this kind offensive. 

No fun is being made of the people who lost their lives.  It is more a case of 20/20 hindsight.  The majority of viewers ought to identify with it - who hasn't looked back on decisions they made and thought: If only I knew then what I know now.

What do you think?  Do you find it offensive or distasteful?

Can a pirate be good for business?

Today is international Talk like a Pirate day.  Not exactly the type of event that makes the world stop, but a good enough reason for creative marketers to have a little fun while promoting business.

Both Krisy Kreme and Long John Silver's took to Twitter to create a buzz about their pirate offerings (#TLAPD).

Krispy Kreme in Portland, Beaverton and Vancouver gave a FREE doughnut to customers who talk like a pirate.  In some cases customers who dressed like pirates were rewarded with a dozen FREE doughnuts.

Long John Silver's simply required a half decent "ARRR" from customers to receive a FREE piece of fish.

Now if only the Rum manufacturers would see the brilliance of this marketing opportunity ;-)

Brilliant use of technology

There is a growing unease in society with the lack of manners people display when using mobile devices.  We've all been in the vicinity of people talking loudly on their phones in public spaces or sneaking a peek  a their texts during a conversation.  Seinfold joked about this very thing when he referred to people putting their mobiles on the table when meeting somebody.  According to him it sends the signal that the person has other options, if you bore him he can start texting any time.

What do you do in such a situation?  I ask the person politely to stop texting as I value my time and their undivided attention.  Should it happen a second time, I simply walk away.

Well, that was my tactic until I discovered Polar Beer's solution!

This company has listened to the grievances of its public.  Mobile devices are draining the life out of social encounters. The solution to this problem?  A stubby holder that not only keeps your beer cold, but blocks all 3G and 4G signals within a 1.5m range.  Sheer brilliance and something polar beer consumers can drink to - cheers!

The end is in sight!

Today is election day in Australia, finally!  This has been a long and exhausting run - and not only for the politicians.  The Courier Mail provides one final look at the weirdest moments of this election campaign.

With my new found insight into social media and marketing, this campaign took on a whole new dimension for me.  It was interesting to note that Labor spent most of their efforts on social media, while foregoing traditional ways of advertising.  The wisdom and reason behind this eludes me.  Surely all marketers know that social media is just another way of reaching target markets and not THE way.

In that sense the Coalition has run an excellent race.  Our oldest will vote for the first time today and our household was overrun with advertising media from the Coalition.  It arrived in the form of personalized letters and the variety impressed me.  Some explained their policies, some was written as thank you notes for the patience of young voters to put up with it all and others were promises that they asked young voters to hang onto.  The idea is accountability - the Coalition asked young voters to check whether they keep their word.  Maybe a bit risky when it comes to young impressionable voters and the track record of politics and specifically election promises ... but much better than the deafening silence from the other parties.

The only candidate that came knocking was the Coalition one.  We have also received  some advertising material from Clive Palmer.  However, that is all behind us now and all that remains is to learn in order to improve on future campaigns.

Reflections

A lot of university courses currently require students to write reflective essays.  The aim is to stimulate internal debate and to come to terms not only with the subject matter, but also with your degree of understanding.

Personally I am not a fan of reflective essays.  However, my problem does not lie with the idea or the process, but merely with the format.  So it is therefore not unusual that I find myself in a reflective mood ... usually on a Friday afternoon in an attempt to assimilate a week's worth of knowledge.

On this particular Friday afternoon I find myself reflecting on the future of journalism itself.  This whole process was sparked by tweets from PBS Media Shift.  They are running a series on this topic entitled Back to J-school.


Although there are no clear cut answers, it highlights the dilemma the industry and especially universities find themselves in.  What should journalism students be learning?  How do you prepare students in a time of great uncertainty about the future of journalism?

Garry Kebel asks whether universities that are "designed to make slow, incremental, deliberative and consensual changes [can] respond with the speed, risk-taking and adaptability demanded by today’s technological disruptions?"  I agree with his recommendation of teaching (all) students the necessity of change and risk-taking.  Although universities will struggle with this approach initially, we need to understand that it is OK to take risks and fail - the real challenge lies in the ability to adapt and try again.

As an ex-teacher I initially rebelled against Kebel's  idea of hiring people to teach whatever is in demand.  He argues that it is then up to the teacher to stay current with other skills or loose his/her job.  It just goes to show how entrenched we are in our way of thinking.  After reflection I cannot produce one valid reason why this should not work.  We are living in an ever changing world, why on earth not demand our teachers keep up with it?

Political campaigns

While the rest of the country is reaching saturation point with the election campaign, I am having the time of my life.  My interest is not the politics per se, but the public relations campaigns keep me spellbound.

It is simply not enough for modern politicians to speak in town halls, shake hands and kiss babies.  They are scrambling to stay in touch with voters on all the social media platforms.  What I love about the new media is that you simply cannot fool people - they detect insincerity quick smart.

My advice would be to choose only a few platforms that you really understand.  Kevin Rudd is crediting social media for gaining the youth vote and securing his '07 victory.  So it comes as no surprise that he is once again turning to social media.  He is an avid user of Twitter.

However, what he really is gaining fame for this time round is his beloved selfies.  The public seems split on this:  on the one hand there are people lining up for a selfie with Mr Rudd, on the other hand there are young people feeling quite offended by the selfies he tweets.  There is a real danger in patronizing the younger generation when you try to emulate them.  They want the Prime Minister to engage in conversation with them, to actually listen and value their input.

Yet, with Kevin Rudd I feel that what you see is what you get.  The public often complained about Julia Gillard displaying two personalities.  People found her charming and engaging when meeting her face to face; traits she did not display when addressing the nation.  A big part of Julia's downfall lies with her PR team.  It is the responsibility of a PR team to gauge public opinion and advice the politician on changes to improve relations.

Advice Mr Abbott's PR team should be dishing out in spades right about now.  It is one thing to be honest, but quite another to show lack of class.  Mike Carlton writes a very satirical article on Mr Abbott.  Just to put this in context, Carlton explains it as follows:

 Satire doesn't create anything new ; it just amplifies and enlarges what's already there.

It also seems that the race is the only thing our politicians are focusing on  at the moment.  When one announces a rather strict and backwards policy on asylum seekers, the other one pulls out a draconian policy to "outshine" it.  If one has 1 377 901 followers on Twitter, well then the other one should create the impression of people liking his policies too...

Thus, while the nation feels indecisive about choosing a leader, I too am still indecisive ... will social media once again play a vital role, will the PR teams truly engage in the development of meaningful relationships or will they simply be spin doctors focusing on catch phrases like "positive politics", "marriage equality" and "stopping the boats"?

Where do you hang out?

I must be the last person to finally "get" Twitter!  Until recently I have banished Twitter to the sphere of teenagers who would tweet every single thought that enter their head .... in a 140 words .... without editing it .... nightmarish stuff.  How wrong can one person be?

I was forced to spend time on Twitter for a course I am enrolled in.  My instructions was to follow a few journalists and to study their tweets and interactions.  For me Twitter is like an old transistor radio with bad reception:  it takes time to fine tune it into the station that you want to listen to.  However, once you have eliminated all the white noise, it is pure gold.

I am discovering news stories as they happen and read about stories that don't even make it into the papers.  It is a wonderful platform to mingle with the great minds of your chosen field.  And those 140 words that seemed so utterly ridiculous turns out to be a wonderful way of  illustrating that you grasped the essence of a story.

It is save to say that I love Twitter.  How many social platforms do you use and which ones are your favourites?

No evidence of journalistic principles

The Australian federal election has been called for the 7th of September 2013.  I think it is fair to say that most people have expected the newspapers to dig up dirt on the candidates to use as sensationalized headlines.

However, The Daily Telegraph sunk to a new low with this front page:

Of course no article can be 100% subjective, but at least most journalists aim to represent multiple sides to an argument.  That is journalists not working for News Corp.  Paul Sheehan wrote an insightful article explaining the reasoning behind this front page.  As we all know News Corp is owned by Rupert Murdoch - a man fighting to keep his news empire turning over a handsome profit.  And this is precisely here where the problem lies ...

Newspaper circulation has been in decline worldwide for quite some time.  In addition to that, Murdoch also faces a threat to his Foxtel cable TV monopoly in Australia.  This threat is in the form of Labor's National Broadband Network.

In Mr Murdoch's own words this is about business.  My opinion is that you are going about it in the wrong way Mr Murdoch - you are mixing mediums that should operate independently and in doing so you might bring about your downfall.

You have proven that you are quite willing to use unethical and even unlawful tactics to gain a scoop.  Does it then come as a shock that people are angered by your (once again) misuse of power in a blatant attempt to influence the Australian public?  What angers people even more is that you are doing it purely for your own self interest.  The rich dictating to the masses in order to enrich themselves further.

People are no longer solely depended on newspapers to be informed, there are countless (free) sources online that provide a multitude of views and insights into all kinds of issues.  Also, even without the NBN people are streaming their entertainment through the internet.  To me this looks like the desperate actions of a desperate man - a man who has not figured out how to change with the times and therefore finds his empire dwindling.