A lesson for Australian Media - Especially the ABC. Amazon Style.

For the first time in a long time, the Washington Post has declined to endorse a candidate in the Presidential election. The owner of WaPo and founder of Amazon Jeff Bezos wrote offering an explanation:

Let me give an analogy. Voting machines must meet two requirements. They must count the vote accurately, and people must believe they count the vote accurately. The second requirement is distinct from and just as important as the first.

Likewise with newspapers. We must be accurate, and we must be believed to be accurate. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but we are failing on the second requirement. Most people believe the media is biased. Anyone who doesn’t see this is paying scant attention to reality, and those who fight reality lose. Reality is an undefeated champion. It would be easy to blame others for our long and continuing fall in credibility (and, therefore, decline in impact), but a victim mentality will not help. Complaining is not a strategy. We must work harder to control what we can control to increase our credibility.

Let me repeat this clear articulation of the problem:

We must be accurate, and we must be believed to be accurate.

oh and

Complaining is not a strategy.

Hopefully the ABC Chair Kim Williams reads this and sends a copy to the entirety of the ABC staff.

Perhaps, intertwined in the numerous Welcomes to Country the statement that “The ABC must be believed to be accurate” is added.