Issue No 4 | 12 March 1999 | |
Campaign DiaryOn The Bus - A Tale Of Two CampaignsBy Peter Lewis
As the State election campaign moves into full swing, Workers Online looks at how the management of the media by the two main parties is reflecting their strategies.
Media following Premier Bob Carr are herded into a mini-bus every morning, headed for an unknown destination and a set-piece announcement. The TV crews have their own vehicles as they begin their daily magical mystery tour, but they know who to follow. Monday it was a prison near the Blue Mountains. As one reporter described it, "we started heading west and kept going, by midday we knew we weren't going to be doing anything else today". Once there, they are given carefully selected images, designed to reinforce the government's law and order credentials, a few stock quotes, and soon are back on the bus, squeezed in together as they caucus the next day's angle. These campaign tactics illustrate the government's main achievement during its first term -- its ability to dominate the daily news cycle. It so unnerved the Coalition they dumped their leader just three months out from the poll. Their's is a safety first campaign; no mistakes, managing any bad stories, capitalising quick on any negatives for their opponents. At the same time the Premier has refused to run negative on Chikarovski the woman, recognising this will only fuel a sympathy vote for the underdog. The no mistake style of campaign is in the finest traditions of the last two federal elections, where Howard wrapped himself into a tiny ball and resisted any move to hit him. The technique is effective in shifting the onus onto the Opposition to advocate the case for change. So long as you continue to dominate the news cycles, that case will always be difficult to make. You don't even need to promise too much, just package it well. As Carr says at every opportunity "we've made a few mistakes, but we've achieved more than you think". In contrast, the Coalition have hired a Murrays coach, a huge bus that even the leader herself can get lost on. Increasingly the route it takes is resembling the magical mystery tour. Journalists following the Chikarovski team talk of missed opportunities and campaign incompetence as the distinguishing features of their campaign. A case in point was last week's cockroach front page in the Telegraph, which put the spotlight on funding of the health system. Now, you'd expect an Opposition Leader to be all over this one like a rash, morning talkback, an early doorstop for the TVs. But not this show. It wasn't till 1.30pm after a set-piece conference on juvenile justice that the Opposition responded to the issue. That's seven wasted hours; something an organised campaign team would not allow to pass in silence. Worse was to come this week when Chikka called a conference at Gosford to capitalise on an embarrassing story that a hospital ward was laying dormant just weeks after Health Minister Andrew Refshuage announced it would house a new program. The media arrived to be greeted by a small crowd of protesters who identified themselves as members of the Liberal's Peats campaign team -- including the local candidate. Which was fine, until during the press conference Kerry referred to them as "concerned parents". When the media pressed her on this point and relayed their self-identification as members of the Peats campaign, the crowd denied having made the statement. The conference soon degenerated into a debate about the origin of the rally, rather than the key issue of what was going on inside the hospital. The placard holders were last seen scuttling down the street, attempting to avoid the TV crews who wanted to question them on their interest in the campaign. These are not the images of a well-run campaign, which would have at the very least briefed the pseudo-protesters to pretend they were concerned parents. Anecdotes such as these partly explain the stories of increasing pessimism in the business community which were chronicled in this week's Herald. The risk for the Libs is that this pessimism will translate into a lack of campaign funds, which will further dig the whole sorry show into a ditch. The way we're headed the only Liberal smiles on March 27 will be at the victory party for a certain member for Willoughby. Meanwhile, the Opposition advertising is becoming increasingly desperate and, in contrast to Labor, personal. After targeting Paul Whelan, the Libs have now fallen into lampooning Carr's successful X-files ads. Imitation is a sign the Labor ads are working and worse, for the Opposition, it casts them again reacting to Carr rather than running an alternate agenda. No election where the incumbents hold power by just three seats is ever a foregone conclusion, but the Coalition need to pull a few rabbits out of the hat -- and quickly. Otherwise they'll discover the bus has well and truly departed.
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Interview: Jennie George - Eyeing 2000 The ACTU President looks to the future and erects a few new signposts for her last 12 months in office and beyond. Unions: Trade Unions Thinking Globally How do you put people first in a global economy? That's the question for an international trade union conference in Sydney this week. History: The Pioneers: Trade Unions Before 1850 Labour historian Greg Patmore looks at the early days of unions in Australia Review: Opening Spaces For a New Labor A new book by Sydney academic McKenzie Wark looks at how Labor must adapt to the popular culture. Campaign Diary: On The Bus - A Tale Of Two Campaigns As the State election campaign moves into full swing, Workers Online looks at how the management of the media by the two main parties is reflecting their strategies.
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