My first job out of school was that of cadet journalist on the...

My first job out of school was that of cadet journalist on the then privately owned morning broadsheet, The Adelaide Advertiser. It enjoyed the ‘rivers of gold’ similar to the Melbourne Age and SMH, also privately owned. These three morning broadsheets maintained a close relationship with each other.

Back then, one didn’t study communications or like degrees, you learned on the job and were mentored by an experienced journo. I was lucky to get a senior features writer (Des) who met with another highly regarded columnist (Max) most evenings in the company pub, to share stories doing the rounds. I was invited along not to participate, but rather to be gofer and fetch the next beers.

They were occasionally joined by the owner of The News, an Adelaide evening tabloid. When discussing the gossip of the day, Des and Max were old school who would never go to print on anything that couldn’t be substantiated. The visitor would robustly advise them they were fools, that he would print anything that would sell newspapers, be it true or false…his name was Rupert.

I guess Coppers, you can see where I’m coming from…the days of blokes like Des and Max have gone. The media is under pressure to simply survive and one way to do so is to be controversial. True or false, controversy attracts attention which attracts advertising.

The only way to avoid being mislead Coppers is to read widely, and as Fact keeps reminding us…DYOR.