Kids – I’m back.  I just saw some interesting footage on the Internet, and while it is not specifically about the Cairns Post, I think it is relevant as it is something about the media in general.

Tony Abbott aparently was on his way to a roadside location where he was to give a press release/interview regarding road safety, and the need to upgrade some of our nation’s roads.  With the camera’s rolling and reporters on-hand a truck comes sliding from behind, narrowly missing Mr Abbott’s car and eventually coming to a stop on the side of the road.

NEWSFLASH – the headlines are there, straight to the top of the news feeds around the nation.  Top story on the radio, blogs (ironically including this one!) and new websites.  The ABC news website has not one, but five separate references to this one story scattered throughout their main page.  What a windfall for publicity!

But I smell a rat. At first I was skeptical – how many times would a near accident happen to be captured on film, followed  by an interview so that it makes perfect vision/audio/print for our nation’s news services ?  I’m not that good at maths – but I would be it is not a very high statistical probability!  What do you reckon, is it a bit of a setup ?

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