TheSydney Morning Herald‘s state political
writer Anne Davies tells a tale of professional frustration today:

Next time you
see an “exclusive” tag on a story about state politics, stop and have
a closer look. The chances are that the story, far from being a feat of
journalistic endeavour, is what we call in the trade “a drop”. You’ll
be able to tell it’s a drop because it’s likely to quote one side of politics
only. This is often a condition of the drop. It’s also likely to be getting a
prominent run. Sometimes the story uses the quotes from the next day’s press
release, although as a reader this will be more difficult for you to spot…

Indeed. And drops don’t just happen at a
state level. Federal ministers are just as adept at them. Think of all those
teaser stories outlining different Budget goodies to come that appear in
different outlets in the lead-up to the Treasurer’s big night each year.

Davies outlines the ethics of it all:

Exclusives that
set the agenda are important in boosting circulation. But simply running the
Government’s announcement before it is made, without any serious critique,
comes perilously close to being advertising for political parties. It may be of
mutual benefit to newspapers and politicians, but it’s certainly not in the
public’s interest.

Been there, done that. All governments
carefully coordinate their media events and announcements to maximise coverage
– and create diversions that will let them dump bad news. Reading about it
brings back all sorts of happy memories of my days as a press sec.

But there’s another side to government
media management, too – and The Australian is currently dealing with a
particularly egregious example.

Governments favour compliant media outlets
with exclusives – and punish others by withholding information. Been there,
done that too. But The Australian in Adelaide is doing
hard time. Here’s what their South Australian state political writer, Michelle Wiese Bockmann, had
to say in her weekend wrap:

Leaks, budgetary
pressures, transport portfolio blowouts, sloppy legislation and a re-energised
Opposition have put Rann on the back foot. Despite Labor’s record majority and
Rann’s high popularity, the state Government appears to have bunkered down and
embraced a siege mentality.

When it comes to
media management, that means cutting off those who publish unflattering
stories. The Australian‘s Adelaide bureau was cut off the government press
release fax stream on June 19, the day it published a story revealing the
Premier had made “abusive” calls to transport industry leaders.

Blocking the
distribution of media releases for a day or two is a time-worn rebuke used now
and then by the Rann media unit. But after nearly two weeks, The Australian
remains cut off. The Premier’s media staff have also failed to return calls and
release details of when and where ministers or the Premier are conducting press
conferences to which all other Adelaide media have been invited…

Drops and this sort of treatment are the
two sides of the same coin. Editors and news directors want audiences, and to
win them they need content – preferably exclusives and stories that will set
agendas. The results of this carrot and stick are pretty clear.

But there’s another side, too. Davies says:
“The practice of drops is particularly frustrating for the national newspapers The
Australian and The Australian Financial Review. Very occasionally
they are favoured with an exclusive, such as on an issue of state-federal
relations that NSW wants to draw to a national audience’s attention.”

State politicians want local coverage. They
want to make big splashes in their local papers with stories that will flow
over into morning talk radio and into the nightly news bulletins. They make
their drops where they will cause waves.

But the national papers also provide an
insurance policy. You don’t want to poison your relations with them.

In my days as a press sec, I punished some
journalists and favoured others.

But I also made sure that I was in a
position where I could go to local media and contrast their obstreperous
attitudes with the constructive coverage in the, sniff, national, quality
dailies.