Im frustrated and about to have a little rant. I picked up a copy of The Monthly from Melbourne airport last week. For the non-Australians, The Monthly is a magazine on Australian politics, society and culture. Its meant to be a more intellectual magazine. Having lived outside Australia for 8 years, I was looking forward to immersing myself in the ideas shaping our political discourse. Instead, after reading one of the essays and getting halfway through the second, Ive had to give up on The Monthly. All I can find is a commitment to ideology, to blaming the problems of society on the other party. The magazine is an exercise in preaching to the converted. My frustration is twofold: 1. Im disposed to this particular ideology, but whenever critical thought is missing it becomes demoralising and a waste of my time. I hate having my time wasted, especially when Ive dedicated it to the pursuit of knowledge. 2. This is a magazine for supposedly discerning people. I dont mind if such drivel is published in tabloid publications. In that case, what else could I expect? But not in supposedly quality magazines. I think my frustration comes from a recognition of the important role the media plays in a democratic society, not specifically with The Monthly. Quality publications should inform a readership across the ideological spectrum so that there is unity in diversity in society. By this I mean that there are many competing voices and perspectives which influence the decisions that are made in politics. Instead, we find that the media and politics is moving in a direction of us vs them, left vs right, Liberal vs Labor, Democrats vs Republicans, and so on. Im so tired of this. I dont fit into these neat categories and I think that increasingly there are more people like me. We deserve better from the media. We deserve to be inspired to think outside the box, to question prevailing wisdom, to think for ourselves.
Posted on: Sat, 20 Sep 2014 19:16:17 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015