My continuing survey of news by survey. The amount of news in our news media that is based on surveys continues to fascinate me. Without a doubt, if an astute PR wants to get an issue into the public debate then the release of a public opinion poll is the way to do it. This morning’s example, which I first noticed in the Sydney Daily Telegraph , reports on a “myth-busting poll” finding that women who wear size-16 clothes are the most content group when it comes to overall well-being. The British survey asked 3000 women to rate their happiness when it came to careers, love lives and friendships. Size-14s were the second happiest group. Size 26, 22 and 24 women were found to be the least happy. And the origins of this important information? Kellogg’s Special K, marketed as a slimming cereal, which the British consumer magazine Which? recently reported had the same amount of calories at 171 per 30g as Kellogg’s Cornflakes and even more than Kellogg’s Branflakes.

And another one. The second survey for the day is the Olivier Job Index which the ABC News keeps telling us this morning shows that there has been a boost in ads for retail, sales and marketing jobs due to the impact of the Federal Government’s policies to stimulate the economy. Exactly what this Olivier surveys and where is not stated, but it achieves its real PR purpose of giving publicity to the company name. It would be more honest for the ABC to charge for advertisements.

The Australian named media outlet of the year. Another prestigious award to The Australian — the national daily has been named “the most consistently wrong media outlet” by the website Real Climate.

What are we fighting in Afghanistan for? The necessary and appropriate words of sympathy this morning from politicians and the generals over the death of the eighth Australian soldier to die in Afghanistan but an appropriate time to ponder what the hell those brave men actually are fighting for in that country. The New York Times last week had a most distressing story about the extent of the corruption that is leading to a narco state financed and defended by the United States and its allies like Australia. The reality reported by these Times journalists is a long way removed from the rhetoric of western politicians about the need to stamp out the scourge of Muslim terrorism. Depress yourself and read it: ” Bribes Corrode Afghans’ Trust in Government“.

What a pity that President-elect Barack Obama and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd both thought it necessary to support this Afghan war in order to get elected. I suppose we can put that down to what I call the Hotelling law of politics, where the campaigners act in the same fashion as the economist’s ice cream sellers on that beach — they want to occupy the middle ground.

Keeping yourself closer to the consensus view of the voters than your opponent is a good starting point for someone wanting to win an election. During the Australian election campaign last year, when it came to matters of foreign policy and defence, Labor did it with great skill.

On the question of committing troops to the war in Iraq, Labor’s Kevin Rudd put himself closer to public opinion, which had grown against the invasion, than the Liberal-National Coalition. His was a “we will withdraw as soon as it can decently be done without upsetting the Americans too much” kind of policy. John Howard remained dedicated to the interventionist cause. On a scale of 0 (get out immediately) to 100 (stay as long as it takes to win) the public view was, say, at 35, Labor around 50 and the Coalition 70.

On Afghanistan, where public opinion broadly favoured letting Australia’s involvement stay as it was, both Labor and the Coalition were slightly more gung-ho with both sides favouring a slightly greater Australian commitment to a decreased one.

That sound election winning strategy will now present Prime Minister Rudd with some difficulties. The withdrawl from Iraq is scheduled for mid year but when that happens there is likely to be increased questioning of what the Afghan war is really all about. It will not take many deaths of Australian soldiers to see public support start deteriorating. Labor will need to be careful to ensure that the Coalition in Opposition does not start moving closer to that point of view.

Lies and the lying liars. Any man who writes a book called Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right has got to be an entertaining addition to the United States Senate, but the news that Democrat Al Franken has ended the Minnesota count 225 votes in front will not be pleasing the folk at Fox News. The Franken book included a cover photo of Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly and a chapter accusing O’Reilly of lying and resulted in the Fox News Network launching defamation proceedings against the candidate. The case was thrown out of court and Franken commented that “the irony upon irony of this lawsuit was great. First, Fox having the trademark ‘fair and balanced’ — a network which is anything but fair and balanced. Then there’s the irony of a news organization trying to suppress free speech.”

Hoping for their comedienne. Republican hopes for political humour continue to rest with the Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin. These bumper stickers are being given away free as the grand old party prepares for the Barack Obama inauguration.