Tips and rumours

From the Crikey grapevine, the latest tips and rumours …

Better luck next time, Kev. Well now, it’s official. Former PM Kevin Rudd won’t be the next Secretary General of the United Nations, after the Security Council announced it had chosen Antonio Guterres, former PM of Portugal, to take over from Ban Ki-moon next year.

“Antonio Guterres?” We hear you ask. “But that doesn’t sound like a woman? And last time I checked Portugal wasn’t in Eastern Europe?” Right on both counts.

Advocates and the UN selection process had previously pushed for the next Secretary General to be a woman, and the practice of sharing senior roles around geographically meant that it was eastern Europe’s “turn”, so some saw Guterres as an outsider. Head of UNESCO Irina Bokova, sometimes touted as the favourite for the role, came in fourth in a series of straw polls conduced by the Security Council. Guterres received zero “no” votes in the straw poll, with 13 in favour and two abstentions. So how does Kevin Rudd feel? He’s sent out a tweet congratulating Guterres, saying “a great responsibility now for a troubled world”.

Like Rudd, Guterres has held a high-profile role in the international sphere since ending his time as prime minister, but unlike Rudd, Guterres had the support of his country’s government. In January, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa endorsed Guterres for the UN spot, a very different narrative than that which played out in Australia.

Write America Great Again. Want to write for the Conservative Daily Post in the US? This job advertisement shows just what it takes to write for a pro-Trump “news” outlet. We’ve included the highlights here:

“At the start of every day you will have sources. You will use these sources to write an article. You will find pictures, videos, tweets, and more to add to each article. Each article is expected to be no less than 1,000 words.”

“Furthermore, it will be very beneficial for you to have a strong background in politics. Does this mean you need to understand the fine workings our out government’s political process? Absolutely not. However, you will be served well by having concurrent knowledge on the state of politics in the country.

“Additionally, you MUST identify as a Conservative. The more Conservative that you consider yourself, the better. This will make it much easier for you to develop strong articles. We LOVE Trump and are absolutely disgusted with the level of corruption shown by the Democratic Party in the last few months.

“Bottom Line, if you are highly driven, willing to learn, and excited to stick with us for the long term as we grow and expand, this may be the perfect job for you!

DO NOT APPLY IF:
-You have trouble using Microsoft Suite, Skype, or any other Basic Software
-You are a liberal
-You don’t LOVE Trump
-You plan on just ‘getting by’
-It takes you multiple hours, or even days to respond”

Kenny defends herself. The fake hipster “Melbourne Man” made up by writer Tara Kenny and Sam Hains for the Street Seen column, then plastered over The Age‘s front page and across the internet, has reared his alternatively dressed head, this time in Overland. Kenny has written a piece defending herself and sledging the rest of the media and Fairfax for the way it reported on the way she lied to her employer and readers:

“When Melbourne Man-gate broke, I was widely presented as the incompetent, scheming ‘Fairfax journalist’; I may well be incompetent and scheming, but I am by no stretch of the imagination a journalist. Fairfax employed me as a copywriter through a third party to churn out event listings and lifestyle and entertainment articles in response to briefs such as ‘lavish children’s birthday parties’, ‘frozen yoghurt’ and ‘beetroot’ (seriously). I am under no misconception that producing content that exists almost entirely to legitimise advertising makes you a news journalist.

“My job was in many ways the holy grail of bread and butter writing gigs: morally inoffensive, well paid, supportive and relaxed work environment, free tickets to media events. More importantly, it provided financial security while I put myself through university and figured out what kind of writer I actually want to be (not one who specialises in fashion vox pops, as it happens). Like many young creatives trying to make it work in a tough economy, I gratefully accepted the pay packet and complimentary champagne and attempted to exercise a level of creativity in return.”

Kenny doesn’t appear to hold any regret over the situation, and the piece is a confusing meander around how the world feels about hipsters, journalistic ethics, and presenting our true selves. Whatever the case, she won’t be working at The Age anymore. Michelle Griffin, state editor at The Age, tweeted yesterday “Hey Tara, you were lazy, you lied, you got sprung. You’re not special.”

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