There’s so many of them here – Guyon Espiner, Anna Fifield, Lucy Craymer, Sam Sachdeva, Laura Walters, John Daniell, Emile Donovan, Paula Penfold, reef fish with the same few sources. Australian Paul Strutynski provides the textbook in his “Guide for budding foreign policy journalists wanting to work for the Nine Network or Newscorp.”
He starts off:
The uniform reality of our US-leaning foreign policy media experts suggests a possible template for training suitably compliant foreign policy journalists.
Then:
First, identify the good guys and the bad guys, to determine which side you’re on. (Big tip: we’re always the good guys.)
Next, demonise the bad guys. (It’s what foreign policy journalists do.) And no matter what the response, never trust them. Remember, they’re the enemy. And enemies always lie. You getting it?
Focus laser-like on their crimes, which you must condemn, as high-mindedly as possible (as befits people of elevated principle like yourself). And don’t worry about exaggerating those crimes: the greater the evil, the more admirable your condemnation.
The whole piece is worth a read. I particularly liked this bit:
And never admit that any of their moves could possibly be defensive. With our enemies, any move equals aggression, by definition. It’s axiomatic, of course, that we are always noble of purpose and defensively minded to a fault.
Always insist on negotiating from a position of strength. Bombing helps. They respect that. After all, the only thing they understand is force. And that’s not being racist.
And for something completely different this excerpt from the Harvard Business Review “Three Things the West gets Wrong about China” is also definitely worth a read
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