Hi all, we are living in a country who's press landscape is described (and experienced by me) as a prison experiment: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/sep/01/australia-climate-scientis... "Australia has unwittingly become a social experiment. A ruthless experiment on the fate of a society when a single media conglomerate, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, owns 167 newspapers and controls around 70% of the printed media market." "That is what happens when a media conglomerate and their allies go out of control and escape accountability. The result is a society poised to embark on a Stanford prison experiment." Well, if Rinehart virtually takes over Fairfax http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/business/companies/gina-rinehart-is-entitle... (Murdoch's Sydney newspaper) "She is also asking for the right to make significant editorial decisions such as the ability to hire and fire editors." .. we have actually the choice to read Murdoch's "News" or Rinehart's. That's it. If you put it in "party terms" 100% Liberal supporters (with a touch of One Nation in it, see Bolt & Co). Before I came here, I was used to choose between various German newspapers who appeared to be run independently, and considered it as being at the heart of a working democracy. I wonder whether there is any concern and opposition amongst Australians related to that here? Do you all consider it as normal to live in a gold rush were few get mega-rich and buying up the society? To be honest, I don't care so much about who is runing a country in a way as it pleases them, whether there are Chinese Communists or Australian miners. If we don't have the freedom of free expression it isn't a democracy. free press is part of it. I wonder what to do at this point. I consider it as a tipping-point in the development of this country - and I don't like where it is heading to. Regards Peter