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September 18, 2005
I'm back on deck after an absence due to work. The big news on the weekend was this. From what I can gather it is commonly held that the Latham Diaries is that they radiate more heat than light about the ALP or the media. It's nmore about all dark twisted personal emotion in a twilght world of failure. True, Latham's Diaries enable us to peep through the keyhole into the dark political space of our poltical culture. The occasional shaft of light--- of insight--- is disclosed but the hate, revenge and vitriol gets in the way. So the Diaries tell us very little about a journey into the heart of darkness of Australian politics,. That is the conventional interpretation.
However, this event- --the publication of the Latham Diaries-- has given rise to another kind of representation:
Cathy Wilcox
This image of throwing hand grenades can be interpreted as a representation of politics as performance, can it not? The performance has been called 'The Latham Show' by Crikey.com.au.
However, it goes deeper than entertainment, as it is a performance that contributes to the public's knowledge of politics and media in Australia. It does so through well directed arrows aimed at the heart of the media establishment and the ALP insiders. Thesewell directed arrows elict bitter personal reponses by the media and ALP, and so reinforce the key argument of the Diaries about the corruption of our political culture. Neither the political or media establishment are really trusted by ordinary citizens, and Latham's performance is tapping into the sentiments of those citizens who distrust big media and the cynicism and nastiness of parliamentary politics.
It is a crazy brave performance that is to be admired.
Update: 22nd September
Some journalists are begining to see Lathams insights and step beyond revenge.Thus Mike Steketee over at The Australian says:
Here's a turn-up: among all the madness and the badness of The Latham Diaries lurk many home truths.The book exposes the problems with Kim Beazley's leadership - his lack of reforming zeal, his shunning of confrontation, the absence of fire in his belly. It portrays a sick political and media culture and an endemic factionalism that threatens to suck the life out of the Labor Party. It highlights the toll that rumour-mongering can take on people in public life. It presents a case for opening up the debate on the US alliance beyond its present narrow confines.
Steketee concludes that "The tragedy of The Latham Diaries is that they will poison the climate in which there can be a productive debate about such issues," Maybe not.
Still the journalists have still to respond to Latham's depiction of a sick media culture that they are a part of, and contribute to. Their failure to do so will indicate just how sick the media culture is.
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