I've read all the posts and the first one that made me stop and think was the one that said 'no coverage of the overseas airlines delays due to the weather'. The simple solution to that is that noone cares if a foreign airliner is delayed due to weather. By-and-large, when it comes to news in the domestic section of the newspaper, they mainly report on news that has an impact on Australians and Australian companies.
Then I read the bit on this thread about how several other internal carriers had issues recently and they weren't followed up as much as Qantas were. This made me think further from what I learnt of the media.
The fact of the matter is that newspapers have to make money. They have to come out with these sorts of stories. Sure the 'terrified passengers carryon' is a bit over-the-top but if one paper decides 'right, were going to treat all airlines fairly' then they will rapidly lose market share. People like reading this sort of thing.
So it's not really a case of newspapers hounding airlines down, it's a reflection on what people what to read. A reflection on society.
And believe me, it's not just airlines they go after. An incident of a drunk doctor will see the spotlights put on doctors' behaviour for months, charities will get the heat if one is exposed as fraudulent. And it goes on. Perhaps some perspective is needed.
Qantas isn't helping themselves with 4 turnbacks in 10 days though. I certainly don't think it is a sign of a media 'agenda' (whatever that might be).