My sentiments exactly Banjo.
I'm amazed at how dumb we (as a professional group) like to appear on a public forum. The ill-thought out posts, the ignorant opinions that so many spruik as fact. The lack of depth of understanding of the world outside of our cozy little offices beggars belief.
The only truth in media is the snapshot image that might accompany a story; it may not even have relevance to the specifics of the story. It is, however, a picture. And it is the truth as it relates to that place in that moment in time.
Everything else presented in the media will likely contain various degrees of opinion. And that opinion will, more often than not, be based to a very large extent on the political leanings of the ownership/management of that media outlet. And politics being what it is, their political affiliates will be pressing them to publish/air subjects for their own political gain.
It's usually never about the truth. Qantas is big money. Qantas is marketed politically as a critical asset to the Australian people (hmmm...who by, I wonder?). It is a powerful institution in so many ways in this country (whether real or perceived is irrelevant), that it will always be the subject of editorialisation and scuttlebutt journalism.
It's so much deeper than selling papers, or belief in the notion of truth in journalism. That is just too simplistic for me to believe.