Mention the word "forestry" in Tasmania and you will get a range of reactions from very supportive comments to a diatribe of hate-filled insults - thus is the nature of the forestry debate in Tassie and has been for the past 30 odd years. 

But does it have to be this way?

Many opinions on both sides of the debate have been formed out of ignorance and from my experience; the opposing sides are sometimes really not that far apart - only separated by a difference of opinion based on a lack of knowledge of the real facts.  Obviously, there will be ideological extremes at both ends of the spectrum that will never reconcile but the injection of some truth into the debate may slowly soften those long-held positions over time.

In the world of the 24/7 news cycle, it is clear that our major media outlets simply do not have the time or resources to fully investigate a story, instead relying on a cabal of usual suspects with vested interests to provide opinion and in some cases simply regurgitating media releases without fact-checking.  This is not journalism and this approach has and continues to cause social harm in our communities.

It is very important to note that opinion, even contextual opinion is not fact yet many in our society equate what is written in modern media to be factual when in many cases it isn't.   The lack of robust fact-checking, the insertion of opinion in what is meant to be factual reporting, and the large number of information outlets only contribute to the confusion surrounding major issues.  Forestry in Tasmania is a case in point.

A recent survey by Deloitte Australia showed that 18% of Australians now source their news directly from social media and this behaviour is higher amongst Millennials. 

A search on Facebook for "Forestry Tasmania" brings up a myriad of results from the actual GBE providing information to the public to various environment groups, politicians and other interested parties in this complex subject.  So many "opinions" -  no wonder the public gets confused.  Whilst some may argue that this blog simply adds to this white noise, I hope that over time this blog will change the attitudes of many and that is the simple aim.

Forestry has been in the news a lot these past few weeks following the Liberal Government's announcements on forestry.  A review of the many stories published on the issue shows a very diverse range of opinion but a common thread in many of the stories are that facts and contextual information were missing, giving those viewing the article a completely different view of what the facts actually were.  This opinion is then "Chinese whispered" into the community until what comes out over dinner, a weekend BBQ or at the footy is so removed from the truth it is scary and only contributes to the vicious cycle of untruths that have been harming our communities for decades.

This blog will discuss stories about forestry in Tasmania that are published across a range of media and critically assess these stories. This assessment will not just consider whether the story is factually correct but also if there is missing contextual information which would give the reader/viewer/listener a misleading view compared to if the fuller/true story was reported. 

It is time to bring the narrative on forestry silenced by omission into the public debate.