Trash news vortex (updated)

I could start my critique of this New York Times story with this image.

Looks profesh and serious, doesn't it. The font says, trust us, the photo brewing and mysterious. Seductive even. But it would be more honest to begin it like this.

The story, written by journalist David Maurice Smith (who also took the pics), begins with a pop out ad directing readers to SHOP NOW. We're not sure if Smith photographed the felted slippers too, it's not clear, but probably not. Smith's story travels along as a children's tale, identifying the perps "likely from Indonesia" and those who are being rescued "including sea turtles, dugongs and sharks." 

The nature of this fly in fly out journalism and the publishing realm it sits within seeks to sever the connection to the real perpetrators of this story – neoliberals who SHOP NOW, eat supermarket fish, buy their goods in plastic, and fly and drive around the world to see 'great' art.

While preparing this little post, which could be applied to any article appearing in any ad-funded news media, the title and title ad changed to this.

Fossil fuelled consumption is the great missing character in this story, consumption perpetuated by the world's rich who consume such media. Comfortable slippers and opera are the main events in the environment of the NYT online, a story about an Aboriginal mob's cleaning up of imperialism's wastes is just the fill. 

To finish with a pretty picture...