Odinian Beta

One of the problems with the media nowadays is that they are totally incapable of reporting on anything without displaying their bias, which usually tilts to the left.

This has been none the more obvious than in their frantic coverage of the various stuff-ups by Crown Resorts (ASX: CWN) in recent years.

While the company and its management only have themselves to blame for their predicament, it is obvious that the coverage was primarily driven by the long-term hatred of the Packer family by the old Fairfax newspapers (such as The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald).

In response, the journalists running this campaign might point to Crown’s stuff-ups and argue that this justifies their clearly coordinated hit jobs on Crown and Packer.

Well, if that were true, then why didn’t these same journalists point out that many of the allegedly inappropriate actions by Crown are common across the gambling industry in Australia? Specifically, why didn’t they report that competitor Star Entertainment (ASX: SGR) was equally “guilty” of many of the same allegations levied against Crown?

The answer to this question is obvious to any objective observer, particularly those who have spoken to knowledgeable people operating with the Australian gambling industry.

Of course, adding to these journalists’ crusade is their even less thinly disguised hatred of gambling in general and pokies in particular. Crown’s stuff-ups have been a literal gift from God to their attempts to dramatically reduce the availability of pokies and, ideally in their view, ban pokies for good. The prominence of anti-pokie ideologues such as Andrew Wilkie in this campaign proves my point.

However, with the Victorian Royal Commission report into Crown due to recommend whether the company gets to keep its Melbourne licence on Friday, it seems these journalists have lost their previous inability to point out the obvious, and are now going after Star Entertainment too.

Suspicious timing

The timing sure is suspicious.

I am sure it has nothing to do with the fact that by all accounts Crown looks set to keep its Melbourne licence, despite the sterling efforts by The Age, Sydney Morning Herald and Nine to get the licence cancelled.

And so we are now finally hearing about how Star dealt with the very same junkets such as Suncity and other “undesirable” persons that Crown has received so much criticism for, both in the media and during the various enquiries into the company.

We are also finally hearing about how Star’s anti-money laundering controls also aren’t up to par like Crown’s. This includes allegations that Star allowed the use of debit and credit cards by Chinese nationals in its hotels to access chips for use in the casino, thereby skirting Chinese law, the very same actions that Crown has been accused of.

And, like Crown, we are also finally hearing allegations that Star has failed to completely fulfil its responsible service of gaming obligations at its various casinos.

Funny that.

To be clear, I don’t have a problem with the media holding businesses or anyone else in the private or public sector to account.

And as I noted above, Crown only has itself to blame for its predicament.

It is just that this crusade against Crown is so obviously driven by ideology that one wonders what other undesirable or even potentially criminal activity by politicians, businesses and other organisations isn’t being revealed because targeting them wouldn’t conform with journalists’ left-wing ideology.