Comments on: World’s least liveable “quality” broadsheets?

By: FDB

FDB — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:41:05 +0000

I note with interest a correlation between a large gay male population and a large single female population. Maybe there’s more to this than I thought! ;)

By: Andrew Leigh

Andrew Leigh — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:42:25 +0000

Ken, I agree there are empirical problems, but the core concept strikes me as pretty sensible: since we can’t disentangle good jobs from amenities, we can’t look at where the rich choose to live as a proxy for city quality. But gay men have more disposable income simply by virtue of their family structure, so if they choose a place, it must mean the amenities are better. In other words, gay men tend to value Sydney (sun + surf) over Melbourne (lattes + libraries).

Like you, I place a high value on being able to cycle to work. But I’m comfortable with the notion that the majority of Australians have different preferences over cities than me (were it otherwise, they’d have to close Northbourne Avenue for the Mardi Gras).

By: FDB

FDB — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 02:16:04 +0000

“especially in places where there are still formal legal sanctions as there are in some Asian and Middle Eastern countries especially”

I’d have thought most such places aren’t in the running anyway, due to exactly this sort of social backwardness.

By: Ken Parish

Ken Parish — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 02:01:31 +0000

The Gaydar Liveability Index? Interesting idea, thouhg how you gauge with any reliability the proportion of gays and lesbians in a given city may be more problematic, especially in places where there are still formal legal sanctions as there are in some Asian and Middle Eastern countries especially (and in others there remain significant social sanctions making discretion still advisable).

Moreover, in Australia Sydney has the reputation of having the largest gay population, yet my own subjective perception (and that of many others) is that Melbourne has better shopping, restaurants and a superior arts scene. Of course Sydney has the harbour and beaches which are an attraction irrespective of sexuality, but ranking results will depend on how you weight the various factors (as you note). That’s why I doubt the utility of these sorts of exercise. I agree that “revealed preference” might be useful if we could ascertain:
(a) how many of the group whose revealed preferences we regard as usefully determinative actually live in each city (and why); and
(b) the extent to which their preferences are relevant to our own personal needs and wants.
However, I doubt that we can pin down either of those factors enough to help very much.

By: Andrew Leigh

Andrew Leigh — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:22:19 +0000

Their, of course, should be there. Not that it’s either here or their.

By: Andrew Leigh

Andrew Leigh — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:21:44 +0000

Their are revealed preference alternatives to these odd 'expert driven' rankings.

By: Niall

Niall — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:55:05 +0000

I only read SMH because the Courier Mail is even worse.

By: The Worst of Perth

The Worst of Perth — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:28:14 +0000

Fairfax’s online version for Perth was launched yesterday. Not the challenge to The West Australian’s pitiful online version we were hoping for.
http://theworstofperth.com/2008/06/10/fax-it-west/

By: Laura

Laura — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 06:48:13 +0000

Still, you can’t use the internet as a biodegradable under-mulch weed suppresser.

By: Lloyd

Lloyd — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 05:46:32 +0000

Earlier today the SMH Online had as a headline “Rudd caught in Dalai Storm” with a half page colour photo, Rudd on one side, the Dalai Lama on the other. The linked article was about nothing of the sort. It amounted to the following.

“It is sad that Mr Rudd is feeling pressure from China,” one supporter, who did not wish to be named, said.
“Mr Rudd has lost some dignity, I think, by bowing to them.”

Some ‘storm’. Talk about piss weak appalling journalism. They took it down soon after I emailed a furious complaint, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one.

The rest of the day we’ve been graced with the “Butt” Sex and the City story, now the “Hedge Fund”.

It certainly puts us in the running for the most sophisticated newspaper in the world…..

By: Patrick

Patrick — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 04:02:00 +0000

I dunno if most readers of this site would agree that my mental age is above 13 but fwiw I agree – so maybe you can state that claim even more broadly.

By: Pavlov's Cat

Pavlov's Cat — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:28:43 +0000

And of course it’s also a good excuse for some gratuitous Adelaide-trashing.

*Goes outside to sit in the winter sunshine*

By: Stephen Hill

Stephen Hill — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 02:58:49 +0000

And then you can go even more downmarket to the Daily Telegraph whose screaming front-page headline is about Belinda Neal who apparently needs to resign from parliament for getting a red card in a soccer match.

Must have ended the political aspirations of Kevin Muscat. Disproves that old adage of soccer being for sissies.

By: Richard Green

Richard Green — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 02:34:02 +0000

I think a strong element in the tabloiding of the fairfax press is a desire to shift towards the internet. In the eyes of Fairfax management, the best way to exploit a boundless medium is to increase page views by stirring up pointless indignation from bored office workers. A stupid Sydney-Melbourne rivalry story can pick of page views for the SMH from Melbourne as well as Sydney and, better yet, if a mark is enticed to post on a “your say” function they’ll keep coming back. “Have the *insert irritating Tim Baileyism for Victorians* reacted to my cunning insult about the Yarra and lauding of the Opera House? Better refresh!”.

We more or less have a 24 hour a day afternoon paper.

Maybe the extension of privacy invading data mining tools will mean a less crude instrument than page views for advertising rates, and subsequently better journalism to attract readers marketers want…or something.

But I fear this is unlikely.