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One
death completely filled four pages (4-7) of the daily newspaper
here in Perth, the other rated a small article on page 12.
One funeral is to be televised nationally, the other will be a
much quieter affair. It is the difference in media coverage that
leads me to the title of this offering "A matter for contemplation".
As readers will have no doubt guessed, the first casualty was
the cricketer David Hookes, the other Kevin McAnuff, president
of the Pharmaceutical Council of WA and state representative to
the Pharmacy Guild.
Kevin suffered a severe heart attack on the 18th of January from
which he failed to recover.
Although I remember the famous "five successive fours"
Centenary Test and followed Hookes' career with some interest
I am at a loss to understand the variation in media coverage,
especially here in Perth. Kevin McAnuff has been the face of pharmacy
in WA for much of the 21 years I've lived in Perth, regularly
appearing in the media as the spokesman for the profession.
He ran successful businesses and became a wonderful mentor for
countless young pharmacists (including his daughter and my son
and daughter).
He was one of those instrumental in negotiating the Government-Guild
agreements that have given community pharmacy a degree of security,
translating in latter years to the rise in a more "intellectual"
range of professional services.
He has long been a champion of the profession but his death received
almost no cover in the Perth media.
One would think that unless you are an actor or singer, cricketer,
footballer or tennis player (or combination of these) you are
of little interest to the media.
Is this, I wonder, an indictment of the skewed emphasis Australians
place on the actions of these groups of people to the detriment
of possibly more important, activities such as saving lives through
medical and pharmaceutical expertise?
This year we select a retired test cricket captain (three in fact
over the years) as Australian of the Year ahead of several highly
skilled, and internationally renowned, doctors.
Where is the sense in our priorities?
It seems that, unless you are a sporting champion, your chance
of receiving widespread recognition in Australia is negligible.
We pharmacists are supposedly one of the most trusted and respected
group of professionals in Australia but it does not seem to engender
much interest in the main stream media outlets (unless, of course,
they are running a story about "rip-off" pharmacists).
Today the church was packed for Kevin's funeral - a clear indication
of the esteem with which he was held, not only here in Perth but
all over Australia, (a number of mourners had flown from interstate
to attend the ceremony) but I failed to see any television camera
crews anywhere.
Makes you
wonder doesn't it?
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