Indy Media Watch

A post on Melbourne Indymedia asks:

Steve Iwrin is dead. Who cares?

Apparently, the author didn't even care enough to spell his surname correctly. He continues:

No. Steve did not love animals. Steve loved money - and in the end the money killed him. And he knew he had to take stupid risks harrassing wildlife to get it.

Mourn Steve, by all means. But no more than any other Australian businessman. Thats all he was.

Steve loved money? Who knows. He did say "Every cent we earn from Crocodile Hunter goes straight back into conservation. Every single cent."

So it's really what he did with the money that counts. For example:

STEVE Irwin turned a provincial reptile park into an international tourist attraction dragging in an annual income of more than $4million.

Although he could have cashed in by signing up to TV advertising campaigns, the croc-handler preferred to produce documentaries and help out on tourism and environment campaigns.

Each year more than 64,000 overseas flights into Australia begin their descent with a video featuring Irwin warning of the dangers of breaching strict quarantine regulations. When Irwin first appeared in ads for the quarantine service in 2003, critics of his over-the-top style accused him of pocketing $175,000 for a single day's filming.

Irwin later revealed he had not taken a cent for the ad - but the government department had donated the money to his koala hospital.

The full value of Irwin's interests, which include the zoo, production company and large tracts of land he has bought in recent years in Queensland to establish a wildlife refuge, is hard to quantify.

Not that the Indymedia poster made any attempt to find out of course. The article continues:

He was also pivotal to Australian Made campaigns in markets as diverse as the US and Southeast Asia, where his "Crikey" cry was becoming more popular through the impact of satellite TV.

Australian Made CEO Ian Harrison said Irwin's death was a major loss to the campaign.

"Steve has been the frontman for our campaigns for the past 12 months and with great success," he said. "But as much as that is a comment on his enormous public profile, the fact that he did so at no charge says much more about the man's values, commitment to Australia and his generosity."

According to this article:

RSPCA Queensland spokesman Michael Beatty, who first worked with Irwin when the Crocodile Hunter was just 15, said Irwin's contribution to society would only truly be recognised in the years ahead.

"He put his money where his mouth was," Mr Beatty said.

Much more than can be said of our Indymedia friend. Indymedia readers then fall over themselves to spit on his corpse in the comments which follow:

very amusing death.
cheered me up.
Irwin was a twat, and confirmed the worst stereotypical ideas about Australia.
...
The bottom line is that Irwin was a cock-head, the worst of what it means to be 'Australian'. He helped stereotype this country as a mystical land of yodal-gits. And now we're gonna praise him like a god?

Not fucken me.

Happy thought for the day: Indymedia being attacked by crocodiles.