The respected national daily newspaper, The Australian proudly carries the word ‘Exclusive’ in bold red type above its front-page item in this morning’s edition, “Cars and cattle clash on Japan FTA.”

The only problem is, the central points in the article were covered in comprehensive detail a day earlier in an item on Beef Central yesterday morning.

The Australian newspaper’s report this morning correctly suggests that Australian meat exporters believe they are being sacrificed for the benefit of the car industry as negotiations for the Australia-Japan FTA draw closer to conclusion. It also mentions “reductions in tariffs for a limited volume of beef products over a limited period of time,” – matters all itemised, and in considerably greater detail, in Beef Central’s earlier report published yesterday.    

Beef Central’s earlier report (click here to view) also incorporated more general comments issued yesterday from the Red Meat Advisory Council stressing that the industry would accept nothing less than an ‘ambitious, comprehensive and trade-enhancing’ FTA with Japan.

The RMAC statement said only that recent reports in the Japanese media stated that Japan was seeking to retain high tariffs on imports of Australian beef as part of the AJFTA outcome and that a deal had been, or was close to being done. Beef Central reported on that development a week ago.

Other media outlets have simply run yesterday’s more general RMAC statement in unaltered form, without any of the rich context, detail on Japan’s current beef trade offer and the implications behind it, or political overtones provided in Beef Central’s full report, compiled and published yesterday morning.

Beef Central does not bother using words like ‘exclusive’ on its reports, for one simple reason: readers are already clearly aware that the website is inevitably first with the news that matters to the Australian red meat supply chain.

Now THAT’S an exclusive.