Dennis Shanahan (‘Climate of fear killing off policy’, The Australian, 16/8) is admirably frank in laying a share of the blame for “crippling sensible policy discussions” in this election campaign at the feet of the Fourth Estate, of which he is a significant member.

Although he clearly does not say it, Shanahan’s observation unavoidably points to the flagrant anti-Labor slant which, since the campaign began, has spread from its legitimate home in the opinion pages of NewsCorp publications to every news story and even every published letter. It is no longer possible, if it ever was, for The Australian and its stablemates to deny a regime-change agenda with a straight face. This distortion of the role of a free press is poisoning the well of Australian democracy.