The 3+ stages of implausible deniability.

The three stages of implausible deniability,
By Helen Coonan, and John Howard.

STAGE ONE: Denial.

Coonan: “The media ownership overhaul will not spark a wave of takeovers in the industry.

*flurry of ownership changes*

STAGE TWO: Denial.

Howard: “This is surprising, but isn’t due to the new laws.”

STAGE THREE: Denial.

Coonan: “OK, it was due to the new laws, but it isn’t surprising. It’s not going to create mergers, owners are just shifting positions.”

Coming up next:

STAGE FOUR: Denial.

*mergers created*

Howard: “The mergers we said wouldn’t happen happened, but it’s a good thing.”

STAGE FIVE: Denial.

*mergers prove to be a bad thing*

Coonan: “The mergers aren’t all that bad, really – it would be worse if all media was owned by a single corporation.”

STAGE SIX: Denial.

*all media owned by one corporation through some cunning loopholes*

Howard: “It was not our intention for those loopholes to exist.”

STAGE SEVEN: Denial.

*documented proof obtained under freedom of information proves loopholes were intentional*

Howard: “…” (Doesn’t matter what he says at this point, the story won’t be picked up by the media.)