The Bottom Feeder

Bottom feeder. Its traditional meaning’s an aquatic animal that feeds on or near the bottom of a body of water [1]. But other, less traditional, meanings have emerged – including leech, slacker, loser and lowlife [2]. Whatever its meaning, self- evidently it’s an attractive title – because there’s at least one Bottom Feeder movie [3], book [4], band [5], song [6], computer program [7], blog [8] and IT consultancy [9]. And no doubt more. I guess it has a seedy if not sleazy feel about it. Last week I came across The Bottom Feeder – which calls itself ‘a Melbourne-based satirical publication’ [10]. Its byline’s compelling: ‘Scraping the bottom of the news barrel’. Its website says it ‘initially produced a printed newspaper, but now focuses on building a fan base through the website’. The site’s nicely set out and easy to navigate [11]. And, I must say, its content appeals to me: It’s dry and wry, iconoclastic and incisive. And a tad seedy. Just my style. It doesn’t supplant the mainstream media. But it places it in its true perspective – which is none too complimentary. In the aquarium, bottom feeders are popular because they’re perceived to clean up the tank. I’d be awesome if The Bottom Feeder cleaned up the mainstream media’s tank. But whether it does or not, I’m a fan. I wish it success.