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Category Archives: Media
SCOTT BURCHILL: There are leaks and then there are leaks
The arrest of Julian Assange in London for his activities as head of WikiLeaks has renewed the public’s focus on the role of whistleblowers, and the prosecution of journalists who embarrass governments by exposing their lies, corruption and crimes.
SAM BYFORD. Huawei chairman accuses American critics of hypocrisy over NSA hacks (The Verge 27.2.2019)
Huawei’s rotating chairman Guo Ping has gone on the offensive this week at Mobile World Congress, following continued pressure on US allies to drop the Chinese telecoms giant over national security fears.
DAVID MACILWAIN. Two Australians in trouble abroad.
The law to censor violent content rushed through Parliament last week connected dots between two Australians abroad, when Julian Assange was “extradited” from Ecuadorian territory, in London. I examine the linkages.
Posted in Media, Politics
2 Comments
BRIAN COYNE The genius of Rupert Murdoch and why we all need to pay attention…
This is in response to the recent New York Time’s commentary on the Empire of Rupert Murdoch, P&I 5th April. Murdoch’s insight has been passed to many of the publishers of commercial media and political parties. It has damaged society … Continue reading
Posted in Media
2 Comments
KERRY O’BRIEN. We can’t let ourselves off the hook (Part 2)
Part 2 of a speech delivered at The Walkley Fund for Journalism Dinner in Sydney on Friday April 5, 2019. Every year at the Walkley Awards, we honour a craft that holds power in its various manifestations big and small, … Continue reading
Posted in Media
3 Comments
KERRY O’BRIEN. We can’t let ourselves off the hook (Part 1)
Part 1 of a speech delivered at The Walkley Fund for Journalism Dinner in Sydney on Friday April 5, 2019. Forty-three years ago I went to the Philippines for the ABC’s Four Corners, to cover a disaster story—a tsunami that … Continue reading
Posted in Media
3 Comments
LAURIE PATTON. Labor spells out its NBN rescue plan
Labor’s communications spokesperson, Michelle Rowland, has outlined a very sensible approach to fixing the dud NBN. In fact, should the Coalition retain office it would be well advised to adopt Labor’s plan.
Posted in NBN
2 Comments
MICHAEL NIMAN. Weaponised Social Media Is Driving the Explosion of Fascism (Truthout)
Social media platforms give governments, extremists, haters and propagandists the ability to excite and incite hate amplified by algorithms.
Posted in Media
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The New York Times ‘How Rupert Murdoch’s empire of influence remade the world’.
On Wednesday 3 April 2019, The New York Times published a 20,000 word article about the influence o the Murdoch family, (Rupert, James and Lachlan) and the developing divisions within it. See link below to the New York Times article.
Posted in Media, Politics
2 Comments
ANDREW JAKUBOWICZ. Why Australia is the best place to be an online racist.
When no name pulled the trigger over one hundred times as he sluiced his way through the congregations at two Christchurch mosques, nothing he did was new. It was bigger, perhaps more “successful”, and maybe better planned than his role … Continue reading
Posted in Media
3 Comments
BEN POBJIE. Why ‘Q&A’ Is A Complete Waste Of Time (10 Daily).
With Tony Jones announcing his imminent departure from Q&A, it seems timely to take a good look at the little political panel show that his calm stewardship turned into a ratings semi-behemoth for the ABC.
Posted in Media
14 Comments
KIM WINGEREI. Independent Media Continues to Grow!
Independent media continues to grow apace, while mainstream media is at best stagnant. Based on data provided by SimilarWeb – a global online traffic measurement service – independent media traffic has grown by 9.76% from November 2018 to February 2019*. … Continue reading
Posted in Media
4 Comments
COLIN HAWES. Why Defamation Lawsuits Are Crucial for Protecting Rule of Law: A Comment on the Chau Chak Wing Case
Following the recent success of Dr. Chau Chak Wing’s defamation lawsuit against Fairfax and John Garnaut, Liberal MP Andrew Hastie stated that the judgment will be “carefully analysed”: “The ability to report freely and fairly on national security is a … Continue reading
Posted in Media
2 Comments
JOHN MENADUE. Some Coalition legacies that a new government must confront
There are several major issues that dominate public life today and require resolution. Those issues are –the growing existential threat of climate change, the dire consequences following the Iraq invasion, tax cuts during the mining boom that result in continuing … Continue reading
JACK WATERFORD. Murdoch becomes a paper tiger (Canberra Times 2.2.2019)
If Labor wins the next election Bill Shorten may be the first Labor prime minister since Arthur Calwell 55 years ago to act as if he was completely indifferent to the existence, the views or the personality of Rupert Murdoch, … Continue reading
Posted in Media, Politics
10 Comments
JOHN MENADUE. The Liberal and National parties have deserted country people on climate change, NBN and more.
Both the Liberal and National parties are taking a drubbing from country voters. A while back it was New England and Lyne. More recently it has been Indi and Wagga Wagga.
Posted in Environment and climate, NBN, Politics
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PETER MANNING. The unknown thoughts of Chair Ita
If Ita Buttrose, AO OBE is appointed ABC Chair of the Board in the next few days it will represent yet another opportunity for her to show her extraordinary talents at confronting difficult media challenges and coming out a winner.
Posted in Media
3 Comments
GARY McLAREN Is an NBN quick fix possible?
The National Broadband Network went from a nation building project to political football after the 2013 election. Is it now too late to save? How much of the billions spent can be salvaged? How much needs to be spent … Continue reading
Posted in NBN
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PETER MANNING. The Chair the ABC needs
After a year from hell, the ABC desperately needs stability, leadership, vision and funds.
QUENTIN DEMPSTER. The ABC is now fighting for its survival (Speech delivered on 7 February 2019)
In trying to defend the ABC as an institutional pillar of a fearless free media in Australia’s robust democracy, first, we have to confront paranoia.It comes in the form of constant Murdoch Press complaints that the ABC is biased and … Continue reading
Posted in Media
10 Comments
MATTHEW O’NEILL. How the media’s fixation with Trump was exported. (The Interpreter 23.1.2019)
The Trump administration has hurtled into its third year and the media circus that’s trailed the 45th president continues apace. Australians who didn’t tune out of the news over the summer holidays were fed a diet of chaos and controversy … Continue reading
Posted in Media, Politics
3 Comments
CRISPIN HULL. Solution to ABC budget cuts. (Canberra Times 19.1.2019)
Here is an idea for how the ABC might deal with the inevitable round of cuts next Budget. Clever bureaucrats when faced with funding cuts go for the jugular. They attack some popular vote-sensitive function and announce it will be … Continue reading
JAKE JOHNSON. Facebook let corporate partners read users’ private messages.
Just hours after civil rights groups called on Facebook’s top executives to step down from the company’s board for allowing “viral propaganda” and “bigoted campaigns” to spread on the platform, demands for CEO Mark Zuckerberg to resign intensified after a bombshell New York … Continue reading
KIM WINGEREI. Independent Media On The Rise
To conclude my series of posts on media power and politics, it is worth highlighting how independent media is on the rise in Australia. As we head into the new year – elections looming – trust in politicians at an … Continue reading
Posted in Media
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KIM WINGEREI. The Politics of Media Power.
Much has been said and will continue to be said about the power that Rupert Murdoch wields in our very concentrated media landscape. It is a landscape that continues to change and the ACCC just released the preliminary report on … Continue reading
CHRIS HEDGES. Banishing Truth – The story of Seymour Hersh. (Truthdig 24.12.2018)
The investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, in his memoir “Reporter,” describes a moment when as a young reporter he overheard a Chicago cop admit to murdering an African-American man. The murdered man had been falsely described by police as a robbery suspect … Continue reading
Posted in Media, Politics
8 Comments
ANDREW GLIKSON. The ABC 2018 year-roundup and the defining issue of our time.
“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil – God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act” Dietrich Bonhoeffer The ABC 2018 year wrap-up included a few seconds of … Continue reading
PETER MANNING. The Best of 2018: Public trust and the ABC, a landmine for Turnbull.
It’s a long-time ago now but in the early 1990’s, just after I’d finished my stint as head of ABC TV News and Current Affairs (and having a blue with first Bob Hawke and then David Hill over ABC TV … Continue reading
Posted in Media
5 Comments
AMANDA MEADE. Positive finding on ABC and SBS a bitter pill for News Corp (The Guardian).
Rejection of competition complaints wasn’t what the Australian was hoping for. Plus: Ray Hadley sees the light.
Posted in Media
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JOHN MENADUE. Newcastle Port – another botched privatisation -A repost from 5 September 2016
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has taken legal action over the terms on which the NSW Coalition Government in 2013 privatised Port Botany and Port Kembla and imposed severe restrictions on Newcastle Port. Our mainstream media has shown scant … Continue reading
Posted in Infrastructure, Media
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