Media
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Forty years on, no justice for Bhopal victims – Asian Media Report
In Asian media this week: Disaster survivor says she wishes she had died. Plus: Macabre dispute over Pakistan protest deaths; Trump’s new term, crisis time for AUKUS: Martial law becomes South Korea’s democratic moment; Fentanyl America’s problem, says Beijing; Women’s freedom means no going back on population decline Continue reading »
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Decency and dignity generate and earn respect
While Bob Menzies pumped the political scare campaign to the max, to help ensure his newly formed Liberal Party’s ongoing popularity between 1949-66, locals were often more relaxed about sharing community life with those they battled on election day. Continue reading »
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Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s Isi Leibler was a ‘covert agent of Israeli intelligence’
When I began editing Quadrant with Peter Coleman in 1989, my co-editorship was soon overwhelmed by the most unpleasant controversy of my life, at least thus far. Continue reading »
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When media and the state collude
It was the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, a day meant to mark the start of a 16-day global campaign to end the scourge of gender-based violence against women. Yet, on this day of reflection and action, The Australian chose to publish a follow-up story to its sensationalised splash just two Continue reading »
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A five-minute scroll
Trump seeks a currency commitment from BRICS or 100 percent tariffs will apply. The man feeding up to 3,000 Gazans daily has been targeted and killed, while Al Jazeera investigates IDF use of quadcopters with sounds of babies crying luring Gazans from their homes. A soldier tells Hareetz that what he has seen in Gaza Continue reading »
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The prescience of Corporal Hijack
A year ago, Mussa Hijazi, a stone-throwing young teenager of the first Intifada who became a long-serving Canberra lawyer, laid out three options on how the conflict in Gaza would end. Continue reading »
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South Korea pays the price for Ukraine’s fake news on North Korean troops
Some stand to benefit from the deluge of fake news from the war, while others could pay dearly. Continue reading »
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Updates from Jerusalem, then and now
From the Committee to Protect Journalists: “The Israel-Gaza war has taken an unprecedented toll on Gazan journalists since Israel declared war on Hamas following its attack against Israel on October 7, 2023. As of November 26, 2024, CPJ’s preliminary investigations showed at least 137 journalists and media workers were among the more than tens of thousands killed in Gaza, the West Bank, Continue reading »
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Will Joe Biden pardon Julian Assange?
Julian Assange may no longer be behind bars, but his conviction casts a shadow over press freedom and the safety of journalists everywhere—a wrong Assange and his supporters world-wide are determined to set right by overturning his wrongful conviction via a presidential pardon from Joe Biden. Continue reading »
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ABC News’ death rattle
I’d like to think that ABC News’ revamped online iteration is like an ancient Aunty’s death rattle. Surely, its demise must follow. Continue reading »
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The North Atlantic allies are killing democracy
Historically, many of its members have waged and/or supported wars in the name of democracy. Continue reading »
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Within the context of no context… Here comes Donny
Forty four years ago today as I am writing this (17/11/80) the harbinger of Donald Trump appeared in The New Yorker magazine. TV critic George W.S. Trow wrote a long essay (which later became a book) titled ‘Within the context of no context,’ giving notice to the world of what we now see unfolding across Continue reading »
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Xi warns Trump: Don’t test our red lines – Asian Media Report
In Asian media this week: ‘Seven pillars of wisdom’ on US-China links. Plus: India’s selfishness-is-good ideology; Marles locking in US-Japan defence ties; Non-aligned Indonesia’s balancing act; ‘Tsunami of change’ in Sri Lanka election; Lonely hearts kindle companionship economy. Continue reading »
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Is “knowing what’s going on” too much to bear?
The courage it takes to “know”, to “realise”, to “comprehend” when “trusted” global powers act against humanity is a profoundly personal effort. Your success will only ever be relative. Yet your choices will and do affect the collective (society). They also affect your identity: where and how you feel alliances, where and how you draw Continue reading »
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Are ‘dead’ Palestinian children less important than ‘murdered’ Israeli hostages?
I audibly gasped when Andrew Podger referred to Israel’s response in Gaza as a “lack of care” in a recent P&I article. Hardly a balanced use of words. Continue reading »
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Social media ban targets the wrong age group and the wrong type of media
To reduce social harm, instead of a ban on teens accessing social media, should we consider a ban on over 60 year olds reading and listening to News Corporation outlets? Continue reading »
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Australia’s public policy settings need to change to reflect our new reality
Many of Australia’s public policy settings were designed decades ago. Since that time, society and the economy have changed radically. Australia’s outdated policy settings now extend to matters as important and diverse as taxation, competition policy, drug laws, reproductive healthcare, the carbon transition, media regulation and the organisation of our parliaments. Change is urgent. This is Continue reading »
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“Disingenuous theatre dressed up as major news”: Why the ABC is losing credibility
ABC supporters across the country are dismayed and angry with the national broadcaster. The biggest threat to the ABC today is its craven and distorted performance in television current affairs reporting. Continue reading »
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They spit in our faces
The fossil fuel corporations and their enablers treat us with complete contempt. This is not very polite to say, I know, but they spit in our faces and laugh. Continue reading »
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A fighter for Palestinians’ freedom: Ali Kazak
Exceptional courage and commitment is needed to spend decades pursuing freedom for your people and to do so with few resources against considerable odds. Continue reading »
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We are sending the wrong message by focusing on annual carbon emissions based on 100-year global warming potential
The climate crisis is much more severe than most people and politicians realise. Continue reading »
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One word fouls straits settlement – “Overlapping”
It was supposed to be the Tour Triumphant, showing that Indonesia – the globe’s fourth-most populous nation – has a cosmopolitan new boss who can stride the world stage with panache. But cashiered former general Prabowo Subianto has tripped badly. Continue reading »
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Accusing the Palestinians of what they themselves do
With impudence, Israel and its lobby always accuse us Palestinians of what they do against us. They play the role of the victim, making the criminal a victim and the victim a criminal even as they commit one of the most heinous war crimes and genocide against humanity, with unprecedented hatred and sadistic brutality. Turning tens Continue reading »
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How can civilised people countenance genocide?
Relatively few people alive would have experienced the rise of fascism in the early C20 but most people understand the crucial role that manipulation of information played in the ascent to power in what were democratic’ countries. Mussolini evolved from a journalist/publishing background; Goebbels and ‘the big lie’ trope are a frequently quoted feature of Continue reading »
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Grinding the axis
Axis is a four-letter word that should be banned or at least binned for the time being. The US uses the term in a distinctly hostile way, and now Andrew Shearer, Australia’s chief security adviser, has adopted the same language. Continue reading »
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BBC goes full Goebbels in support of Israeli soccer hooligans
“IDF will fuck the Arabs!”, “Why is school out in Gaza? There are no children left there!” Maccabi Tel Aviv football fans chanting on 8 November, as reported by The Times of Israel. Yet the BBC just compared them to Jewish victims of the Nazi pogroms. Why this story matters is because of the outsized Continue reading »
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The Gaza catastrophe: Compel Israeli and Western elites to see reason
Israel is determined to take over North Gaza. This explains its destruction of residential areas in the region. Schools and hospitals have also been targeted. People have been forced to flee their homes. Many who have chosen to stay behind have been killed. Continue reading »
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Atrocity propaganda: Hamas, human shields and genocide
Western media never tire of siting the atrocities of Hamas while diminishing and justifying the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank even when the majority of them are women and children. But how accurate is this portrayal of events? Continue reading »
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Trump’s election triggers anxiety – Asian Media Report
In Asian media this week: World must brace ‘for extreme chaos’. Plus: Beijing pivots towards military junta; Yoon now engulfed in political strife; Haggling intensifies to decide on Japan’s leader; Indonesia’s debate over joining BRICS; Anwar Ibrahim always one of the elite. Continue reading »
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The ABC must reinforce its commitment to unbiased reporting
Jonathan Holmes, a respected journalist and former host of Media Watch, with an impressive career spanning over 40 years including work as an executive producer for programs like Four Corners, Foreign Correspondent, and 7.30 Report, has shared his perspective on the challenges facing Australia’s national broadcaster, the ABC with Michael Lester. Continue reading »
