Media
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BRIAN COYNE: The Bolt-Pell interview: It was “vintage Murdoch”
Stir up the emotions of Benny-Ratz’s little people Continue reading »
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PATRICIA EDGAR. Education and Entertainment after COVID-19
COVID-19 has let the genie out of the bottle. Education and entertainment will not return to their traditional forms. Continue reading »
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JOHN TAN. Covid-19: Which news sources should you trust?
Crises bring out a natural hunger for good information. How does one choose news sources? Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE.-Strengthening Pearls and Irritations.
From next week, we will be outsourcing the production, technical support and promotion of Pearls & Irritations. Continue reading »
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JOHN TAN. How the corporate media is helping Biden and normalising neoliberalism.
The corporate media is sneaking opinion into news reports, masquerading as fact. Not too subtle but a very effective form of propaganda now saturating our lives; changing what we believe to be normal; and playing on our insecurity and fears. Continue reading »
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JOHN TAN. More securitisation of policing functions? More democracy decay?
There is a concerted push to have ASD (Australian Signals Directorate) help in tracking paedophile suspects. Are there implications for law enforcement accountability, FOI, journalism, human rights and democracy? Take a look at some issues that have arisen in other countries. Continue reading »
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MARCUS REUBENSTEIN: Please give this face a name
Western reports on COVID-19 have overwhelmingly been produced under a simple banner of ‘China’. It’s a homogeneous label that ignores the human face of Chinese people everywhere. Continue reading »
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JOHN TAN. Jokowi, identity politics … and neoliberalism.
President Joko Widodo is concerned by identity politics, which has been standard fare for neoliberal US and Australian election strategists for many years. Continue reading »
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HENRY BATEMAN. What Malnutrition Looks Like.
As the ABC incorporates round the clock disaster warnings into its scheduling, other programming is showing the consequence of resource deprivation. Continue reading »
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DAVID MACILWAIN. Australian media and its regulator conceal the true story of chemical weapons attacks in Syria
In writing a formal complaint to the overseer of Australian media ACMA over SBS’ failure to broadcast news that the OPCW’s claims on chemical weapons use in Syria had been exposed as fabricated, I have encountered a Kafkaesque problem – only complaints on specific broadcasts can be examined.. Continue reading »
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PAUL MALONE. Australia’s American view of the world
The Australian media’s view of the world is dictated by the US Continue reading »
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BRUCE DOVER. The Foxification of the Murdoch media in Australia.
The ructions inside the Murdoch empire last week when youngest son, James made a very rare but very public criticism of the family companies news coverage of climate change in the wake of the Australian bushfires shines a revealing light on what is likely to be the continued ” Foxification” of our local media. Continue reading »
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JOHN TAN. Zuckerberg is right, isn’t he?
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly under intense pressure in the US to curb political advertisements on its pages. Who might be running such a campaign and for what reasons? Perhaps the answer lies in the gap between rhetoric and reality. Continue reading »
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RODNEY TIFFEN. The Murdoch Press and the Bushfires
The disastrous summer of bushfires has not been easy for Scott Morrison, but the News Corp newspapers have also had trouble rising to the challenge. Continue reading »
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CAMERON LECKIE. The Australian Mainstream Media: Propagandists on Chemical Weapons
One of the most effective tools of the propagandist is the power of leaving out. Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE.- Pearls and Irritations over the Holidays
There will be no posts on December 26, 27 and 28. Ian McAuley and Peter Sainsbury will have some weekend breaks. There will be some scheduled ‘holiday’ and some ‘new’ posts on other days. Many thanks to readers and contributors. Have a peaceful and happy Christmas and Hanukkah and .. other. Continue reading »
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Have you completed our survey?
We have created a short survey to find out more about our readers and to solicit important feedback on their experience when reading our blog. (The survey has been sent to all subscribers – please check your spam if it has not arrived in your inbox.) If you have not already done so, would you mind Continue reading »
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Readers’ survey.
We have created a short survey to find out more about our readers and to solicit important feedback on their experience when reading our blog. (The survey has been sent to all subscribers – please check your spam if it has not arrived in your inbox.) If you have not already done so, would you mind Continue reading »
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Pearls & Irritations Survey
We have created a short survey to find out more about our readers and to solicit important feedback on their experience when reading our blog. (The survey has been sent to all subscribers – please check your spam if it has not arrived in your inbox.) If you have not already done so, would you mind Continue reading »
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Pearls and Irritations readers’ survey
We have created a short survey to find out more about our readers and to solicit important feedback on their experience when reading our blog. (The survey has been sent to all subscribers today – please check your spam if it has not arrived in your inbox.) Would you mind spending a few minutes to provide Continue reading »
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Adversarial journalism in the coverage of China
Australian media’s coverage of China has shifted to adversarial journalism. To change this status quo requires leadership and serious action. Continue reading »
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EVAN JONES. Freedom of the press: to what end?
The Australian media have been running a campaign for freedom of the press, under the rubric yourrighttoknow.com.au. The campaign asks: ‘When government keeps the truth from you, what are they covering up?’ A worthy cause. One needs to go further and ask: When the media keep the truth from you, what are they covering up? Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. The Frankenstein effect – why whistleblowers are needed now, more than ever
If we’re not properly informed .. we can create monsters. This is called the Frankenstein effect. Whether you’re a taxpayer, a citizen, a consumer or a shareholder expecting to live in a free and fair society with peace and prosperity, you certainly need whistleblowers and the journalists prepared to seek out and publish their revelations. Continue reading »
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DEAN BAKER. Mark Zuckerberg is a Rich Jerk (Counter Punch 5-11-19)
Last week, New York Times columnist Timothy Egan had a piece headlined “Why Doesn’t Mark Zuckerberg Get It?” The piece then goes on to document how Facebook has become a medium for spreading lies and nonsense all over the world, that many ill-informed users have come to believe. Continue reading »
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DEAN BAKER. Mark Zuckerberg is a Rich Jerk (Counterpunch, 5 November 2019)
Last week, New York Times columnist Timothy Egan had a piece headlined “Why Doesn’t Mark Zuckerberg Get It?” The piece then goes on to document how Facebook has become a medium for spreading lies and nonsense all over the world, that many ill-informed users have come to believe. Continue reading »
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Christopher Findlay. Can cooperation prevent the descent of a digital Iron Curtain? (East Asia Forum, 27 October 2019)
Fifth-generation mobile network technology (5G) offers higher speeds and greater capacity. This is critical for cutting-edge technologies such as autonomous vehicles and applications of virtual reality. The development of 5G is also expected to drive innovation towards many things not yet imagined. It is likely to be truly transformative. Chinese technology firm Huawei has significant Continue reading »
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Self-Censoring Journalists: the BDS Movement and Julian Assange
In June at the National Press Club, the bosses of News Corp, Channel Nine and the ABC spoke about press freedom. David Anderson, Managing Director of the ABC said, ‘Press freedom is proxy for public freedom.’ Continue reading »
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ALISON BROINOWSKI. Julian Assange – ‘Find Justice and Make It Quick’ (American Herald Tribune 28-9-19)
With the US on the warpath and Australia sending military, air, and naval support for American activities in the Gulf, three Australian and British nationals are being made an example of in Iran, where they are in solitary confinement on charges of espionage. British politicians have been quick to accuse Iran of ‘hostage diplomacy’, saying the allegations Continue reading »
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DUNCAN GRAHAM. PM in gaffe-strewn Indonesian TV interview
Scott Morrison has given a rambling error-littered interview to Indonesian TV where he fudged the figures of casualties in the 2002 Bali bomb blast. The Prime Minister told English-speaking journalist Andini Effendi that “more Indonesians were killed than Australians” when the reverse is true. The official final death toll of 202 men and women in Continue reading »
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NOEL TURNBULL. Putting lipstick on a pig
The phrase putting lipstick on a pig is probably unfair to pigs. For a generation brought up on Miss Piggy it might even be incomprehensible. But it does sum up a public relations innovation which resulted in a man who had been convicted of sexual assault getting positive coverage in the US magazines Forbes, HuffPost Continue reading »