Media
-
Laurie Patton. Malcolm Turnbull: NBN killer?
The ABC Online News headline on the 14th of September 2010 was pretty blunt: “Abbott orders Turnbull to demolish NBN”. In the article itself then Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is quoted as saying: “The Government is going to invest $43 billion worth of hard-earned money in what I believe is going to turn out to Continue reading »
-
Ranald Macdonald. Meet Mark Scott’s heir apparent, a businesswoman with close ties to the Murdochs.
“The announcement of Michelle Guthrie as the new ABC supremo by ABC Board Chairman Jim Spigelman is shrewd and just maybe a winner. Of course, one cannot judge the performance of a driver until she is actually behind the wheel and showing her stuff. An “A” for innovation, though, for the Board on its decision Continue reading »
-
How a photographer of refugees finds the stories that get left behind.
‘I feel an obligation to give something back to the people I photograph.’ See link to stories and photos from the Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/alessandro-penso-interview_5672f66fe4b0648fe3028939?ir=World%253Fncid%253Dnewsltushpmg00000003 Continue reading »
-
Rod Tiffen. Chris Mitchell at The Australian.
Chris Mitchell’s place in Australian journalism history is secure. The newspaper he edited lost more money during his tenure than any other paper ever has or will be allowed to again. Mitchell was editor in chief of The Australian for 13 years, and while News Corp is studiously coy about how much profit or loss the Continue reading »
-
Gabrielle Appleby. What say do our elected representatives have in going to war?
The authorisation of military force is one of the most serious and consequential powers that governments possess. This power should be exercised with appropriate caution and, where circumstances allow, considered deliberation. Governments should be publicly accountable for its exercise. Across the world, debates have emerged around the extent to which the legislative branch should be Continue reading »
-
The end of the NBN – missed opportunity for the innovation agenda?
In BuddeBlog, Paul Budde again outlines the major problems that the NBN faces. In this article he draws attention to reports that the government may be considering selling the NBN. He points out that it was remarkable that the NBN did not feature in Malcolm Turnbull’s Innovation Statement. See link to BuddeBlog below. http://www.buddeblog.com.au/frompaulsdesk/the-end-of-the-nbn-missed-opportunity-for-the-innovation-agenda/ Continue reading »
-
Walkley Award for refugee advocate, Safdar Ahmed.
All the 2015 Walkley Award Winners announced on Thursday evening came from mainstream media organisations except one, Safdar Ahmed. Safdar, who won in the ‘Artwork’ category for his documentary web-comic Villawood: Notes From An Immigration Detention Centre, is a Sydney-based artist and academic in the field of Islamic studies. The work depicts the stories of Continue reading »
-
Tony Smith. There is a hole in my heart where NITV News used to be
There are times when the rhetoric about ‘closing the gap’ between Indigenous Australians and the rest of the population sticks in the throat. This week I turned on my preferred television news source – the 5.30 bulletin on National Indigenous TeleVision (SBS4) – and found that it had disappeared. The ‘gap’ refers to the statistics Continue reading »
-
Bullying and bugging in East Timor.
The bugging by Australian Security Intelligence Service (ASIS) of an East Timorese cabinet meeting in 2004 will not go away. The event was so outrageous it is not surprising that it continues to resurface. Only a Royal Commission or a Judicial Review can redress some of the damage that has been done to Australia’s reputation, Continue reading »
-
Rob Nicholls. Ziggy’s stardust: The NBN, net neutrality and competitive neutrality
The sound of an incumbent lobbying has the grating element of petulant mewling. When the incumbent is a state owned enterprise that is evoking arguments about net neutrality, then it’s time to ask the “cui bono?” or “to whose profit?” question. After all, the term “network neutrality” can be best summed up as a line Continue reading »
-
Richard Butler. After Paris
The attacks in Paris were textbook in terms of the philosophy of terrorism: hit publicly, indiscriminately, affecting as large a group of innocent people as possible, attract maximum publicity, generate widespread fear. They also represented a continuation of terrorist actions within metropolitan Europe: Madrid 2004, 191 dead; London 2005, 56 dead; Paris January 2015, Continue reading »
-
Malcolm Turnbull’s NBN is off the rails.
Paul Budde comments in his BuddeBlog on 6 November 2015 ‘If you abandon national FttH (fibre to the home) you also undermine the infrastructure required by the new economy. … The MTM [multi technology mix] leads to the Balkanisation of infrastructure in Australia and will favour companies such as Telstra and TPG. … The NBN Co Continue reading »
-
Ross Gittins. Launch of book by Menadue and Keating.
Sydney, Thursday, November 5, 2015 Paul Samuelson, the famous American economist, is said to have remarked that the stockmarket has predicted nine of the past five recessions. I thought of that this week and decided the Canberra press gallery could top it: the gallery has predicted nine of the past two early elections. They Continue reading »
-
Climate, Economy, Health, Human Rights, Immigration, refugees, Infrastructure, Media, SERIES: Freedom, opportunity and security, World Affairs
Michael Keating. The role of government in policy renewal.
In thanking Ross Gittins for launching ‘Freedom, Opportunity and Security’, Mike Keating explains the reasons why he and I decided to launch this series, first online and now in a book. Mike Keating’s book launch notes follow. I will also be posting Ross Gittins’ comments. John Menadue. Thank you Ross Gittins and thanks to you all Continue reading »
-
Quigley, former CEO of NBN, attributes $15 b. cost blow out to Turnbull’s Multi Technology Mix.
For comment by Renai LeMay, see link to his blog delimiter.com.au below: https://delimiter.com.au/2015/11/05/quigley-releases-detailed-evidence-showing-mtm-nbn-cost-blowout/ John Menadue. Continue reading »
-
Quentin Dempster. Countering Rupert Murdoch’s plan to destroy public broadcasting in Australia.
I regret to report there are forces at work in this country out to destroy public broadcasting… the ABC and SBS. But the fight to protect and enhance a more dynamic public broadcasting sector has just begun. Tomorrow in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, you will see a half page ad paid for Continue reading »
-
Ranald Macdonald. In journalism we trust – or do we?
Journalists from the safe fortress of their own news outlets attacking the professional integrity of their competitors is a no-win situation. The consequences are far-reaching. Doyen of Australian journalism, Laurie Oakes got it right recently at the Melbourne Press Club when he quoted Tom Stoppard (the noted British playwright) who said “A free press needs Continue reading »
-
John Menadue. Abbott lectures London on how to ‘stop the boats’.
Tony Abbott has been at it again, this time in London, claiming that he stopped the boats and that Europeans should follow suit. It is an oft repeated untruth that he stopped the boats. His one-liners are not supported by the facts. But the lie is deeply imbedded. Last month, Peter Hughes and I posted Continue reading »
-
John Menadue. Malcolm Turnbull and rebuilding the ABC
Our new prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull has a chance to repair the damage that was done to the ABC when he was the minister in charge. Malcolm Turnbull was unable to stop Tony Abbott’s cultural war on the ABC which was aided and abetted by Rupert Murdoch. Today, Friends of the ABC published an advertisement Continue reading »
-
Ranald Macdonald. The ABC and SBS are under attack.
Now is the time to support the ABC and SBS and the reasons are clear for all to see. Our new Prime Minister has the chance of reversing decisions made during the Abbott leadership – but with him as the Communications Minister. Public broadcasting is under attack in many countries. The BBC has been particularly Continue reading »
-
John Menadue. Is Malcolm Turnbull sacrificing his principles?
The polls show most Australian voters have welcomed Malcolm Turnbull’s election as Prime Minister. I did. It is very early days, but I am concerned by signs that he is bowing very much to the right wing of his own party and former Abbott supporters rather than spelling out clearly his own policies that we Continue reading »
-
Nauru and the Philippines
Three days ago, on 6 October, I posted a story ‘Nauru and the Philippines‘. That story carried an unconfirmed report that the Australian government was negotiating with the Philippines government for the transfer of 600 asylum seekers in Nauru to the Philippines. Since then there have been several reports confirming the thrust of this story, Continue reading »
-
Ranald Macdonald. The ABC and a Call to Arms.
A CALL TO ARMS –Why this Country needs you to act. That is the title to my talk today and my exhortation to you all. The latest figures show over 400 ABC staff already “removed” from the ABC, as we edge towards its 500 target. The recent change in Prime Minister-ship has NOT changed expectations Continue reading »
-
John Menadue. Murdoch is losing his touch.
Two weeks before the fall of Tony Abbott, Rupert Murdoch tweeted “Abbott, far the best alternative”. The Liberal Party ignored his tweet and chose Malcolm Turnbull. Rupert Murdoch’s declining influence is becoming plain to see. At the last SA state election, the Adelaide Advertiser backed the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party lost. At the last Continue reading »
-
Stephen Leeder. The takeover of the Medical Journal of Australia.
A quick glance at the last page of the most recent issue of the MJA reveals that there is as yet no replacement editor-in-chief and that two of the most senior medical editors – Janusic and Armstrong – are missing in action, as is the Editorial Advisory Committee. There is an interim editor. Many of Continue reading »
-
Rod Tiffen Lord Leveson, your country needs you, again.
Two events in the past week show the importance of the Leveson Inquiry reconvening to complete its second report. The Leveson inquiry was set up by British Prime Minister David Cameron in July 2011 at the height of the phone hacking scandal centered on Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World newspaper. Lord Justice Leveson’s inquiry Continue reading »
-
Brian McNair. News Corp and the future of public service media.
I’ve been teaching students in Hong Kong about the relationship between politics and the media, and wanted to illustrate the sometimes problematic relationship between media and power. So I showed them Robert Peston’s BBC Panorama documentary about the “industrial-scale” criminality of Rupert Murdoch’s UK red-tops in the era of Andy Coulson and Rebekkah Brooks (* Continue reading »
-
Julianne Schultz. Why public broadcasting is worth saving.
In an age of global media abundance, the notion that public broadcasting is a mechanism to address “market failure” is beguiling. It is also fundamentally wrong. Public broadcasters have a unique national responsibility to provide a public good to citizens, rather than the more narrowly defined and easily measured mission of commercial broadcasters, to engage Continue reading »
-
Bob Kinnaird. China FTA truth still elusive
Two months after releasing the China FTA text the Coalition government has still not told the Australian people the truth about the labour mobility provisions in ChAFTA. The result is confusion even among usually well-informed commentators. Greg Sheridan Foreign Affairs Editor for The Australian says ‘the clause in the FTA that says there is no Continue reading »
-
Stephen Harper. The closing of the Canadian mind.
Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, has no greater foreign admirer than Tony Abbott who gushed about him when he visited Ottawa a year ago. Like Tony Abbott, Stephen Harper has attacked science and the media. He has weakened citizenship laws and supports polluters. It sounds very familiar. For an article in the International New York Continue reading »
