Thanks to John Menadue on the 'Red Alert' anniversary

March 10, 2026

Three years since ‘ Red Alert’ marks the third anniversary of my consigning mainstream newspapers (as they once were) to oblivion. Yes, I still read bits, so I know what others are talking about, and almost always readers’ letters for a (biased) selection of community views. Free-to-air TV news is no better. (I won’t mention S**.) So for factual content, expanded context, informed commentary, as little bias as possible (because we’re all biased to some degree), then I choose alternative news media, all online.

For me, Pearls and Irritations leads the pack. There are a few others I read more often than not, while I appreciate friends alerting me to articles from sources I don’t usually read … There are only so many hours in the day after all.

We recently thanked John Menadue as he handed over the baton (thankfully ‘without’ disappearing). On what I think of as the anniversary day of the terminal diagnosis for the legacy press, thanks to John bear repeating for his foresight and outstanding contribution to keeping us informed in a way we haven’t been for a very long time. And thanks too, to so many willing contributors. Champions all!