Tag Archives: journalism
ACT Chief Planner – to be or not to be
Following a couple of pieces in the local press, one would think that the ACT Government’s planning was in turmoil because key people are on the move.
Journalism
A word or two on the media and journalism – click on the image above
Journalism
What’s wrong with journalism today?
Picking up on an online article by Dr Martin Hirst where he lays out some of the problems with journalisms – I offer the following additional thoughts.
The Art Newspaper – Still Wrong on The Bishop Museum
An update on the issue of a misleading article in The Art Newspaper. Click here and scroll down the page to see the latest on this story
The Art Newspaper – Wrong about The Bishop Museum
An open letter to The Art Newspaper( 29 July) plus correspondence (5 August 2016)
Over many years I have accessed the Art Newspaper and when appropriate have either passed on links or have posted articles online that have links back to the Art Newspaper.
Continue reading The Art Newspaper – Wrong about The Bishop Museum
Michael Moore of Canberra
Commentary: Articles by Michael Moore of Canberra
I have mentioned articles written by a local, Michael Moore. While he holds down a very busy job in health, he continues to devote serious time to punching out thoughtful articles in one of the local free newspapers. They are most welcomed.
The Monthly on Supermarkets
The duopoly of supermarkets in Australia
There is a very hard-hitting article in the August 2014 issue of The Monthly on how the two large supermarkets have been allowed to rip anyone and everyone off. Even more depressing is that it points to how we, as consumers, are continuing to allow this to happen.
The major point raised by the article is how this dominance of the two of these supermarkets has reduced the food security in this country.
Murdoch
INSIDE STORY
The battle of Mort Street
A story about newspapers in Canberra: with both the Canberra Times and Murdoch’s new The Australian going into battle on Mort Street Braddon.
Click here to go to The Inside Story.
Web Information Archived
Opinion: About how we preserve online information
Web publishing is a highlight of the democratic process in the 21st Century. All sorts of people and groups have a voice. The trick of course is then getting anyone to notice.
However the greater concern is that with this super abundance of information out there to be read, how much of it can and should be archived. I’m not a heritage freak that believes in heritage of everything and anything. Things change and some things have their day and we move on. Continue reading Web Information Archived
First Dog on the Moon
Major announcement
First Dog on the Moon Lands on the Guardian
For those who have not been Crikey subscribers, their cartoonist, First Dog of the Moon, has been a big attraction.
Sadly for Crikey he has jumped fence and run away – all the way to the Guardian. So we can all enjoy him there now – with no pay-wall and even better – the Guardian has produced his cartoons in big print so he is now much easier to read.
Here’s the first cartoon – click here
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Paul Costigan, 6 April 2014
The News, A Reader’s Manual
Review: Book
The News, A Reader’s Manual. Alain De Botton
I have pondered on how to react to this little book. It is not really a User’s Manual. It is more of a reality check on what is happening with the news and those who publish it every minute of the day and night.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in thinking again about the news and how news is selected and presented. However I suggest that if you are such a person, then there is a good chance that you are the sort of person who is thinking along these lines already. So why read this book?
Cultural Writing
Opinion: Cultural Criticism
The current state of Cultural Reviews and Critical Comment
Recently the Guardian ran an opinion piece on the Barangaroo development on the eastern edge of Sydney’s CBD. The author pointed out that she had been involved in the project.
I suggest that the author failed to declare that they had been more than just simply ‘involved’. In fact they had been a leading professional on the team that had won the design competition, that had then seen their designs criticised publicly by people such as Paul Keating, then had their wining design rejected by the client and a new design developed and the contracts awarded to other teams.
The Media
Opinion: The state of Australian Media
The Democracy experiment continues to be under threat
An article from the Asia Sentinel hits the mark on the media issues in Australia.
A milestone of a dubious kind was passed in Australia recently when it was discovered that the number of public relations practitioners had for the first time exceeded the number of journalists actually working as reporters and editors. (Hamish McDonald)
The full article is a good read. Click here.
That Media Sneer
A note on Crickey Reporting
Ever so often, actually a little too often, Crickey puts out a silly and patronising report that leaves you feeling What was the point?
Here’s one by Andrew Crook, who has a few of these out there.
Hold the bus! He has researched the possible annual income of the outgoing Prime Minister. Well that ‘s important information I needed to know!
One can not help sense that he is not going to let that Julia Gillard retire quietly and resume life peacefully in her new roles. Must be some dirt here somewhere. Surely such a ‘senior journalist’ could do some real journalism. Is that asking too much? Andrew – get a life, on your bike…
End of the Road?
Review: Book
End of the Road?, Gideon Haigh, Pengiun Specials, 2013
It’s a tough life taking an interest in your country. Traditionally the main sources of information for most people has been the media. In the last decade this source has become totally corrupted, especially the mainstream media and the ABC.
When it comes to the rhetoric around the car industry in Australia, the ideological arguments that are trotted out do nothing but harm and mislead. Thank god (or whoever is out there) Penguin has these ‘Penguin Specials’ and thank you to Gideon for his research and information that goes a long way to providing a reality check on where the country is at when it comes to having a car industry.
Flat Earth News
Review: Book
Flat Earth News, Nick Davies 2009
Just when you though the media and news reporting was crap, along comes a book that proves your worst thoughts on current journalism.
Nick Davies went out on limb as he has criticised his own profession. I suspect he did not win too many friends.
He was reporting on the facts based on his own research and experiences from inside the tent on what had happened to contemporary journalism and why we are now subject to so much ‘churnalism’. Continue reading Flat Earth News
When Names Stick
Sometimes your image of particular people changes to something silly and from then on they can no longer be taken seriously
It was while I was sitting at a meeting a couple of years ago that I became quite irritated and maybe even a little bored with the posturing, the rantings and endless domination of the conversations by one particular male at the meeting.
Take Your Best Shot
Review: Book
Take Your Best Shot, The Prime Ministership of Julia Gillard, Jaqueline Kent 2013
It was a very strange three or so years in Australian politics. It remains difficult to make sense of it all.
The media, Tony Rabbot, Kevin Rudd and his ruddites and the shock jocks all part of the murky times. Then there was the uncivilised behaviour that morphed into accepted everyday behaviour and all those supposedly close colleagues who turn on you. What a time for anyone!