Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has come under concerted attack by many sections of the media over his proposed reforms. But what exactly are they?
AAP/Lukas Coch
For the past 12 months we’ve been warned on an almost daily basis that the sky is about to fall in on media freedoms in Australia, but what does the legislation before parliament this week actually propose…
Julia Gillard’s tour of the western suburbs of Sydney is a shining example of politics and media merging into “stunt”.
AAP/Paul Miller
We live in an era of expanded media and accelerated news cycles, in which citizens have access to more information, and more opportunities to participate in the public sphere, than ever before in human…
A woman reads the Sydney Morning Herald in its new tabloid-sized format while a neuro test monitors her reaction.
Fairfax/AAP
If there’s one thing that could be observed from Fairfax’s move to publish its first tabloid-sized broadsheets it was a surprising level of neuro-illiteracy. Fairfax’s head of advertising, Sarah Keith…
Ted Baillieu has gone from premier to backbencher within a week. Did his poor relationship with the press cost him office?
AAP/Julian Smith
One of the key factors in Ted Baillieu’s losing the support of his parliamentary colleagues on Wednesday night was that he failed to manage the media effectively. Did he? To find the answers, it is necessary…
Stephen Dank, former sports scientist for Essendon, is launching a $10m defamation claim against various media organisations.
ABC/7.30 Report
When sport and drugs are involved, often hyperbole is not far away. “This is not a black day in Australian sport, this is the blackest day,” opined the former head of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping…
Are students really paying for their degrees in exchange for sharing their beds?
Degree image from www.shutterstock.com
This year has already seen a flurry of media commentary regarding the “sugar daddy” phenomenon, much of it self-generated for publicity reasons by sites such as SeekingArrangement.com. Sugar daddies (and…
Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong will need to do more than appear on Oprah to win back public appeal.
EPA/Ian Langsdon
Once upon a time, there was something beseeching about a public mea culpa. Once upon a time, if you found yourself soliciting sex in a toilet block, in bed with a prostitute or having fathered an illegitimate…
Victims of abuse and assault are using social media to name and shame.
Dean Lewins/AAP
A woman hacks her ex-boyfriend’s Facebook account to post a picture of herself in hospital after he attacked her with a baseball bat. A teenager protests against the lenient sentence given to her rapists…
Lord justice Leveson was in Sydney last week to discuss his findings.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Britain’s newspaper editors met in a London hotel last week in a bid to fend off statutory regulation of their activities. Warned by prime minister David Cameron on Tuesday that unless they accepted all…
There has been an outpouring of grief over the death of British nurse Jacintha Saldanha.
EPA/Andy Rain
When you make money by being infamous, as 2DAY FM does, the odds are that eventually your infamous behaviour will land you in serious trouble. That has now happened with the hoax phone call to the King…
Southern Cross Austereo CEO Rys Holleran has expressed “sorrow” at the death of Jacintha Saldanha, but who is to blame?
AAP/Joe Castro
This past weekend, we saw the media – old, new, and social – trying to digest the indigestible. The death of Jacintha Saldanha, the British nurse who apparently took her own life after being caught up…
2Day FM hosts Mel Greig and Michael Christian must be held to account by ACMA.
AAP/Southern Cross Austereo
Sadly, few of those outraged over the Kate Middleton hospital prank will understand that the presenters responsible are not journalists but entertainers. For that role they are covered by the Australian…
Twitter users are using the #auspol hash to pursue allegations against Julia Gillard.
Twitter
Recent opposition attacks on Julia Gillard’s ethics have been underpinned by an unprecedented underground online campaign prosecuted on social media. The questions raised by Tony Abbott and Julie Bishop…
Journalists must be open to change.
Camera image from www.shutterstock.com
Big day tomorrow. The Leveson Inquiry report in the United Kingdom is being released overnight, and no doubt media inquiry watchers like me will be up all night downloading and clicking through it. But…
The role of the academic has changed and more and more public intellectuals are becoming famous and engaging with the public.
Celebrity image from www.shutterstock.com
Recently, I looked at a copy of the achingly aspirational male style magazine GQ, and there was an article from its food critic on how to prepare the perfect Bronte pistachio tart. Not having a sweet tooth…
The general public relies on science journalists to report research accurately.
estevenson/Flickr
Few of us have the time or expertise to sift through all of the scientific papers published every day to determine which research is important and relevant to our lives. In this sense, science journalists…
President Obama is mobbed like a rockstar wherever he goes, but how well do his public statements connect with the electorate?
EPA/Michael Nelson
Speaking to a room full of wealthy donors at a private fundraising event in May, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said 47% of American voters believed they were “victims” and “entitled” to…
The ABC’s popular Q And A show revolves around opinion. But not all opinions are of equal value.
ABC TV
Every year, I try to do at least two things with my students at least once. First, I make a point of addressing them as “philosophers” – a bit cheesy, but hopefully it encourages active learning. Secondly…
Broadcaster Alan Jones has been embroiled in a controversy over remarks he made on Julia Gillard’s late father.
AAP/Warren Clarke
The interesting part about this weekend’s kerfuffle over Alan Jones’ comments about the late John Gillard is not what Jones said. After all, we’ve known about his combative - some would say offensive…
The story about the sacking of a Melbourne private girl’s school principal has made national news, but why?
Flickr/mikecogh
For more than a week, I’ve seen numerous articles about an internal fight between the Board and Principal of Melbourne’s Methodist Ladies’ College, a private girls’ school. Principal Rosa Storelli has…