Some articles do more than inform. They challenge assumptions, expose uncomfortable truths and stay with us – which is why independent journalism needs room to publish them.
Category: Media
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Might Kyrgios actually know what he is doing?
Nick Kyrgios, Rafael Nadal and Kylie Minogue took very different paths to success. Their lives raise a deeper question about ambition, sacrifice and what it really means to fulfil our potential. (more…)
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Why banning social media won’t make young Australians less anxious
Young Australians have plenty of reasons to feel anxious and angry. Blaming social media misses the deeper causes – and the challenge of navigating an increasingly complex world. (more…)
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Help us tell the real China story
When I represented universities, I often appeared at parliamentary inquiries. All were instructive, but there was one in late 2020 that taught me how entrenched anti-China prejudice is in Australia. (more…)
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Bullshit is everywhere, and it has consequences
Bullshit may be easy to dismiss, but from politics and gambling to advertising and public relations, it can obscure truth, shape debate and carry serious consequences. (more…)
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Keeping P&I strong, brave and free – Message from the Editor
P&I can pursue important issues early and keep publishing when others look away because it answers to readers, not powerful interests. One week into the August fundraiser, that community has already taken us almost 20 per cent towards our target.
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P&I is growing. Help us keep up the fight – Message from the Editor
Another 250,000 readers found P&I over the past year. As our August fundraising campaign begins, we’re asking readers to help keep independent journalism free, fearless and growing.
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The political cartoonist is becoming an endangered species
Fiona Katauskas’ departure from Guardian Australia points to a larger decline in permanent cartooning jobs, even as political cartoons remain vital to satire, public debate and local media culture. (more…)
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Are US subs really temporary visitors?
Pat Conroy’s assurances about US submarines at HMAS Stirling raise more questions than they answer about rotation, sovereignty, nuclear ambiguity and Australia’s control of its own naval base. (more…)
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Picturing armageddon: Will Trump listen to the next nuclear war film?
Films about nuclear war have often been dismissed by officials as inaccurate, alarmist or merely fictional, but their real power lies in forcing audiences to confront the madness of nuclear annihilation. (more…)
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Public life needs fewer empty notes – Message from the Editor
Public life is loud, reactive and full of people mistaking noise for importance. But there is a difference between speaking when something must be said and simply filling the silence. (more…)
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Age bans will not fix social media’s harms
Social media age bans won’t make children safer; requiring social-media platforms to prove the safety of their products will. (more…)
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Australia’s China panic keeps colliding with reality
Despite years of China-threat rhetoric, Australia’s trade, infrastructure and consumer markets remain deeply shaped by practical engagement with China.
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Who restrains power when power refuses restraint? – Message from the Editor
Across this week’s pieces on P&I, the same question keeps appearing: who or what restrains power when the powerful decide restraint is optional? (more…)
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No case for muzzling ABC and SBS reporting on Israel
Claims of ABC bias against Israel in its reporting of current Middle East conflicts defy the truth and the professional and impartial tradition of ABC staff reporters. (more…)
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Beware: Meta’s latest AI image generation tool might use your face
Meta’s new AI image tool may allow users to generate images using other people’s public photos, unless account holders find and disable the setting.
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Getting Murdoched: climategate
This edited extract of Getting Murdoched: How Murdoch’s Media Wields Power and Punishment Andrew Dodd and Matthew Ricketson examines Murdoch’s destructive anti-climate change campaign. (more…)
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When reality catches up with satire – Message from the Editor
The Boys spent years exaggerating the Trump era. By its final season, political reality had become so grotesque that satire was struggling to stay ahead. (more…)
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Monetising grievance: in Australia it’s harder than you think
Right-wing podcasting in Australia is akin to a craft beer with a niche following. It is not a mass market. (more…)
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When women’s rights become clickbait
Attempts to reopen debate on abortion access rights in Australia show how women’s rights are made negotiable through language, media framing and political theatre – and why independent journalism matters in resisting that backlash.
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Mary Kostakidis wins freedom of the press award
Mary Kostakidis has received the 2026 Gary Webb Freedom of the Press Award, recognising her long record in Australian journalism and her defence of press freedom amid legal action over her criticism of Israel’s war on Gaza. (more…)
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A right mess: how mining, media and political interests are combining to influence public debate in Australia
One Nation’s surge has exposed a new alignment of media, mining and political interests on the Australian right, with Gina Rinehart, Lachlan Murdoch and Pauline Hanson now central to how that contest unfolds. (more…)
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Compassion does not end at the front gate – Message from the Editor
Like many I was revolted by the video of Itamar Ben-Gvir taunting and humiliating courageous international citizens determined to get supplies to Palestine. If you haven’t seen it, the video shows the Israeli Minister humiliating Gaza flotilla activists, who are shown kneeling in rows, heads bowed, hands cable-tied behind their backs.
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Lifting the secrecy around plans to censor journalists
Australian officials have been briefed by Britain’s Defence and Security Media Advisory (DSMA) Committee about ‘D-Notices’. These are ‘advisory orders’ to the media on what the committee considers should not be published in relation to British military and intelligence operations.
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US falls to ‘historic low’ in press freedom tracker
The United States has dropped to an historic low in global press freedom rankings, with political pressure on media and industry consolidation driving the decline.
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Why TikTok is being ruined by its new American owners
TikTok’s transformation under US ownership is reshaping it into a platform for censorship, AI exploitation and political influence, undermining free expression. (more…)
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Independent media probably won’t benefit from the new social media tax
A proposed levy on tech giants could deliver hundreds of millions for Australian journalism, but current settings risk directing the funds to large media companies rather than independent media. (more…)
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Japan’s arms sales, fatal law, and the K-pop community – Asian Media Report
Tokyo’s new weapons export rules, the never-ending China-Japan rift, Thucydides Trap’s historical flaw, Global South’s central ceasefire role, Asian fossil-fuels fall, and BTS manager’s arrest warrant. (more…)
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A prime-time hit job on renewables falls apart under basic facts
Spotlight’s TV report on renewables and EVs collapses under basic fact-checking, highlighting how misinformation is shaping Australia’s energy debate. (more…)
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The bad, the worse, and the need for glee – Message from the Editor
It has been a week where a number of world ‘leaders’ have exceeded even the lowest of expectations. Clearly the lion in this fight is Donald Trump as Jesus, but there are some other really notable, local contenders. (more…)