Our censors, as the record shows again and again, have no special concern about acting in a serious manner. Power has no such obligation. (more…)
Category: Media
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Not all deaths at sea are equal
Dave Kellaway reports from Italy, and reflects on the media coverage of the sinking of the luxury yacht Bayesian off the coast of Sicily compared to the way the deaths of migrants in the Mediterranean are usually reported. (more…)
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Pearl or Irritation? The Kantian imperative and the case for dissent
The Pearls and Irritations platform, with its commitment to fact-driven critique, exemplifies dissent as a profound act of civic engagement. Immanuel Kant, the renowned Enlightenment philosopher, offered a powerful defence of this kind of loyal, evidence-based dissent. (more…)
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Israeli hostages, Palestinian prisoners: the worthy and unworthy
Israeli citizens’ demand to bring home an estimated 100 Israeli hostages still held captive by Hamas is assumed to depend on a Gaza ceasefire which would include a Palestinian prisoner release. (more…)
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Tucker Carlson and Jeffrey Sachs confirm mainstream Western media mostly a shabby cabaret
A recent, comprehensive social-media interview has provided an acute reminder of how hard it now is to imagine certain flagship, Western current affairs programs drowning their cherished war-drums in a lead weighted bag and applying themselves to investigating pivotal geopolitical challenges with intelligent thoroughness (as Four Corners can still manage (see:Inside Iran: The proxy war on the brink of erupting | Four Corners). (more…)
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Confronting censorship: on media bias and the war in Ukraine
Editing a book about the media and the war in Ukraine taught me first-hand lessons about censorship. It also confirmed that the Western media’s pro-elite bias is as strong as ever. At an academic conference in Europe in the summer of 2023, I witnessed how several audience members shouted at one of the speakers. That’s not how such meetings are supposed to go. They should be much less eventful. (more…)
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Aiming for the messy truth: The first Australian journalist returns to China
Will Glasgow’s report from Beijing in the Weekend Australian of 24/25 August is cause for celebration. Since the last Australian journalist left China four years ago, reports on this most important neighbour and on matters of concern to both countries have been either second-hand or coming from non-Australian sources. (more…)
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Acclaimed journalist charged with ‘anti-semitism’
Mary Kostakidis, for years the face of television news in Australia as anchor of the SBS nightly broadcast, has been accused of supporting ethnic cleansing of Jews for two retweets about Israel’s war on Gaza, reports Joe Lauria. (more…)
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Dutton’s Trumpian certainties are swamping Albanese’s dithering
One full day during the Republican National Convention in the US last month was devoted entirely to the issue of crime. Under the title “Make America Safe Again”, it referenced a make-believe crime wave engulfing American cities. (more…)
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Anwar stands his ground on foreign policy – Asian Media Report
In Asian media this week: Malaysian PM ignores Western critics. Plus: deadly attacks in impoverished Pakistan province; Myanmar trafficking syndicates now a global monster; Chinese spy-plane violates Japan’s air space; Zelenskyy plans peace summit in Global South; chance for Harris to change course on China. (more…)
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Authors who write with insight and experience
I read the daily Pearls and Irritations email without fail. (more…)
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Fiddling while the world teeters on the brink
We need a no-holds-barred attack on corporate power to meet global threats. (more…)
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Exiting Pax Americana could save our bacon
Ordinary New Zealanders and Australians have little idea about the momentous changes coming our way. For a couple of centuries we have been outposts of a Western empire that is losing its dominance of the region. (more…)
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A call to civil society: it’s time to reframe media policy
The health implications of media policy are wide-ranging but not usually front of mind in national debate, whether for governments, communities or even the health sector. (more…)
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ABC – Ignorant, fearful or biased journalism?
Having just read journalist John Lyons’ book Balcony Over Jerusalem, I’m acutely aware of the ways in which the pro-Israeli Lobby in Australia exerts its influence on the media here to disparage journalists and their work and to even try to have them removed from their positions, if this lobby deems there is adverse critique of Israel. (more…)
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Artificial cleverness is polluting the essence of our humanity
Fakes, deep fakes, disinformation, lies and rumours pollute the internet, the legacy media and conversations. Some of these are not new, but their power is growing. Now we have a new contender, so-called artificial intelligence, interfering in our human experience, and the technutters proudly claim it will get a million times worse within a decade or two. We are degrading an essence of our humanity. Can we have any conception of what that might do to us? (more…)
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Emmy committee stands firm on Gaza journalist’s nomination
The call for Bisan Owda’s nomination to be rescinded was “an incredible testament to the threat posed by a single young woman with an iPhone,” said one author. (more…)
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Digital technology: blessing or curse?
The challenge we face with digital technology is not just managing it; it’s about what it’s doing to us. (more…)
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UK and Hong Kong riots: similarities and differences
One would’ve had to have been living in a cave not to have been aware of the recent street violence in the United Kingdom. For those of us who lived through the riots here in Hong Kong in 2019 and 2020, there was an extreme feeling of déjà vu as we watched attacks on police, smashed storefronts, looting and general mayhem across the UK. To be fair, the Hong Kong riots did not feature either mounted policemen or police dogs, one is unsure if this was good or bad. (more…)
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Court strikes again in Thai lawfare – Asian Media Report
In Asian media this week: Another Shinawatra becomes PM in Thailand. Plus: Kishida ‘lost people’s trust’; Big losses as Asian Muslims shun KFC over Gaza; Manila reshapes its superpower ties; Gen Z revolution in Bangladesh; Racism a factor in Olympics row. (more…)
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Change on way? ABC reviews ICJ ruling
Major international media outlets face a dilemma over whether to adapt newsroom practices to the World Court’s judgment last month on Israel’s illegal occupation. (more…)
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How Rupert Murdoch helped create a monster – the era of Trumpism – and then lost control of it
You can’t help but feel sorry for Rupert Murdoch. (more…)
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America is the most violent, aggressive country in the world
Of the international intelligence information that comes to Australian agencies from the Five Eyes, 90% comes from the CIA and related US intelligence agencies. So in effect we have the colonisation of our intelligence agencies These agencies dominate the advice to Ministers writes John Menadue. (more…)
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Zionism, Zionists and Jews
Understanding the complex relationship between Zionism, Zionists and Jews seems to defeat many of Israel’s critics in articles and opinion pieces. This article explores Zion and its connection to land and to Judaism and its more modern day forms. (more…)
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Neither treaty nor pact, just troubling facts
ABC foreign affairs reporter Stephen Dziedzic’s ’exclusive’ claim that “Australia and Indonesia are on the brink of sealing an upgraded defence pact” hasn’t been refuted by Defence so is probably right. (more…)
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Political assassination on a butcher’s paper
Has Australian journalism become weapons of mass lies and character assassinations? When did our media become instruments of sabotage and reputation busting outfits? Whatever the answer is, some print media outlets have been exposed as mere butchers’ papers.
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Compounded dishonour
The majority of American politicians, journalists, pundits and most commentators have decided that the war between the Zionist forces and the Palestinian resistance started on October 7th 2023. Not over 76 years ago, or more. (more…)
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Zionist bullying distorts politics, media and education
In addition to physical or psychological abuse, bullies use power in relationships to pressure others to adopt their world views. The bullying may appear in letters, lobbying, radio and television interviews, secret meetings with politicians and business leaders and even in legal action against those who criticise the bullies’ points of view. (more…)
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Armed conflict and multimedia at the Australian War Memorial
There is no doubt that multimedia technology can tell stories dramatically. These stories particularly resonate with a generation raised on video games and social media, which are now an intrinsic part of their lives. (more…)