The article by Ms Ellen Whinnett in the 14 June 2020 edition of both The Daily Telegraph and Herald Sun contained demonstrable falsehoods and defamatory insinuations about the work of China Matters, and the supporter circle of the organisation.
Category: Media
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JOHN MENADUE. Michael Mullins as Guest Editor
For three weeks from Monday 15 June, Michael Mullins will be Guest Editor of Pearls and Irritations. Michael was formerly Editor of Eureka Street.
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An understated and yet a most influential and famous Australian.
Rupert Murdoch aside, which Australian has had the greatest impact on US political and public thinking in recent decades? He comes from Adelaide, is unfailingly modest, was once in the news all the time, despises most politicians and has both incensed and stimulated people with his work. (more…)
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JOCELYN CHEY. Marsupial Madness and the Batty Media
Reliable sources of information on Australian ties with China do not include the ultra-nationalistic PRC Global Times when it applauds Australia receiving a “slap to the face,” or the Vision Times, which reports that people have recovered from COVID-19 after reciting the “Nine Sacred Words” of the Falun Gong sect. Nonsense spreads like wildfire through social media. Those looking for objective or nuanced reporting have to work harder.
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Thanks to Ramesh Thakur
Many thanks to Ramesh Thakur who has been Guest Editor of Pearls and Irritations for last three weeks. I will be rolling up my sleeves again.
Thanks also to writers and donors
John Menadue
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. BuzzFeed out: So much for diversity in Australia’s media
Two years after Australia’s competition watchdog green lighted the biggest consolidation of media ownership here in more than 40 years, the withdrawal of online start-up BuzzFeed has exposed its misjudgment. (more…)
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Don’t be duped by biased media, reporters and political commentators
We argue for a more independent Australian foreign policy as former Prime Ministers Gough Whitlam, Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke, Paul Keating and Kevin Rudd have advocated. (more…)
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PAUL PERVERSI. An Open Letter to the ABC regarding its coverage of China in the recent past.
As a long-term consumer ABC services, I acknowledge its great achievements over the decades, despite the occasional skeleton in the closet, such as the Lateline story that sparked the Northern Territory intervention. I am very concerned, though, that in 2020 the ABC is becoming something of a laughing stock with respect to its coverage of China. (more…)
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Ramesh Thakur as Guest Editor
For three weeks from Monday 4 May, Ramesh Thakur will be Guest Editor of Pearls and Irritations (more…)
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DUNCAN GRAHAM. Not the Freshest Meat in The Australian.
The Australian has become very liberal with their use of the word ‘EXCLUSIVE’. (more…)
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JOHN TAN. Covid-19, news media: Not enough questions.
Crisis; a virus-threat. These are causes of great concern, but not an excuse for lack of curiosity in the news media. (more…)
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DUNCAN GRAHAM Don’t cry for us,, Indonesia
Some foreign correspondents in Jakarta have done a bunk, leaving their Indonesian fixers and colleagues to confront the catastrophes they fear to face.
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DUNCAN GRAHAM. Normal service will be rezoomed forever
Witless vandals defacing the odd Zoom chat room have given repressive states (think Singapore) another excuse to stomp on a development they dread: Technology that’s letting a hundred schools of thought contend.
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BRIAN COYNE: The Bolt-Pell interview: It was “vintage Murdoch”
Stir up the emotions of Benny-Ratz’s little people (more…)
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PATRICIA EDGAR. Education and Entertainment after COVID-19
COVID-19 has let the genie out of the bottle. Education and entertainment will not return to their traditional forms. (more…)
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JOHN TAN. Covid-19: Which news sources should you trust?
Crises bring out a natural hunger for good information. How does one choose news sources? (more…)
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JOHN MENADUE.-Strengthening Pearls and Irritations.
From next week, we will be outsourcing the production, technical support and promotion of Pearls & Irritations. (more…)
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JOHN TAN. How the corporate media is helping Biden and normalising neoliberalism.
The corporate media is sneaking opinion into news reports, masquerading as fact. Not too subtle but a very effective form of propaganda now saturating our lives; changing what we believe to be normal; and playing on our insecurity and fears. (more…)
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JOHN TAN. More securitisation of policing functions? More democracy decay?
There is a concerted push to have ASD (Australian Signals Directorate) help in tracking paedophile suspects. Are there implications for law enforcement accountability, FOI, journalism, human rights and democracy? Take a look at some issues that have arisen in other countries. (more…)
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MARCUS REUBENSTEIN: Please give this face a name
Western reports on COVID-19 have overwhelmingly been produced under a simple banner of ‘China’. It’s a homogeneous label that ignores the human face of Chinese people everywhere. (more…)
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JOHN TAN. Jokowi, identity politics … and neoliberalism.
President Joko Widodo is concerned by identity politics, which has been standard fare for neoliberal US and Australian election strategists for many years. (more…)
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HENRY BATEMAN. What Malnutrition Looks Like.
As the ABC incorporates round the clock disaster warnings into its scheduling, other programming is showing the consequence of resource deprivation. (more…)
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DAVID MACILWAIN. Australian media and its regulator conceal the true story of chemical weapons attacks in Syria
In writing a formal complaint to the overseer of Australian media ACMA over SBS’ failure to broadcast news that the OPCW’s claims on chemical weapons use in Syria had been exposed as fabricated, I have encountered a Kafkaesque problem – only complaints on specific broadcasts can be examined.. (more…)
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PAUL MALONE. Australia’s American view of the world
The Australian media’s view of the world is dictated by the US (more…)
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BRUCE DOVER. The Foxification of the Murdoch media in Australia.
The ructions inside the Murdoch empire last week when youngest son, James made a very rare but very public criticism of the family companies news coverage of climate change in the wake of the Australian bushfires shines a revealing light on what is likely to be the continued ” Foxification” of our local media. (more…)
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JOHN TAN. Zuckerberg is right, isn’t he?
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly under intense pressure in the US to curb political advertisements on its pages. Who might be running such a campaign and for what reasons? Perhaps the answer lies in the gap between rhetoric and reality. (more…)
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RODNEY TIFFEN. The Murdoch Press and the Bushfires
The disastrous summer of bushfires has not been easy for Scott Morrison, but the News Corp newspapers have also had trouble rising to the challenge. (more…)
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CAMERON LECKIE. The Australian Mainstream Media: Propagandists on Chemical Weapons
One of the most effective tools of the propagandist is the power of leaving out. (more…)
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JOHN MENADUE.- Pearls and Irritations over the Holidays
There will be no posts on December 26, 27 and 28. Ian McAuley and Peter Sainsbury will have some weekend breaks. There will be some scheduled ‘holiday’ and some ‘new’ posts on other days.
Many thanks to readers and contributors.
Have a peaceful and happy Christmas and Hanukkah and .. other. (more…)