Man overboard!
The much anticipated shake-up of Australia’s multicultural broadcaster SBS may have started, with the departure of one of former managing director Shaun Brown’s closest underlings. Less than a week after Brown officially left the corporation’s Artarmon headquarters, the head of SBS television and online content, Matt Campbell, announced he is quitting to join Shine, the TV production company founded by Elisabeth Murdoch and then purchased from her by father Rupert’s News Corp. After the acquisition was announced, … Read entire article »
Media generals leading from the rear
If the price of freedom really is eternal vigilance, then many in the media are not paying their dues. Admittedly, the arrest of journalist Ben Grubb by Queensland police and the confiscation of his iPad sent momentary frissons of outrage through parts the Australian media establishment, but almost all of them just as quickly doused their fury in favour of business as usual. Yet in the New Information Age, the incident should have remained one of the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, General, Journalism, Media
White-anting starts early for new SBS boss
SBS’s managing director-designate Michael Ebeid is still two months away from getting his feet under his new desk but already the white-anting has started. Nothing surprising in that; it’s an important job in Australia’s media and cultural landscape, so anyone taking it on is bound to come under scrutiny, especially someone as relatively unknown as Ebeid. [For more on Ebeid’s appointment, see DogBitesMan or New Matilda] And inevitably there will be some who see his qualities and qualifications … Read entire article »
Can this man reignite passion for SBS?
Will SBS’s next managing director, Michael Ebeid, provide the spark to reignite a passion for Australia’s multicultural broadcaster? Many people hope so but at present hope is all they have. So little is known about the man himself. Egyptian-born, Australian-raised Michael Ebeid is such a cleanskin he’s almost translucent. Of course, many people rise to senior public jobs out of left field, but there’s usually a trail of some sort. With Ebeid there’s not much. Even a … Read entire article »
The end of humanity? Maybe it’s time to shoot the messenger
Ask scientists, economists, sociologists, futurologists and most other expert-ists what is the greatest single threat facing the human race and the overwhelming response is likely to be “climate change”. There are plenty of other contenders; financial crises, international terror, religious fundamentalism/atheism, poverty, pandemics, overpopulation, nuclear disaster, moral decline, the list is long. But when push comes to shove, when Torquemada applies the thumbscrews for an answer, climate change is the one most experts choose. With only a … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, General, Journalism, Media
When news hounds should back off
One story has cropped up more than any other since the beginning of journalism – the behaviour of journalists. Even when reporters try to stay in the background and not become part of the story, eventually the spotlight is turned back on them and in its glare they are often accused of being rude, insensitive, aggressive, self-centred, arrogant, incompetent or demanding. Everyone’s work can be judged by the way is done rather than the outcome that is … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, General, Journalism, Media
Goodbye Mr Grass Roots
An era of sorts came to an end this week with the death of cartoonist Bob Browne in Port Moresby General Hospital. He was the creator of Mr Grass Roots, perhaps Papua New Guinea’s most loved comic character, which the magazine Islands Business once called “the social conscience of PNG”. Browne’s life and work could almost be read as an allegory of change in the Pacific Islands’ largest nation. Browne arrived in PNG as a British volunteer … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Journalism, Media
Look-at-me journalism all the rage from Cairns to Cairo
You can tell journalists have lost the plot when they start reporting on themselves. A rash of “look what happened to me” reports has broken out amongst journalists covering the unrest in Egypt and the ham-fisted attempts by the Egyptian authorities to intimidate them and impede their work Of course, one doesn’t actually need to look so far afield for examples of reporters making themselves the news when covering major breaking disasters such as floods, cyclones and … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Journalism, Media
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