It’s not often I find myself in agreement with something Paul Keating has said or done – in fact, I’ve written on a few occasions about some of the rather wretched things he is responsible for. His admiration for Suharto, his work heralding neoliberalism to Australia as Treasurer and Prime Minister, and the introduction of mandatory detention for refugees are a few off the top of my head. But on his recent AUKUS statements, I agree. It is, ironically, a critique of Labor from the left, after all…
Continue reading “Keating Is Right About AUKUS”Tag: sydney morning herald
My 2022 Reading List – Part 2
This is part 2 of my 2022 reading list – part 1 can be found here. It is here the focus of my reading (for the most part) was on Australian foreign policy and Indigenous politics as they were some of the units I took at university in first semester. Again, it is in the order that I finished reading them, so there are some odd jumps as I read multiple books at once.
Continue reading “My 2022 Reading List – Part 2”Sydney Morning Herald Protects Morrison, Swipes at Labor
02/05/2021
Annika Smethurst recently wrote an opinion piece for the Sydney Morning Herald entitled “Religion is at the heart of the PM”. What it is, essentially, is an attempt to paint Morrison as a genuine and good guy at heart (despite his “many faults”), while deflecting certain criticisms by throwing them at the Australian Labor Party, making them and their supporters seem hypocritical and antagonistic. In some ways, perhaps, but as someone who says to hell with both factions of the capitalist hegemony, lets throw in a little balance and blunt truths.
Continue reading “Sydney Morning Herald Protects Morrison, Swipes at Labor”The Management of Meaning in Australian Journalism
20/03/2021
The art of communication has become highly coveted in today’s global and highly connected societies and economies. Whether it’s PR spinning a positive image for a corporation, a creative team selling a hit advertising campaign, or journalists telling the news, professional communicators reach into every aspect of our lives. Some can, and do, have immense power over our perceptions of reality, particularly in the political realm. But while these communicators have the power to disperse meaning, they aren’t always the ones making it.
Continue reading “The Management of Meaning in Australian Journalism”Go Beyond Friendlyjordies
24/09/2020
In the past week, both the Daily Telegraph and the Sydney Morning Herald, the Murdoch and Costello duo enveloping Australia’s media landscape, did hit pieces on Friendlyjordies. This resulted in a number of things, the most ironic being the skyrocket of attention someone can get from being on the front page of a national paper. But for all the transparently hostile spin towards Jordan, there is one criticism I saw in the online response to these pieces that I thought worth noting: Friendlyjordies is not the be all and end all of political thought.
Continue reading “Go Beyond Friendlyjordies”What About Free Speech?
27/06/2020
Random short rant in response to a comment I saw underneath an Advance Australia post.
“Black Lives Matter are in fact promoting a ‘racial divide’ and perpetuating racism. The left thrive on division.”
So the post claims. Below in the comments, a response not only highlights some people’s ignorance of the Black Lives Matter movement (or any “leftist” movement, whatever that means), but, seemingly without self-awareness of any kind, advocates rather totalitarian methods of combatting them. As the post title suggests, it is, ironically, an attack on free speech.
We Can’t Afford This Cycle
21/11/2019
We elected the Coalition into government in 2013, and twice since then in both 2016 and 2019. In NSW, the Coalition has also been voted in for three consecutive terms. My interest in politics didn’t start until 2015, and I’ve only voted in two Federal elections, but there is a very clear pattern that has emerged in that time that is incredibly worrying. The media is, as usual, one of the greatest contributors to this mess.
Journalism as A Pillar of Democracy
About a month ago I had a take home exam/essay for my Political Communication unit at university. Now that I have gotten the marks back for them – I can happily say I got 100% for it all, as the guy that ran the unit was really impressed and even praised the fact I challenged some of the concepts and ideas – I thought I would post them all here in a string of short pieces without fear of TurnItIn flagging me for plagiarising my own content. I’ll quote the questions we were given and then have what I wrote underneath – there will be six in total. This one details some of the ways in which I don’t think journalism lives up to its role as a ‘key pillar’ of democracy.
Anarchist Rising 