No Crap App: w/b 3 Dec 2012

Illustration: Ward O’Neill, AFR 8 Dec 2012

Policy conundrums

• Eleanor Gibbs: Can Gillard get the NDIS details right?
• Bernard Keane: Left disconnected from reality on asylum seekers
• GrogsGamut / Greg Jericho: A million new jobs ain’t what it used to be
• Ben Eltham: Who’s afraid of interest rate cuts?
• Elizabeth Humphrys: Children, women, men – the ALP’s conscious cruelty
• Philip Lowe: What is normal?

Reform of the Labor Party

• John Faulkner’s speech on Labor Party reform
• Laura Tingle: Labor has room to move before poll
• Michelle Grattan: Labor’s long and winding road to reform
• Barrie Cassidy: In defence of deficits and factions
• Peter van Onselen: It’s not factions or unions but flawed individuals

Politics

• Tim Soutphommasane: Our brutally ugly politics imperils the ideal of public service
• Nick Dyrenfurth: Political sleaze and hatred – it was ever thus
• Zoe Krupka: Do we want drama or decorum?
• Lenore Taylor: It’s all well to boast but tall stories don’t fit hard facts
• Peter Hartcher: Abbott’s white-line fever
• Geoff Kitney [free]: Gillard’s voice gets a hearing

Media

• Jonathan Green: How can anything rival the threat of climate change?
• David Penberthy: The party at the end of journalism
• Geoffrey Blainey: Media, no matter the century, always have a leading role

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No Crap App: w/b 20 Aug 2012

Lobbecke, Aust 25 Aug 2012

The week that was…

In a scene reminiscent of a scifi movie, the entire Canberra Press Gallery shook themselves awake this week and “realised” that Tony Abbott has been playing fast and loose with the facts.Today’s papers are full of it (and yes, there have been exceptions). Meanwhile the Rudd camp continued its campaign using compliant journalists to blow on the embers of the 17 year-old Slatergate story.

Matters of import were also considered. Ben Eltham pondered the nexus between what the electorate wants and what it’s willing to pay for; Tiffin and Gittens previewed their book on PM Howard’s economic record, and Grog also pondered the the Howard “Golden Years”. Yet again, Jonathan Green made us think about the media that we consume daily. Lastly, I’ve included a link to an excerpt from Greg Jericho’s excellent Rise of the Fifth Estate.

Abbott lies and the campaign against Gillard

• Mark Latham: Lunar right crusades against Gillard
• Barrie Cassidy: Mistakes and missteps in 18 hours of madness
• Jenna Price: Misogynists and nut jobs – Gillard stares down blogosphere
• David Penberthy: Abbott mines a rich vein of rank opportunism
• Laura Tingle: Move forward – there’s no going back
• Michelle Grattan: Is Abbott on thin ice? Absolutely
• Dennis Atkins: Rhetoric rides unbridled as Tony Abbott is obsessed with polls
• Lenore Taylor: Lack of carnage Abbott’s inconvenient fiscal truth
• Geoff Kitney: Gillard must impose her own agenda
• Laurie Oakes: Have you heard the one about the politician who lies?

Economic issues

• Ben Eltham: How will we pay for it all?
• Rodney Tiffen and Ross Gittins: The Howard impact
• GrogsGamut / Greg Jericho: Who can claim the economic gold medal?

Thinky pieces

• Jonathan Green: An allegory of journalistic decline
• Misha Schubert: Politicians are people too
• An excerpt of Greg Jericho’s new book, Rise of the Fifth Estate, and my review

No Crap App: w/b 25 Jun 2012

Pope, Canberra Times 28 Jun 2012

The week that was…

The main political events this week had a common underlying theme: craven politics barely hidden behind a tattered moral veil. Whether it was the Slipper/ Ashby saga (no links provided), asylum seekers or the future of Fairfax, those who made the loudest claims to integrity were often the ones most blatantly pursuing political ends.

The links provided this week on asylum seekers cover a broad range of considered pieces exploring the dilemma, while other links explore why Fairfax matters, the tricky concept called public interest, and a media owner’s right to set editorial policy.

Finally, there’s a preview from George Megalogenis on the carbon price, which comes into force on Sunday.

Asylum seekers

• Ben Eltham: Asylum seekers a wicked problem
• Leanne Weber: Why asylum seekers come by boat
• Beachdair: The compact of deceit
• Michael Gordon: Sound-bite diplomacy no solution to asylum seeker quandary
• Peter Brent: Boats fuel Greens
• Louise Dodson: Raw emotions fail to stem brinksmanship
• Barrie Cassidy: In this policy vacuum surely Malaysia is worth a try
• Laurie Oakes: Giving new meaning to the term Rats in the Ranks

Future of Fairfax

• Rodney Tiffen: Why Fairfax matters
• Richard Ackland: The obscure world of public interest
• Christopher Joye: Editorial stance a right of media owners

Carbon price

George Megalogenis: Gillard’s stab in the dark

Sunday addition

• David Penberthy: Orgy of nothingness enough to make you cry
• Michelle Grattan: Greens are as stubborn as Abbott
• Paul Daley: Politics sinks us to new lows

No Crap App: w/b 18 Jun 2012

Pope, Canberra Times 20 Jun 2012

The week that was…

It was a fascinating week for those of us interested in the future of the Australian media. Collected here are quality pieces on what the changes mean for News Ltd, Fairfax and print media more generally.

Also collected are pieces on the Coalition’s political strategy, how the Prime Minister is faring, and the Rio+20 meeting.

Coalition strategy

• Phil Coorey: Why the Coalition is on a winner – it’s all about individual pain
• Dennis Atkins: Abbott steers away from the media
• Paul Kelly: Abbott’s gamble on cultural change

The PM

• Shaun Carney: Gillard looking all the poorer for throwing money at voters
• Andrew Probyn: Toxic taxes haunt two leaders
• Marius Benson: Misplaced moral lessons in the Prime Minister’s tale

Fairfax

• Jonathan Green: Don’t just blame the web for Fairfax’s failures
• Paul Kelly: Fairfax upheaval a risk for quality public policy
• Richard Ackland: Barbarians at the gate but there’s no need for a siege mentality
• David Penberthy: Never mind the Fairfax bollocks, newspapers can survive

News Ltd

• Dominic White: Now readers will call the shots at News

Future of print

• Peter Lewis and Jackie Woods: News you trust? Fourth estate was already wobbly
• GrogsGamut / Greg Jericho: Fairfax and G20 visits – What do we need? What do we trust?
• Bernard Keane: Forget charters of editorial independence – they don’t work
• Neil Chenoweth: Downsizing to a compact solution
• Colleen Ryan: Giants of print yield to evolution
• Michael Gawenda: Our politicians are missing the story on newspapers
• Glyn Davis: High stakes – can publicly funded journalism fit the gap?

Rio+20

• Nick Rowley: Rio+20 – small steps could get us out of the climate quicksand
• Ben Eltham: Our environmental paradox
• Jessica Irvine: Prisoners of climate hold key to future

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No Crap App: w/b 21 May 2012

Rowe, AFR 22 May 2012

Cost of the Thomson saga

• David Penberthy: Abbott’s crass logic – trash the parliament in order to save it
• Barrie Cassidy: The alarm bells ring, but precious few heed them
• Jonathan Green: Moral authority in our parliament? Not seeing it
• Shaun Carney: Gillard paying price for gamble on the numbers
• Geoff Kitney: Abbott the master of pressure politics

Other crunchy brain food

• GrogsGamut / Greg Jericho: Consumer confidence tells us ‘the vibe’ – that’s about it
• Mumble / Peter Brent: The past is no use
• Geoff Gallop: What do mean when we talk about ‘Labor values’?