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New technology and the call for censorship
The first recorded call for press censorship wasn't for reasons of politics, or heresy, or public morality. It was to police "quality". The...
Selling the ABC and other tricky media issues
The media talking about itself can be very self-indulgent not to mention annoying to outsiders. Yet the politics of media have exploded in the last...
For and against an ABC-run Australia Network
On Monday night the Federal Government killed off the tender process for the Australia Network contract. But debate continues over who should host...
Media inquiry motives: accountability or revenge?
Bob Brown's submission to the Independent Media Inquiry has an appendix of criticisms he's received in the press since calling for a media inquiry:...
Idealism turns us on, but reality bites
There's a particularly idiotic moment in the 2003 movie Love Actually when British Prime Minister Hugh Grant loses it. Grumpy at President Billy...
Why care about freedom of speech?
The terms of reference for the Government's independent media inquiry are limited but its ambitions apparently are not. The inquiry released an...
Bolt is guilty, but the law is wrong - let the markets deal with racial discrimination
Political activists and bad legislation have combined to create the extraordinary situation where eligibility for awards and prizes can't be...
Bolt case highlights discriminatory act
The laws that allowed Andrew Bolt to be pursued through the courts for expressing an unfashionable opinion stifle freedom of speech and do not even...
Have the media watchers undermined press freedom?
It's not hard to see where the media inquiry is headed. The terms of reference were released last week. The inquiry will look at "the effectiveness...
Media inquiry opens the door to intimidation
Politicians rarely like the coverage they receive in the media, but that's a tiny price to pay for one of the most important bulwarks against...