Two of the ways PR people seek to make issues disappear are: to create strange silences in which they are lost, or to bury them in so much complexity and confusion that people just stop listening.
November, 2010
Come in Spinner: Silences and complexity
Politics gets local as port goes in for the long haul on its jetty
The Port Welshpool Long Jettyis worth so much more to the local economy as a key tourist attraction and one of the best fishing platforms on the Bass Strait coast, writes Crikey naturalist Lionel Elmore.
A tour through Victoria’s marginals, part 4: the rest
Beyond Melbourne and the three big provincial cities are the 14 rural and regional seats. After losing Morwell and Narracan last time, Labor now holds none of them, and that state of affairs is expected to continue.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: Crikey’s Franklin Mint fail
Crikey readers have their say.
Morning Market Report: Market up on mixed economic data
Economic data overnight was mixed. Initial jobless claims fell to lows not seen since 2008 but new home sales took a turn for the worst and durable goods were below expectations.
Daily Proposition: Get out the cards and deal
Bad weather forced Alison Drew-Forster to rediscover a long-forgotten joy — playing card games such as gin rummy and 500. She remembers the rules over a bottle of wine.
Media briefs: ALP free kick at The Courier … ‘good news’ at The Age
Two days out from a state election in Victoria and the ALP must have been quite chuffed with the puff piece that appears on the front page of today’s Ballarat Courier. Plus, other media news of the day.
Political snippets: Boredom Baillieu’s only hope
The only thing Ted Baillieu can hope for is that feelings of boredom cause voters to do something strange on Saturday.
Video of the Day: A flashback to a finer cricketing era
As The Ashes get underway, meet the the Australian cricket team’s 1930 England tour, including Don Bradman from NSW on his first tour “in the old land”. A flashback to the golden era when cricket was played by dapper suit-wearing, pipe-smoking gentlemen with well-greased hair.
Tips and rumours: Tips and rumours
Ark Tribe case not over yet. Following yesterday’s not guilty verdict, CFMEU chief Dave Noonan has reported that Ark’s legal team will now apply for indemnity costs. Fairfax dispatches #1: The highly regarded editor of the Australian Financial Review magazine, Stewart Hawkins, quit this week after tensions within the office with AFR editor Glenn Burge. He is believed to […]
Crikey Says: Journalism from the gutter
It’s getting harder and harder for journalists to dredge up stories in today’s competitive media environment. That must be why a reporter from the Herald Sun was posing as a developer and a senior citizen under a false name.
Mark Scott: Journalism’s Golden Era
Lots of journos like to harp on about the old days of journalism, when deadlines were few and money was plentiful. But, says ABC managing director Mark Scott, journalism today is a more democratic, in-depth and thrilling affair than the days of yore.
The Australian in NBN-induced meltdown
The Australian is in National Broadband Network induced meltdown today, with the gang mercilessly hacking into Gillard and Conroy’s NBN plan. Their attacks reek of partisanship and they fail time and time again to come up with compelling arguments, writes Dave Gaukroger.
VIDEO: The Fuzz’s iPhone face recognition add-on
Here’s an iPhone accessory not coming to a store near you: a new add-on that enables police officers in America to perform fingerprint, face and iris recognition.
Stephen King: Jackass 3D is one of the best movies of the year
Stephen King has released his annual top ten movies of the year list, and 2010’s includes - wait for it - Jackass 3D. What will Cinetology blogger Luke Buckmaster think?
Five case studies in the unsung art of film editing
The film industry provides countless examples of celebrated professionals: actors, directors, writers and producers. But film editors - particularly Aussie ones - are amongst the jobs often overlooked. Here are five of our best.
newspaper death watch 
Why The Daily is doomed. Doomed!
Rupert Murdoch is pouring money into his tablet-centric new “newspaper” but virtually every expert says The Daily will quickly go belly-up. Here’s why.
North Korea A logical explanation of Kim Jong Ill’s madness
Every time a conflict flares up in Korea it’s tempting to describe Kim Jong Ill’s regime as a bunch of crazy in the coconut antagonists. But there are plenty of logical reasons for their apparent madness, writes David Rothkopf.
How do you fight forced marriages?
If there is a situation worse than being denied the right to marry the person of your choice because you are the same gender, then being forced into marriage against your will would have to be it, writes Shakira Hussein.
Poland says: my Jesus is bigger than yours
Australia has a Thing for Big Things (think the Big Banana, Big Pineapple etc). So Jay Martin had to drive five hours for the opening of the World’s Biggest Jesus in Swiebodzin, western Poland, which rises from a field of cabbages, across the road from a Tesco.
2010 Victorian Election Roy Morgan compares election ads with voter response worms
The worm is back, and it’s multiplied. In this spiffy video Roy Morgan runs election ads parallel with voter response worms.
Jericho: Gillard is playing funny buggers with NBN
One of the big questions surrounding the government’s release of its NBN business plan was why it took so long for them to do it. It’s hard not to think that Gillard was playing shifty politics, writes Greg Jericho.
