Articles by Margaret Simons

There is a point of view, represented in many of the submissions to the Fink, that the bad things about a free media are simply something we must put up with, in order not to throw out the free press baby with shitty bathwater of media misconduct.

You will find it difficult to get an idea of what the Finkelstein report on news media regulation actually says, or why it has reached its controversial conclusions, from reading the mainstream media.

The troubles in the press in the United Kingdom undoubtedly form part of the backdrop to the setting up of the Finkelstein inquiry, and to the climate in to which his recommendations will be made.

YourView aims to change the way public affairs are conducted by injecting into the media not mere poll results but a measure of public opinion after people have been properly informed.

A publication for students by a former student: Meld Magazine is this week’s New Kid on the Block, profiling new and independent media start-ups.

The Global Mail is about long reads, of the kind one once found in the Saturday papers and in quality magazines. But it has no business model to sustain itself.

Are there any circumstances under which journalists should reveal their sources? The instinct in the profession is “no”.

Journalist Complaints, launched just weeks ago, is an example of citizens taking the monitoring of the media into their own hands, in the absence of an effective regulator.

There never has been, and is never likely to be, a rule that says someone who owns a company is not entitled to run it as she sees fit, within the limits of the law.

Leaked information from the information memorandum issued as part of the Business Spectator and Eureka Report sale process reveals profitability has gone backwards.

The story of bright indy publication The Enthusiast is sobering for those who embrace the possibilities of new media.

One of the most important media law cases of recent decades will be decided tomorrow when Justice Lucy McCallum of the New South Wales Supreme Court hands finally hands down judgement in the case of businesswoman Helen Liu against The Age.

The material concerning Paul Whittaker came to me from a person who would normally be referred to as an impeccable source.

The editor of The Daily Telegraph, the controversial Paul Whittaker, is in the firing line at News Limited as the new CEO, Kim Williams, introduces a top-to-toe renovation.

Any hope that paying out big money will help end the trouble is surely misplaced.

The New Zealand Law Commission recently released an issues paper that elegantly deals with the very same issues the Finkelstein inquiry is considering in Australia, including how to define “news media” in the internet age, and what a beefed up regulation system might look like.

Today Crikey reproduces Mark Latham’s complaint to the Press COuncil.

Those who are inclined to write off the Press Council might be given pause by the fact that the number of complaints it receives has doubled since October.

There has been a dust-up in the past few months about an attempt by the Department of Immigration to force media organisations to give bureaucrats the right to edit their reports in return for access to detention centres.

Today Crikey bestows an old pair of sandals as an award for the most gratuitous media reference to personal appearance.

The Australian’s Miranda Devine caused a dust-up of outrage on Twitter when she scolded Margaret Simons for her choice of footwear. Now the sandals will be awarded to the most gratuitous reference to personal appearance in the media.

Given the doom and gloom surrounding most discussion of print media, some might find it surprising that there is a flurry of hard-copy start-ups in Australia at present.

There are several significant things about this week’s police raid of The Age headquarters. First, it demonstrates one of the several weaknesses in shield laws.