Crikey has obtained a copy of a letter from Slater and Gordon to Fairfax Media on behalf of convicted serial killer Martin Bryant’s mother Carleen Bryant.
Articles by Sophie Black 
Racist, who, us? Si senor!
Ex Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Mexican immigrants. So why the sombero?
Wankley Awards: Deceptive toddlers and fabricated bogans
Viral marketing, vested interests and self promotion tricked up as news, nothing new to see here folks… But here’s a Wankley anyhow.
Before Wayne was King…
He was just a lowly, inexperienced Shadow Treasurer, who had to face constant humiliation at the hands of the very smug, very unbearable Longest Serving Treasurer Ever Peter Costello…
Wankley Awards: This week’s gong goes to …. Golden Tonsils
An old friend reappeared from the wilderness last night…
The Punch defends its use of interns
The University of Technology in Sydney have received an offer from News Ltd’s new venture The Punch for the opportunity for internships for their journalism students: unpaid internships.
Australia’s $18m bid to keep asylum seekers in Indonesia
The sound bites may have shifted, but the policy around interception of asylum seekers in Indonesia never changed.
DSE’s prescribed burning: time for some answers
As Black Saturday victims claim that they’ve been denied a voice in the Royal Commission into bushfires, the DSE’s prescribed burns continued across the state.
Crikey Clarifier: “Well dressed” waves of boat people
Are we being invaded by boat people? Do they think we’re soft? And just how ‘well dressed’ are they? Sophie Black asks the hard questions of Immigration lawyer David Manne.
Wankley Awards: A fine field of winners
Mmmm we love the smell of hypocrisy in the morning.
Couple still waiting for $262,000 detention bill to be waived
Evelyn and Masoud Shams are still waiting for the government to waive a detention debt of $264,000, reports Sophie Black.
And the Wankley goes to… the people who put Miranda Kerr on pg 3
In Australia the Victoria’s Secret parade never got much more than a slide show and a late night slot on Channel Nine. Enter Miranda Kerr. In suspenders, writes Sophie Black.
Newspoll on ETS: a clear case of push polling?
If you believe Shanahan, the market meltdown has shoved worries about melting icebergs way down the list of the public’s concerns, writes Sophie Black.
And the Wankley Award goes to … the print media
The world ended on Monday night when Wall Street crashed and burned, but you wouldn’t know it from reading the Tuesday’s morning papers, writes Sophie Black.
Solitary confinement will cost you extra
“Australia is the only country in the world which charges innocent people the cost of locking them up,” Julian Burnside QC has told Crikey. And solitary confinement is seperately billed, reports Sophie Black.
16 months in Baxter detention centre: that’ll cost you $160,000
Former Baxter detainee Kasian Wililo has been invoiced for his time in detention: for $161,684.60, reports Sophie Black.
Advertising on abc.net.au? That’s old news
It appears that there are ads already being hosted on abc.net.au, writes Sophie Black.
And the Wankley Award goes to … pretty much everybody (us too) for publicising The Costello Memoirs
Mentions of Costello going, going, just won’t go, in the past week have outratted issues like climate change, Afghanistan, and even that little Western Australian election where they still, oh, that’s right, don’t have a government, writes Sophie Black.
Australia in 2100: what following the Garnaut target will mean
As we await Garnaut’s Friday emissions targets announcement, it’s worth revisiting what the landscape will look like in 2100, depending on which target Australia aims for, writes Sophie Black.
And the Wankley Award goes to … Ernie Sigley’s nose for news
3AW’s Ernie Sigley landed quite the scoop when the first person on the scene of a fiery plane crash called him live on air. If only he’d left him on the line, writes Sophie Black.
Fairfax to slash 5% of full time workforce
Fairfax announced this morning that the company is embarking on a “major restructure” — specifically, they’re set to slash 5%, or 550 heads, from their full time staff, reports Sophie Black.
And the Wankley Award goes to … Killing Colin and journo hoons
Colin the baby whale punched well above his substantial weight in media mentions by blowing the Murray Darling crisis, the WA Election and the garbage kids right out of the water, writes Sophie Black.
Inside the Christmas Island detention centre
Pamela Curr, campaign coordinator for the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, took Crikey on a tour of the new Christmas Island detention facility, here are her impressions and photos, writes Sophie Black.
Georgia v Russia wrap: Putin 1, Saakashvili 0
After six days of intensive fighting that left homes in ruins, over 1000 dead and uprooted 100,000 people, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has declared mission accomplished and agreed to a ceasefire, writes Sophie Black.
BB 08: the media didn’t bite this year
Are the media suffering cold sweats as the drip feed of Big Brother is ripped from their arm once and for all? Not so much, says Sophie Black.
