There are many wide ranging impacts of bushfires and ‘management’ fires than have not been considered to date, writes Lionel Elmore.
Bushfires
Wankley Awards: And the Wankley Award goes to…fire reporting
With a sensitive issue comes the need for great sensitivity and accuracy. And so it was with the bushfires, writes Jane Nethercote.
Apocalypse Now lesson for bushfire survival
Lives could have been saved in last Saturday’s fire storms if simple guidance had been broadcast over areas where people had no information, writes Ben Sandlilands.
Tabloid fire coverage slips into grief p-rn
There are two words which immediately spring to mind over the media’s coverage of the Victorian bushfires – mawkish and disproportionate, writes Greg Barns.
How fire refuges became a thing of the past
Once considered a practical, even obvious approach to bushfire safety, the provision of designated Fire Refuges in at-risk communities has fallen out of favour, writes Chris Paver.
The Australian’s fuel reduction obsession
With the embers still burning, The Australian’s obsessive, one-sided attempt to paint the fires as basically down to evil greenies continues apace, writes Guy Rundle.
Gawenda: journalists move on, disaster remains
Media not only covers an event like the Victorian fires, but in a sense, creates and defines it as well, writes Michael Gawenda.
Parks Victoria uses the fire crisis to light up the Prom again
Why is it that Parks Victoria and DSE get away with taking every opportunity to light fires in National Parks and stir local sentiment for more and more fires? asks Lionel Elmore.
A fire leader loses its way
For those of us who have regarded Australia as a world leader for the calibre of its fire sciences and bushfire brigades, the handling of the recent fires is dismaying, writes Stephen J Pyne in The Australian.
Finding a name for that bastard wind
We need a better name for this bastard wind. The hot north-westerly is not adequate for this killer, writes Jim McNamara.
Forget your fire plan: go while you can
People are still dying because they are being told they can defend their houses, writes Lionel Elmore.
Victoria’s bushfires: a Crikey media wrap
As Victoria’s bushfires continue and the remains of destroyed towns are revealed, local media coverage remains in overdrive, while the world watches.
Tips from a bushfire survivor
Canberra firestorm survivor Liz Tilley writes, I just can’t bear to see those victims in Victoria not benefit from what we learned in Canberra. So, for what it’s worth, here are my tips for a “great” relief.
Too soon to jump one way or another on fuel reduction
The extensive records of what burned and what did not, what burned quickly and what did not will provide invaluable information for future vegetation management of communities living in the bush, writes Lionel Elmore.
Stay or go policy under scrutiny
The Royal Commission into Victoria’s ongoing bushfires will intensify scrutiny of the controversial “prepare, stay and defend” policy, writes Chris Paver.
Rundle: What has Black Saturday taught us?
However inured one is to the havoc wreaked by bushfires, to the horror and waste of life, to how things could have been otherwise, the “Black Saturday” fires can cut through any amount of world-weariness, writes Guy Rundle.
Some advice for media covering the bushfire story
The other side to this story is the physical and emotional wellbeing of not just of the victims and survivors but of those gathering, editing and leading the charge to get the news out to the consumer, writes Cait McMahon.
Tears…
In this dark time, there has been a human cost without comparison
Bushfires: Dont mention the c word
Over the last ten days we have seen the future, writes Clive Hamilton.
A cartoon about the bushfires…
Crikey is keen to do its bit to help the Victorian bushfire relief effort.
Later today you’ll be able to buy signed prints of today’s First Dog On The Moon cartoon from the Crikey shop.
The proceeds will be split between the Red Cross and Wildlife Victoria bushfire appeals.
We’ll send a separate email later today when the […]
