http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/neer-korn/ Neer Korn is a founder and director of Heartbeat Trends. The company studies social trends and attitudes and has produced over 120 large scale reports on Australian society. He is a popular speaker at conferences on social issues and trends. He is frequently quoted on radio, newspapers and magazines nationally. Neer is the author of two non-fictions titles, Shades of Belonging: Conversation with Australian Jews (HarperCollins Religious) and Life Behind Bars: Conversations With Violent Male Inmates (New Holland). en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/were-not-as-racist-as-people-think/ Recently on ABC’s Q&A panellist Todd Sampson (from The Gruen Transfer and CEO of ad agency Leo Burnett) insisted that if we do not regard racism as a serious issue in Australia “we have stuffed our heads up our butts”. Not only are such proclamations damaging to our national spirit, they are fundamentally false. If anything, the opposite is true. Try this experiment - something I’ve done consistently over the past decade - ask Australians from a minority background what racism they have experienced. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Neer Korn) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/were-not-as-racist-as-people-think/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/were-not-as-racist-as-people-think/#item1727 Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:55:41 +0000 Neer Korn | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/from-jerry-to-the-gfc-its-time-for-some-good-news/ The only time I’ve had people literally storm out of a presentation I was giving were news and current affairs producers at a commercial television network. My faux pas was telling them that the Australian viewing public was keen for positive stories that depicted the best, rather than worst, of our society. Furthermore, I predicted this trend to be a growing one. It’s not that bad news does not attract viewers’ attention. It does. When there is motor vehicle accident up ahead drivers cannot help themselves but slow down to have a peak. But they don’t feel good about themselves for doing so. Similarly on television we watch those embarrassing themselves, acting outrageously or being publicly shamed. But here to, we don’t feel good about ourselves for doing so. What the public is yearning for is optimism and positivity – reinforcing the good bits of life. When discussing the global financial crises throughout this year the consistent message was that Australians were simply switching off from the bad news. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Neer Korn) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/from-jerry-to-the-gfc-its-time-for-some-good-news/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/from-jerry-to-the-gfc-its-time-for-some-good-news/#item1677 Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:40:43 +0000 Neer Korn | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-growing-your-own-is-growing/ Several years ago scientist David Suzuki observed that humans have an innate need to be connected with nature, even if it’s only a nearby park or a tree in the backyard. Australians, who have always expressed nature as part of their national identity, are manifesting this observation more than ever before. In a recent study looking at a range of social issues related to modern living a surprisingly high number of participants reported growing their own vegetables or herbs at home. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Neer Korn) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-growing-your-own-is-growing/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-growing-your-own-is-growing/#item1516 Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:30:49 +0000 Neer Korn | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/when-too-much-self-esteem-is-too-much/ Every year multitudes of young people line up to unleash their hidden talents at the auditions for the Australian Idol competition. As viewers we are entertained by the many – alas, too many – whose efforts fall well short of what may be objectively regarded as talent. Most interesting is their surprised reactions to being rejected. They truly believe they have something special to offer and cannot fathom that the judges disagree. How is it that in all the years prior no one around these people, family or friends, had shared reality with them, tapped them on their shoulder and suggested they may be better off pursuing another hobby? feedback@thepunch.com.au (Neer Korn) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/when-too-much-self-esteem-is-too-much/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/when-too-much-self-esteem-is-too-much/#item1370 Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:50:02 +0000 Neer Korn | Author bios | The Punch