Newspapers

It would have been the 1880 equivalent of the confessional interview on A Current Affair. Ned Kelly, interviewed by The Age in Beechworth gaol was, if he was being accurately quoted, surprisingly well-spoken and philosophical about his run-ins with authority.

“I do not pretend that I have led a blameless life, or that one fault justifies another,” Kelly said, “but the public in judging a case like mine should remember that the darkest life may have a bright side, and that after the worst has been said against a man, he may, if he is heard, tell a story in his own rough way that will perhaps lead them to mitigate the harshness of their thoughts against him, and find as many excuses for him as he would plead for himself.”

The Kelly interview is one of the many nuggets you’ll find in even the most cursory of searches through Trove, an archiving service of the National Library which started this year and last week marked the one millionth newspaper page scanned into its archives.

Continue reading "Unleash your inner history buff this summer" »

You say you want a revolution
Well, you know we all want to change the world ...
You ask me for a contribution
Well, you know, we’re doing what we can ...

You read news. So you know there’s a revolution going in the news industry, with much untargeted crossfire, rattling of virtual sabres and foaming at the mouth about paid content.

Rude words have been said. Like “parasite”. And “money”.

Continue reading "You’ve never paid for news, you never will" »

If you could design your own domestic news service, what would it look like?

Taking off my News Limited hat and speaking as a general reader, mine would involve a few things - plenty of hard news, mostly politics, stacks of AFL, provocative and entertaining opinion pieces, heaps of food, music and cinema journalism.

I’d never read celebrity gossip, clubby or dull business journalism (that is, almost all of it) or another impenetrable word of motoring writing about the latest unaffordable car with a 28 kilowatt, 6.2 litre engine and variable-valve timing control.

Continue reading "Extra, extra - pay for your content" »

For an open, organic, freedom-loving Utopia, there are a great many wannabe digital dictators on the Internet, vomiting forth mandates on how we must behave, speak, and do business. The Ethos of the Web, they call it; they know what is right, what is wrong, what will work, and what will fail.

So in May, when Rupert Murdoch tabled the idea of paywalling his newspapers, the Glorious Leaders of Twitterstan took to their keyboards, and registered their disdain with an all-caps “FAIL!”

“You can’t charge for content! Information wants to be free! Show your support by donating to my PayPal account!” Every Social Media Expert and Futurist hustling for speaking fees and fat consultancies knows, unequivocally, that newspapers are dinosuars; one edition short of extinction.

Continue reading "Not all media dinosaurs have small brains" »

What will journalism look like in twenty years? Will newspapers still exist? Punch research journalist Kelly Simpson and four of her fellow students from the University of Technology Sydney gaze into the crystal ball…

Kelly Simpson – Postgraduate journalism student, UTS: How did you hear that Michael Jackson had died? That we’d lost the Ashes?

Print is dead, I’ve been assured. I’ve missed the glory days. There’ll be no ink smudged copy for me, no physical front page, no morning AND evening editions of the newspapers.

Continue reading "Degrees of uncertainty for students of journalism" »

Australia lost one of its finest writers today with the death of journalist Frank Devine, age 77.

Frank’s columns brought joy to thousands of readers. He wrote with grace, wit, humour and charm; he was politically conservative but he never thundered or railed, and was a master of dry self-deprecation - in one recent column, filed when he was aged well into his seventies, he joked that his affection for John Howard “bordered on the homo-erotic.” 

He was a terrifically kind and giving man who despite having soared as a journalist - he edited The Australian, The Chicago Sun-Times and The New York Post - remained affable and approachable, and a mentor to the young.

The Australian publishes a terrific celebration of his life here by former Liberal MP and Quadrant editor Peter Coleman.

RUSSELL Crowe knows better than most the blurred line between news and entertainment. “I’ve been living it for 30 years,” he tells The Punch while in the UK to film his latest blockbuster Robin Hood.

So it’s a little surprising to hear him bemoan the death of the “noble profession” of newspaper journalism, as across the United States, in particular, flag ship periodicals are closing or are being slashed to the bone.

Clearly the recession is to blame, combined perhaps with poor overall management. But Crowe believes it’s also because the reader has evolved into a cynic with an inability to discern fact from fiction due in no small way to the celebrity culture.

Continue reading "This generation doesn’t know bullshit from truth: Crowe" »

How about this? It’s from 1995:

A lesser-known Guns ‘N’ Roses song called 14 Years is a particularly apt theme for Costello’s day. Below is some video to listen to while browsing the post:

Lyrics excerpt:

I try and feel the sunshine
You bring the rain
You try and hold me down
With your complaints…

... You know, I’ve been the beggar…
I’ve played the thief
I was the dog…they all tried to beat

But it’s been 14 years of silence
It’s been 14 years of pain
It’s been 14 years that are gone forever
And I’ll never have again.

After Peter Costello resigned it’s worth re-living some of his highs and lows as featured on the front pages of newspapers. You can share your favourite memories of him here - and we’ll take requests on this post for any particular front pages you want reprinted.

This, from July 2006, also deserves a special place in the sun. The rest are below the fold.

Continue reading "It’s been 14 years of silence, 14 years of pain for Pete" »