Newsletter
Newsletter 446
Saturday, July 9th, 2022 Newsletter,A little slow this week, mainly because no topic suggested itself with sufficient force to get me started. It really is remarkable how all the steam has gone out of politics now that the Morrison government has been evicted. Judging by the talent on the Opposition benches, and the kind of stuff they’ve been saying […]
Newsletter 445
Monday, June 27th, 2022 Newsletter,It’s been an interesting week for the Judith Neilson Institute for journalism, with four board members quitting and executive director, Mark Ryan, allegedly negotiating an exit package. It’s ironic that a meltdown at a philanthropic institution devoted to supporting and improving the standard of journalism has been reported in such a scratchy fashion. The first […]
Newsletter 444
Monday, June 20th, 2022 Newsletter,In 1950 A.A.Phillips came up with a famous term: “the Cultural Cringe”. It was an observation of the way Australians responded to the best of international culture – with a mixture of embarrassment, insecurity, and a desire to flee the room. Or perhaps a bold statement that such stuff didn’t matter anyway. There will be […]
Newsletter 443
Monday, June 13th, 2022 Newsletter,I admit to a touch of Schadenfreude this week, reading the hit jobs published in the Murdoch press on Michael Brand, the Director of the Art Gallery of NSW. Someone who is not a fan of the director seems to have passed on his government credit card statements to the tabloids, who have snapped at […]
Newsletter 442
Monday, June 6th, 2022 Newsletter,How dull things seem now that we have a sensible government. Rather than spending the week in a lather of outrage, glued to screen waiting for something else to set me off, I now find I can hardly bring myself to watch the news and current affairs. The Morrison era really was a bad dream […]
Newsletter 441
Monday, May 30th, 2022 Newsletter,Isn’t it nice to wake up to a world without Scott Morrison? Now that he’s toddled off it seems that Australians are wondering how they actually managed to put up with his terrible act for three long years. Say what you like about Albo, but in the first few days of his Prime-Ministership he’s already […]
Newsletter 440
Monday, May 23rd, 2022 Newsletter,I confess I’ve left this newsletter till the day after the election as I didn’t want to miss the moment when Scummo was turfed out of the Lodge. To complicate matters still further, I’ve finally managed to contract COVID-19 and am holed up in a hotel room in Cairns for a week. I was on […]
Newsletter 439
Monday, May 16th, 2022 Newsletter,Late again this week, thanks to a few hectic days in Melbourne followed by one whole day devoted to the Archibald Prize hoopla. I’m getting a lot of feedback about the frequency or infrequency of art columns in the weekend paper, but it’s something over which I have no control. All I can do is […]
Newsletter 438
Monday, May 9th, 2022 Newsletter,Thanks to everyone who pointed out that I wrote “Samoa” when I meant “Solomons” in last week’s newsletter. That’s the problem with doing one’s own subbing: you miss some really obvious, dumb things. The log jam is starting to move a little this week with the Herald printing a column on the impressive new Bundanon […]
Newsletter 437
Monday, May 2nd, 2022 Newsletter,I’m sorry if this newsletter seems to be getting later and later, but to tell the truth, the newspaper is leaving me in the dark as to whether a piece will be run on Saturday or not. In response to inquiries I can tell you there is now a backlog, with the Herald having three […]