I guess we have to start with “Baby it’s cold outside” … You no doubt heard over Christmas that a small survey of listeners at a single radio station in North America called for a ban on the song – and that fed into the whole #metoo discussion, and discussion of political correctness, and of…
Can the Australian government’s proposed new media laws save troubled newspapers and other legacy media outlets? Or is that the wrong question to be asking? It’s now two weeks since the government confirmed plans to significantly change media ownership laws, which could prompt a whole swag of mergers and acquisitions as old-school news organisations battle…
I teach Journalism at University – and one of the lectures that I deliver is on how to make Journalism pay, in the digital era. There is a feeling – based on some pretty good evidence – that ‘old media’ is a dying delivery system … that newspapers, TV and Radio as we know them, are doomed…
Here’s the sixth episode of Rear View Microphone – the weekly podcast covering Travel, and Tourism, and Cruising, and Communications, and Arts and Entertainment, and Politics and more … This week – A disturbing story about being at the mercy of a taxi driver in a strange land; Mystery Island – what’s the mystery?; I do my best…
This ‘Thursday Thought’ is late this week because … well, no excuses. It’s just late. As will be the Friday Travel and Saturday Arts pieces. Sorry ’bout that. — There’s been an amazing outpouring of sentiment in recent days for Steve Jones. For those who live outside South-East Queensland, he was the mayor of the Lockyer…
If you go to Ho Chi Minh City (the former Saigon) in Vietnam, whether you book any day-tours around the city or just follow the guide-books, there are a number of places that are almost guaranteed to be on the itinerary. There’s the Notre Dame church, the Central Post Office (NOT designed by Gustave Eiffel,…
I’ve been a customer of Audible, on and off, since I don’t know when – and I mean that literally. My current subscription dates back to 2013, but I can’t remember when I first opened an account. All I know is that it was long before Amazon bought the company in 2008. In fact, I can…
You may remember that I wrote, some months ago, about taking guided tours as opposed to self-guided travel trips. And I said that I would update the blog, after I undertook another guided tour, to Vietnam. Well, I’m sitting in the lobby of the Ruby River hotel in Saigon / Ho Chi Minh City, waiting…
I was offended as I watched a 60’s era anti-American propaganda film on the bus yesterday, as we drove toward the Cu Chi tunnels northwest of Ho Chi Minh City. Oh .. I wasn’t offended by the fact that it was propaganda. I was offended that it was so badly done, and yet was still being…
One of the most common issues I face when teaching journalism students – especially those from Asian backgrounds – is the need for attribution. “You can’t just say ‘The 12th National Party Congress is a congress of solidarity, democracy, discipline and renovation, demonstrating its resolve to increase comprehensive and synchronous reforms while promoting the country’s…
