For personal and professional reasons, I haven't been vocal about Palestine on this platform. But after yesterday, I want to make a few things clear for the record. (1/6)

Not really surprising they found it in a farm field.

Important new data from ABC Alumni reveals the collapse in drama content on ABC platforms. The ongoing neglect of the ABC budget comes at a huge cost to the public.
abcalumni.au/major_drop_in_…

The slow, cautious but inevitable debate to alert the US to the necessity of public investment in the public good that is public interest journalism.

I think it took too long for ABC News to cover this. Sometimes these stories seem too tabloid for serious coverage, but this is not one of those cases.
abc.net.au/news/2024-02-1…

Worth remembering this hyperbolic piece, in the wake of today's calm, measured police comments.
At the very least, I think an apology might be in order.
theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/crike…

'Change is challenging, so just say no.'
A worrying mantra for our times.
Important insights from the always-worth-reading Shaun Carney
smh.com.au/politics/feder…

ABC Alumni comment on the new Chair...
us19.campaign-archive.com/?e=06d4a12924&…

The new chairman of the ABC has the chance to reunite the public broadcaster and reinvigorate public broadcasting, but he won't do it alone...
amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

Kim Williams is more than just a former Murdoch boss, but his new role does not make it his ABC | Alan Sunderland on the money here describing KW as 'a formidable public intellectual'.

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

I have deleted an earlier post where I inaccurately suggested the new ABC Chair, Kim Williams, had NOT been nominated by the independent panel. I was wrong, and I apologise for the error.
I congratulate the Government for following due process, unlike many of its predecessors.

I’ll be talking to Patricia Karvelas on RN Breakfast about Antoinette Lattouf tomorrow at 6.50 on behalf of abcalumni

A great journalist and a true gentleman. Go well, Tim.

The the absence of the ABC's view on these issues, this is a useful summary of the issues at stake.
And for the record, I was also a journalist who attended a sponsored trip to Israel in the early 1990's, when I was in news management at SBS.
smh.com.au/business/workp…

I am less interested in the debate about what formally constitutes genocide and what word we use, and more interested in the debate about what is actually taking place. I don't agree with all parts of this article, but it is well worth a read:
andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/its-not-geno…

Worth reading.
As relevant here as in the US and elsewhere

Despite what this scurrilous podcast says, the Sunderland Christmas tree is a fine and impressive one, and there are no plans to replace it. Any suggestion to the contrary is sour grapes from Pat Sunderland, who is now too old to put the star on top.
podbean.com/podcast-detail…

This is a sad state of affairs. Are there no rabbis, imams and priests in Australia who can join together to pray for the loss of innocent lives on all sixes? That's a public gathering I would definitely attend.
haaretz.com/israel-news/20…

Nick Cave's new tribute to Shane MacGowan, which doubles as a tribute to Sinéad O'Connor (from his newsletter, doesn't seem to be linkable yet)

'A beautiful and damaged man, who embodied a kind of purity and innocence and generosity and spiritual intelligence unlike any other.'