This narrative is a story about a News Corporation that dominated Australian media during the Gillard years and the extent it was prepared to go to, to inflict its corporate will on the people of Australia. It may explain how a government that not only survived the GFC without going into recession but continued to outperform almost every country in the world has for the duration of its term looked like it was headed for a crushing defeat at the hands of voters who had been convinced that t...

At the time of writing towards the end of March 2013 the Australian media with a uniformity that would have done credit to state-controlled media was telling Australia that Tony Abbott would be the next Prime Minister of Australia. The message was not new. It was the same narrative that Australians had been fed by their newspapers, televisions and radio for the last two years. During those two years while Australian were being told by their media that they had possibly the worst government...

Just as bullies hate being called out, so too do the agents of powerful media corporations go on the attack when called out for their abuse of their privileged positions. This narrative is about the misuse of power by News Ltd, the Australian arm of the News Corporation which dominates the media scene in that country. It is an account of how the full force of its considerable assets can be used to dictate and manipulate narratives and how ruthlessly they can demolish opponents not by stren...

Some may wonder why a series entitled News Corp Narratives would include a book focussing on the public broadcaster in Australia. The News Ltd narrative of the Gillard years The theme of several of these narratives is that during the prime ministership of Julia Gillard, the distribution of news and opinion in Australia was shaped by the ideology and business interests of the media baron who dominated the media scene. This particular narrative will make the case that the public broadcaster,...

This narrative traces over a two year period how News Ltd’s Peter van Onselen uses many of the same tactics used by the Fox News Channel in the USA in his weekly programme The Contrarians on Sky News. Week after week the host leads carefully chosen panels to beat up on the government of Australia and the PM and anyone who challenges the dominant narratives and concerted campaigns the News Corporation is running against that the government. Over the two years there has been an unrelenting c...

An interesting dynamic is the relationship between Bill O'Reilly, the superstar of the Fox News Channel and one of the network's most consistent critics the comedian John Stewart, host of The Daily Show. They appear on each other’s shows and have respectful amusing banter. At one stage in 2011 after a series of encounters O'Reilly seems genuinely concerned that John Stewart may see the Fox News Channel as a "terrible, cynical, disingenuous news organization" operated by Charlatans. In a pa...

Cheer & Tears for America – Broken Media is the latest reaction to media concentration in the U.S and globally. The suggestion is that the media may be broken and there is vacuum where one expects a watchdog. Brisbane author Uthers Say (pseudonym) has responded to his exposure to cable news and particularly to the Orwellian operations of the Fox News Channel to issue a word of warning for this first instalment that was released in March 2011. “Cable news provides a warning that our futures...

Power Trip shows the making of Kevin Rudd, prime minister. In Eumundi, where Rudd was born, David Marr investigates the formative tragedy of his life: the death of his father and what came after. He tracks the transformation of a dreamy kid into an implacably determined youth, already set on the prime ministership. He examines Rudd's years as Wayne Goss's right-hand man in Queensland, his relentless work in federal Opposition – from Sunrise to AWB – and finally his record...

An irreverent take on the political life and times of Australia's twenty eighth prime minister, detailing a litany of questionable calls, miraculous blunders, and inexplicable mistakes.In August 2013, Australia welcomed Tony Abbott as its new prime minister. This promised to be a marriage between responsible government and a nation tired of the endless drama of the Gillard-Rudd years. But then... Well...Fairfax columnist Andrew P Street details the litany o...

Lies and Falsehoods: The Morrison Government and The New Culture of Deceit by well-known political journalist Bernard Keane combines Crikey's eye-opening dossier of Scott Morrison's documented lies with Keane's insightful take on why deceivers dominate in the new era of politics. This book is the first in The Crikey Read series by Crikey and Hardie Grant Books.All politicians lie. They twist the truth, exaggerate and spin. But blatant lying has now...

Who can be a larrikin and how is it used politically?The figure of the larrikin goes deep in Australian culture. But who can be a larrikin, and what are its political uses?This brilliant essay looks at Australian politics through the prisms of class, egalitarianism and masculinity. Lech Blaine examines some “top blokes,” with particular focus on Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese, but stretching back to Bob Hawke and Kerry Packer. He shows how Morrison bro...

Whatever happened to good government? What are the signs of bad government? And can Malcolm Turnbull apply the lessons of the past in a very different world?In this crisp, profound and witty essay, Laura Tingle seeks answers to these questions. She ranges from ancient Rome to the demoralised state of the once-great Australian public service, from the jingoism of the past to the tabloid scandals of the internet age. Drawing on new interviews with key figures, she sh...