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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

In 2012, Anne Summers gave two landmark speeches about women in Australia, attracting more than 120,000 visits to her website. Within weeks of their delivery Prime Minister Julia Gillard's own speech about misogyny and sexism went viral and was celebrated around the world. Summers makes the case that Australia, the land of the fair go, still hasn't figured out how to make equality between men and women work. She shows how uncomfortable we are with the idea of women with political and finan...

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...

A remarkable and gripping story about one refugee boy on a desperate journey from Afghanistan, and the Australian boy who befriends him.HONOUR BOOK: CBCA Book of the Year, Older Readers, 2013WINNER: QLD Premier s Literary Awards, 2012Each step becomes a heartbeat and I feel the distance between Omed and me closing. I remember when I first met him - when he had showed me what bravery meant. How he had stood up for what he believed. In the end that...

The first biography of Australia's first female Prime Minister.Julia Gillard has always been an exceptional figure in Australian politics, widely admired by her adversaries as well as in the electorate. And now she is also an exceptional figure in Australian history: the first woman to be this country's Prime Minister.The path to power has been far from smooth. Gillard's career has been marked by pitched battles with jealous rivals and powerful factions. But ...

What are Australia's 'barbecue stopper' conversations right now? What are the things we talk and worry about?the 2009 ABC Boyer Lecturer is our best-known military officer, General Peter Cosgrove - an Australian Everyman whose interests are our own. As a father, General Cosgrove is concerned about the world we will leave to future generations. As a proud Australian, he is interested in how migration changed our sense of national identity. As an ex-soldier his life was about guarante...