@mattbevan.bsky.social

Mr Bevan: Your podcast is terrific. So well done.

For #caturday, searing footage of the carnage of war.

I know exactly what you are going through. Hard to talk about still. Her sister Malarkey has really changed.. much more animated, lots of meowing. Hard on all of us...

And so sorry to hear about Lamington. 💚 💜 💗

Hi Mel I missed this the other day I'm so sorry. Just saw it... and ironically about to do the podcast with Chas again. It was so so sad. So sudden. She was a beautiful girl...

(Shanti on the right, with her twin sister... )

Irresponsibly posting my location on social media

I misread and should clarify: He's watching from the NSA headquarters north of DC, not at Guantanamo himself!

He allegedly killed 202 people 20 years ago. Now, aged 61, he’s getting his day in court The man sporting a reddish beard and jacket reaches forward to speak briefly into the microphone. This is Encep Nurjaman, the alleged mastermind of the Bali bombing.

www.smh.com.au/world/north-...

"Some, but not all, of Nurjaman’s legal proceedings are open to the public and media. But attending is a logistical minefield. Reporters must apply, pay for a seat on a once-weekly flight to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and stay in tents for the week until a return flight the following weekend."

Amazing story from the SMH's Michael Koziol, @michaelkoziol.bsky.social, on the scene in Guantanamo Bay to see proceedings involving the Bali bomber.

@michaelkoziol.bsky.social

Lama Deus

The tragic irony of Charlie Kirk’s assassination The young conservative firebrand, who died from a gunshot, would have defended his killer’s right to bear arms.

I wrote about the Charlie Kirk shooting for the SMH:

www.smh.com.au/world/north-...

The saddest and most portentous thing about Besser's report? No editor would talk to him to defend the practice!

--fin --

That's the way the system should work. Again, it's not the government's fault. Let them extend what conditions they wish. Conditions that are unethical or not in keeping with the paper's responsibility to readers simply need to be called out.

(10/11)

And they can also write an accompany story each time the matter arises, explaining the process and again naming the louche outfits that went along. Flood the zone with detail about it all each time it happens.

(9/11)

The papers that don't go along should make it hurt:

"The SMH [or whoever] does not make deals with the government to limit the information we give to readers.

"The ______, _____, and ______ do things differently. We don't think that is journalism. It's government-approved propaganda."

(8/11)

Yes, it hurts a bit to cite the competition as the source of the news. The paper just has to be patient, explain to its audiences the circumstances, and pointedly include the third-party comment.

(7/11)

But the story should also include the sausage-making behind the scenes — that the info was supplied early to other outlets that agreed not to produce any actual journalism about the news.

(6/11)

But here, the trouble is the media agreeing to it! They should say no. As Besser says, their responsibility is to their readers, not the government.

My contention: Let the competition get the scoop. And then a paper +can+ write about it, including the third-party comment.

(5/11)

It's an arrangement that actually works in some contexts. For example, film critics traditionally get to see movies early, so they have time to write a substantive review, positive or negative. The deal is they can't run the review until the release date.

(4/11)

But, there's nothing wrong with the government doing it. It can release information under whatever conditions it wants. A deal's a deal!

(3/11)

The issue: Canberra releases news, but embargoes it until a specific time and requires journos not to elicit third-party comment when they write about it. It gives the government a free news cycle for potentially controversial news. It's of course wrong and inimical to good journalism.

(2/11)

How the government is tightening its grip on reporting | Media Watch YouTube video by ABC News In-depth

I very much enjoyed @lintonbesser.bsky.social's Media Watch episode on the crazy embargoes out of Canberra. I share his contempt for the process but respectfully disagree a bit on the analysis. Story here:

youtu.be/fuHWxwQyyUE?...

(1/11)

In one of the DVDs's special features, it's said that Redford was ultimately riding around with them as the pair kept reporting the story ... a factoid not mentioned in any of the books at the time. "As we stood at the doorway getting nowhere with Dean's wife, Redford sat in the car waiting..."

Why I Hate Your Podcast Bill Wyman hates your podcast. Not for one thing it does. Nor for two. But for twenty three reasons.

Many thanks to @james.crid.land and @podnews.net for letting me gripe about the myriad annoying little things that otherwise decent podcasters do.

It's ...

"Why I Hate Your Podcast"!

podnews.net/article/i-ha...

I lived in Washington DC. The last thing it needs is a Trump ‘rescue’ The US president is seizing control of the city’s police, supposedly to rid DC of “violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals”. He’ll never let the facts get in the way of a Trump-sized lie.

JFK famously quipped that Washington DC was a city of "northern charm and southern efficiency."

What Trump is saying about the city is deranged. I wrote about his fraudulent and ludicrous charges for the SMH:

In the video of the 9News reporter in LA getting hit with a rubber bullet, she's obviously a newscaster standing apart. You can see the cop targeting her.

And now, a note on Bill Owens who, until this past week, was the executive producer of 60 Minutes.

We’ll be back next week with another edition of 60 Minutes.

archive.is/U5jSk

(link to a WSJ article)

www.wsj.com/tech/ai/meta...

We are living in a world where there are crazy things being reported every day in the reams of both politics and tech ... and of course Facebook/Meta have gotten very grimy .... but hoo boy this one. (Link below)