Peter Bale - curated media, journalism news: News Corp bullies; Politico sold, much more
This sort of bullying doesn't have to be coordinated: each of them knows what to do and how the message will be heard internally and externally. It is an extraordinary case of pressure being applied and it's good to see Kevin Rudd campaigning against it, even if he is a bit of a palooka.
For context in a sense, this is how it works. Rupert is a remarkable businessman and an extraordinary person but he still thinks of himself as a larrakin up against the establishment. Of course, he is now the establishment. He has plenty of lackeys to do his bidding.
Politico innovated most in its journalist approach rather than platform or anything like that: short stories, understanding the demands of time-poor people, knowing instinctively what reader needs it was meeting. It is a model to us all in media, as is Axios for the same reasons. There's great value in deciding what you want to be, testing it daily, and going for it.
A beautiful piece by George Packer on his efforts to get people out.
I am very fond of Dick and respect him but I am not 110 percent convinced about this. There has been superb reporting by many American journalists over the 20 years of this saga: Jon Lee Anderson, George Packer, Steve Coll, many, many others, not to mention photographers and others.
Tom is a thoughtful person and gets to the dilemma here, what Brian Stelter amusing calls the difference between "reality-based media" and the others. If we have alternative facts there is no basis for common understanding.
I wasn't aware of the Alex Springer code or that the company so explicitly backed Israel itself. Interesting. I know one other huge media company whose proprietor insists on the same thing but it's not declared officially.
In New Zealand, the coherence and evident openness of the prime minister has made it really hard to hold her to account without being attacked by the general public. These questions need to be asked but there is also a question of what kind of approach is going to get the best response.
Always interesting to read these insights into media culture from the Reuters Institute.