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Category: media

columns about the media including the news media, the journalistic profession, as well as home media such as tv and video games.

No Conor, Australia is not falling to COVID dictatorship

Posted on - by Joey Mann

• An excerpt from my newest post on Medium •

Australian democracy is not on COVID-induced life support

In 2020, American governments decided that it was acceptable to overwhelm their health system, permanently maim a potentially innumerable number of people with post-COVID syndrome, while slaughtering six hundred thousand of their own people in defence of their citizens’ right to go to a Denny’s. In 2021, the Australian states, who decided not to accept this outcome, ordered restaurants to use Uber Eats and click-and-collect: How utterly Orwellian?

At least, reasonable controls on movement during a pandemic being “Orwellian” appears to be the position of writer Conor Friedersdorf who sensationally questioned in The Atlantic whether or not Australia remains a liberal democracy.

His analysis lacks an engagement with the broader history of national emergencies in consolidated democracies and seems oversimplistic.

Read the rest here →

Post image © Sam Wilson (CC BY SA)

I know it’s a bit late but scrap the link tax.

Posted on - by Joey Mann

So, you’re telling me that a bill that provides disincentives for Facebook to cooperate disincentivised them from cooperating? And we’re supposed to be mad at Facebook for this‽ Anything to protect Rupert and Peter, I guess.

Continue reading “I know it’s a bit late but scrap the link tax.” →

What won’t Justin Milne do for love (from Liberals)? [updated]

Posted on - by Joey Mann

It’s unfortunate that the ABC Board sacked Michelle Guthrie, at least it was for Chairman Justine Milne’s facade. Any previous accusation that the ABC was becoming more like commercial news previously could’ve been placed at Guthrie’s feet. After all, she was a “Murdoch hatchet-woman” who was supposed to run the ABC into the ground so that selling it would be reasonable. Instead, it seems, it was quietly appointed Chairman Justin Milne pulling the strings all along.

Continue reading “What won’t Justin Milne do for love (from Liberals)? [updated]” →

The Xbox One’s television-gimmick was unfairly dismissed.

Posted on - by Joey Mann

Back at E3 2013, everyone pooh-poohed the Xbox One. Perhaps it was the TV, TV, TV, TV, sports, sports, television, television, TV, sports. 

“Xbox is about to become the next watercooler.”

After all, it’s supposed to be about the games, right? Surely a box under the TV that can do everything you need should only play bloody games, right?

Almost five years later, I decided to drop the ~$300 on an Xbox One S. I didn’t buy it to play games though. I had recently read in The Verge that Kodi had been ported to it and released in the Microsoft Store.

Continue reading “The Xbox One’s television-gimmick was unfairly dismissed.” →

Fans of ‘Seeker Daily’ revolt, take over abandoned Twitter account

Posted on - by Joey Mann

This article was originally posted on Rich Uncle Rupert in 2017. It is presented here without editing or modification from the version which was published.

Two days ago, I wrote of the abandonment of the NowThis YouTube channel. A group of fans have taken over the Twitter account of the channel’s predecessor — Seeker Daily.

It seems that the Twitter handle @SeekerDaily was made available at some point in early May — the original account was likely deleted or renamed. However, the descriptions of a large portion of Seeker Daily’s back catalogue continue to link to this now-fan run account.

Continue reading “Fans of ‘Seeker Daily’ revolt, take over abandoned Twitter account” →

NowThis News goes silent after controversial rebrand

Posted on - by Joey Mann

This article was originally posted on Rich Uncle Rupert in 2017. It is presented here without editing or modification from the version which was published.

Over two months after Group Nine Media controversially rebranded YouTube news channel Seeker Daily in keeping with their NowThis brand, the channel has gone dormant. The channel has not published videos in over a month and 15 days. The channel previously uploaded near-daily.

Continue reading “NowThis News goes silent after controversial rebrand” →

‘Today’ hosts interview cartoon meerkat in cringeworthy product integration

Posted on - by Joey Mann

This article was originally posted on Rich Uncle Rupert in 2017. It is presented here without editing or modification from the version which was published.

Behold folks, we have reached peak breakfast TV.

The hosts of the popular Australian breakfast show Today interviewed the animated mascot of the insurance comparison website Compare The Market this morning in what was a very difficult segment to watch.

Continue reading “‘Today’ hosts interview cartoon meerkat in cringeworthy product integration” →

Bolt gives NYT moral lecture over their moral lecture

Posted on - by Joey Mann

This article was originally posted on Rich Uncle Rupert in 2017. It is presented here without editing or modification from the version which was published.

Andrew Bolt, a News Corp columnist whom the courts have found repeatedly to be a liar, has given his opinion on an opinion piece by A. Odysseus Patrick published in the New York Times that called the Australian government’s apparent preference for Syrian Christians as immoral as it leaves non-Christians (regardless of religion) to die a violent and painful death. Of course, if Bolt had actually read the lede paragraph of the piece, he would know that author was saying that the fact that Christians are being given preference over non-Christians is immoral. Not the fact that 78% of the refugees are Christian.

Continue reading “Bolt gives NYT moral lecture over their moral lecture” →

YouTube investigates site which sells channel verification, CMS accounts

Posted on - by Joey Mann

This post was originally published on skymann.net on July 17, 2016.

shincode.tech is a website that offers YouTube verification ticks, Custom URLs and previously Content Management accounts. The site, no doubt, is an infringement on YouTube’s terms of service which is why at least four people who used the site to verify their channels had their accounts terminated.

Continue reading “YouTube investigates site which sells channel verification, CMS accounts” →