Welcome to the monthly digest for December Hi , During December, Geoffrey Barker and Noel Turnbull both pondered the state of the media and journalism in Australia, and Reg Naulty reflected on the late former Soviet Union leader Mikhail
Gorbachev. If you’d like to send a Letter to the Editor or submit an article for publication, please contact me via editor@rationalist.com.au. |
Highlights from Rationale
|
| Gorbachev’s appeal for peace and
freedom By Reg Naulty As a world statesman and a student of world affairs, Mikhail Gorbachev’s perspective is worth having. His 2019 book, What Is at Stake Now: My Appeal for
Peace and Freedom, amounts to a state-of-the-world report, covering topics including world peace, the United States as a global power, the declining wealth of the middle class, and the developing civil life in Russia. In his focus on peace, he considers the current threat of nuclear war, which is now more dire than at any time since 1953. |
| Report reveals gulf between conservative Christian politics
and voters By Andrew Denton In May of 2022, as New South Wales’ parliament was on the verge of becoming the last state legislature to make voluntary assisted dying (VAD) law,
veteran Labor MLC Greg Donnelly rose to urge institutions of faith to ignore that law. Citing St Thomas Aquinas’ declaration that ‘a human law not rooted in eternal law’ is ‘unjust’, Donnelly, a devout Catholic, did not mince words. “As institutions, you should not cooperate at all with the implementation of the provisions of the legislation that would impact you as organisations … You must not do that, and you have an obligation not to do that. The law with regard to this is wrong.” It was a
revealing moment. A lawmaker of faith, urging like-minded institutions to bury a law being passed by the secular institution he was elected to serve. |
MBJ's view on current affairs
|
| Foxes, hedgehogs and the death of
journalism By Geoffrey Barker The age of journalism is gone, managed information processing has succeeded, and the glory of
newspapers is extinguished forever. This shamelessly Burkean paraphrase is my essential argument and it might offend those of my former colleagues who like to see themselves as defenders of the free and democratic press. But the evidence of decline is clear—never more, perhaps, than in the coverage of the recent Victorian state election by the many Murdoch newspaper and television outlets and, increasingly, in the ongoing daily national ABC breakfast television broadcasts. Of these two
organisations, more later. Much journalism is giving way to what I call managed information processing (MIP) – two very different undertakings requiring different mindsets, skills and motivations. |
| An evidence-based approach for improving student
outcomes By Ioana Ramia There are many ways to teach school students. But research shows only some will significantly improve
learning. While most teachers want to use evidence-based practices, they face many challenges that can limit their ability to use them in their classrooms. These include time pressures, access to resources, and unsupportive school cultures. In our new study, we asked teachers how much they use education research evidence when teaching students. We found that most teachers surveyed said they were using evidence-based practices most of the time, but they are not using all the strategies that make
those practices effective. This can have serious impacts on student learning. |
| Christ’s commanders
By Si Gladman
In 2012, the then Chief of the Australian Defence Force David Hurley – and now Governor-General – joined
with fellow Christians at a ‘Spiritual Boot Camp’, hosted by the group Military Christian Fellowship (MCF). In addressing the group as the guest speaker, he admitted that he had to be careful about being seen to be involved in religious activities. “I actually get complaints about having this meeting here today – ‘Why are you supporting religious activity in the ADF on ADF property as the CDF?’ Well, my response to that is: ‘Bring on the argument. But I’m the commander of the ADF for all of the
ADF, not just bits and pieces people would like me to command’." |
| Misinformation in the mainstream
media
By Noel Turnbull
While we worry about social media misinformation we overlook that one of
the main sources of misinformation about politics is mainstream media. Take the recent federal election and the Victorian election. The media consensus about the first was initially on ‘gotcha’ moments, and then it moved on to whether the ‘miracle marketer’ would pull it off again against a Labor leader allegedly fatally damaged by gaffes. The second was about how close the Victorian election was and how Andrews was damaged goods – particularly according to the Herald Sun and the rest of
the Murdoch media. On election night, Peta Credlin was still attacking the Premier and urging the Liberals to get back to focusing on its base. |
|
|
