It’s tough today to get online news for Australians that’s ethical, rigorous and well-written. I’ve always used the ABC, and about a year ago I ditched the Sydney Morning Herald in favour of the Australian edition of The Guardian. When all the bad news starts to get me down I also rely on The Philosophers’ Mail for some thoughtful and uplifting analysis.
However I’ve just found another source; it’s called The Conversation. The newsroom is based in Melbourne, and their banner claim is:
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Here’s more of what they say about themselves:
The Conversation is an independent source of news and views, sourced from the academic and research community and delivered direct to the public.
Our team of professional editors work with university, CSIRO and research institute experts to unlock their knowledge for use by the wider public.
Finding this site was an interesting journey in itself. I was reading an article in The Guardian titled
“Tony Abbott achieves the impossible: unity among economists”
and I came across this quote from Richard Holden, professor of economics at the Australian School of Business:
“First, Australia does not have a debt crisis. Or, to put it another way, Australia does not have a debt crisis.”
Catchy quote, so I thought I’d track down the source. It was in an article by Richard Holden that had been published in the The Conversation a few months ago in the lead-up to the 2014 Federal budget announcement. Richard Holden is not a journalist; he’s a Professor of Economics at the University of NSW’s Australian School of Business.
So I read the article, found it well written and helpful, and then went on to the comments. There were 122 of them, and they weren’t like the comments you see on the ABC or The Guardian that quickly degenerate into abusive character-assassination. Here the comments were polite, talked mainly to the point and contained links to other material on the subject. Quite refreshing.
The Conversation has gone straight to my bookmarks.
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