• Anger management

    Sebastian F. K. Svegaard     |      March 10, 2024

    Our political worldview is becoming less about what we think and more about what we feel. There’s a reason for that.

  • Fear and loathing in Australia

    Victoria Fielding     |      March 4, 2024

    As we muddle through the complexities of the 21st century, progress appears to be stifled by a media keen on angering its audience, rather than informing them.

  • The enemy within

    David Wroe     |      March 4, 2024

    Tucker Carlson’s lickspittle ‘interview’ with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin was yet another shot fired by Russia and his American apologists in the propaganda war against Ukraine and NATO, but what more can be done to counter the disinformation campaigns undermining Western democracies?

  • Tucker Quisling

    Michael Socolow     |      February 26, 2024

    Tucker Carlson is not the first American reporter to travel to a foreign dictatorship and produce propaganda in the guise of journalism, but he is none the less contemptible for that.

  • Rollerball

    Matthew Jordan     |      February 12, 2024

    The late, great, Norman Jewison’s 70s science fiction film ‘Rollerball’ depicted a United States in which a handful of massive, unaccountable corporations controlled all information – is this dystopian vision becoming reality?

  • Does ‘fake news’ really sway elections?

    Magda Osman     |      February 5, 2024

    Despite the panic over disinformation and misinformation swaying election results, most studies suggests that fake news is more likely to enhance existing beliefs and views rather than radically change voting intentions of those who are undecided.

  • Taking the pulse of social media

    Open Forum     |      February 2, 2024

    A survey of X (Twitter) posts has suggested that global happiness levels take about two weeks to rebound following a global crisis, or “shock” event.

  • Don’t follow the leader

    Open Forum     |      January 25, 2024

    Social systems in which influence is focused around one person or a small number of individuals may create environments where new ideas are ignored, and innovation is hindered.

  • Fake it till you make it

    Tom Buchanan     |      January 22, 2024

    Only a minority of people share false information but, given the vast scale of social media platforms, even that can lead to fake stories spreading like wildfire.

  • Scam, scam, scam, scam

    Shaanan Cohney     |      January 17, 2024

    Balanced regulation and better-resourced regulators would help protect Australians from the online scams and fraudsters which have proliferated in the digital era.

  • Planet selfie

    Brendan Canavan     |      December 31, 2023

    After the COVID interregnum, more people are traveling to more exotic holiday destinations than ever, but the rise of social media means that many of them seem to be doing it to be seen there, rather than see the places they are going.

  • You can’t win

    Open Forum     |      December 22, 2023

    People asked to check the truthfulness of fake news stories online may be more likely to believe the misinformation is true, and that may be because search engines expose them to more fake news as they do so, according to US scientists.