Why the Political System Needs New Media

Ian Marsh and Sam McLean
This chapter describes the roles that new media might play in rebuilding links between Australia’s diverse publics and the formal political system. We will show that democratic engagement has been ...
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WikiLeaks, Disclosure, Free Speech and Democracy: New Media and the Fourth Estate

Jennifer Robinson
The past 12 months have been, without a doubt, the most exciting in recent history in terms of disclosure of information. The disclosure of information by WikiLeaks, including collateral murder, ...
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Will democracy be enhanced by the new technology, or are we all doomed?

Nicholas Gruen
Shortly after Barack Obama became the first US President to build his campaign around online social media, his new administration held an online ‘brainstorming’ session, seeking ideas for making government ...
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You Do Not Inherit; You Hold On Trust

Larissa Behrendt
The concept of sustainability has always been central to indigenous cultures. Native Americans believe that you have to consider the impact of your actions on the next seven generations. And ...
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Malcolm Turnbull

Politics, Journalism and 24/7 News Cycle

Thirty-three years ago, when I joined the news room of the London Sunday Times, its editor, Harry Evans, gave me ‘Editing and Design’ a five-volume manual of English typography and ...
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George Williams

The Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities

Debate about human rights in Australia is often polarised. One view commonly expressed is that by Sir Robert Menzies in 1967, just retired as Prime Minister, that ‘the rights of ...
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David Yencken

Democracy in Australia

Fundamental to the argument in this chapter is that Australia should aspire to the highest possible standards of democratic life. We not only have to be constantly vigilant about the ...
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Spencer Zifcak

The Emergence of WikiLeaks: Openness, Secrecy and Democracy

Just three years ago WikiLeaks was virtually unknown and its founder, Julian Assange, was next to unrecognisable as a national, let alone global identity.A short time later almost no one ...
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