How the pickle jar saved me
For more than two decades I have devoted the first hour of every day to a morning ritual in which only the lucky among us can indulge. A freshly made cup of coffee, the morning newspapers and peace and quiet in my back garden is, I think, a fitting reward for this middle aged retirement-track […]
Commentary: Council pushes right not to know
Some Brisbane City Council staff seem to have missed the point of legislation that gives citizens the right to access information it holds. During the past several months Newbytes journalists, reporting the news to inform the public, have routinely been fobbed off, denied information and subjected to intimidation. Newsbytes acknowledges the BCC media office receives hundreds […]
Commentary: How government media advisers muzzle the media
There’s an elephant in the room of Queensland governance. It’s the stranglehold unelected government employees have on government information. Information about policy decisions, new government programs, progress on taxpayer-funded research, business development programs, new legislation and all manner of things of public interest. Every day the Queensland Government sends dozens of media releases directly to […]