Editor's note
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The Australians turning up in droves at Save the ABC rallies – and there will be another in Melbourne this weekend – are letting it be known how great their trust is in the public broadcaster and that it must be protected at all costs. And central to this, writes Denis Muller, is the idea of editorial independence, especially when it comes to the news service.
As Muller writes, “editorial independence does not mean giving journalists licence to broadcast or publish whatever they want or to avoid accountability for their mistakes. It means encouraging journalists to tackle important stories regardless of what people in power might think, then backing them to make judgments based on news values and the public interest, not on irrelevant considerations such as commercial, financial or political pressure.”
If that editorial independence is weakened – if the ABC yields to the relentless pressure being placed on it from some quarters – that trust will be eroded too. And that in turn would make it an easier target for a hostile government.
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Amanda Dunn
Section Editor: Politics + Society
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Politics + Society
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Author Tom Keneally, actress Magda Szubanski and journalist Kerry O'Brien are among the ABC’s high-profile supporters.
AAP/Jeremy Ng
Denis Muller, University of Melbourne
The public broadcaster's editorial independence must be protected at all costs – from within and without.
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Spain attracts more than 75 million tourists per year – far too many for most residents.
Alberto Morante/EPA
Freya Higgins-Desbiolles, University of South Australia
Overtourism is driving a backlash among residents of many European cities, and concerns are rising in Australia, too.
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Arts + Culture
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Guy Pearce as the Chandleresque private investigator Jack Irish: in the early years of Australian crime fiction, convicts and bushrangers featured prominently.
Lachlan Moore
Stephen Knight, University of Melbourne
Australia's rich tradition of crime fiction is little known – early tales told of bushrangers and convicts, one hero was a mining engineer turned amateur detective – but it reveals a range of national myths and fantasies.
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Melbourne in 1846: a view from Collingwood. T. E. Prout.
State Library of Victoria
Jason Gibson, Deakin University; Helen Gardner, Deakin University; Stephen Morey, La Trobe University
Ngár-go (Fitzroy), Quo-yung (Richmond), Yálla-birr-ang (Collingwood), and Bulleke-bek (Brunswick), are just some of the Woiwurrung names uncovered in the notebooks of a 19th century anthropologist.
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Science + Technology
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There is limited mobile reception on Mt Kosciusko in New South Wales.
soapboxquip/Flickr
Philip Lovell Pearce, James Cook University; Li Jing, James Cook University
People are increasingly seeking out retro-style holidays, where connectivity is an afterthought.
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Shoot straight: could be wise words for those looking to score in any penalty shootout.
Shutterstock/Eugene Onischenko
Stephen Woodcock, University of Technology Sydney
If any game comes down to a penalty shootout then there's one spot a player should aim for to stand a better chance of scoring a goal.
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Cities
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Some fanciful plans were imagined for Melbourne back in the day – some included jet cars.
C.F. Beauvais in the Argus Weekend Magazine, August 28, 1943/Trove
Aaron Magro, University of Melbourne
We have forgotten how to be imaginative when planning our cities. Looking back into Melbourne's planning history, we might be able to find some inspiration to tackle rapid growth in a creative way.
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The man who plowed a van into a crowd in Toronto was a member of the so-called ‘incel’ community.
CrowdSpark/Julla Shanghavi/AAP
Joshua Roose, Australian Catholic University
Men who subscribe to ideological masculinity believe that women's empowerment has left them victimised and discriminated against. And they play out their resentment through violent acts.
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Environment + Energy
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Steve Dorman/Flickr
Ian Wright, Western Sydney University
An audit of Sydney's drinking water has found worryingly high salinity. If the biggest water catchment in the country has problems, what about regional and rural Australia?
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Single-use plastics are convenient, but it’s time to phase them out.
Photo by Sander Wehkamp/Unsplash
Kim Borg, Monash University
How do you help a country get over plastic? By creating awareness and minor inconveniences and by providing lots of reminders.
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Health + Medicine
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The more you diet, the more obsessed with food you become.
from www.shutterstock.com
Megan Lee, Southern Cross University
Being a mindful eater is about ending your obsession with food and weight loss and listening to your body.
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Red, itchy and dry spots on your fingers and toes are caused by cold, but should resolve on their own.
from www.shutterstock.com
Michelle Rodrigues, St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne
A "how to" on avoiding and resolving chilblains this winter.
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FactCheck
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Liberal MP Sarah Henderson, speaking on Q&A.
ABC/Q&A
Fabrizio Carmignani, Griffith University
In addition to the jobs claim, Liberal MP Sarah Henderson said 65,000 new businesses had started in the last year, compared to the closure of 61,000 businesses in Labor's last year. Is that right?
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Education
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Failure is a gift disguised as a bad experience.
from www.shutterstock.com
Mandie Shean, Edith Cowan University
Encouraging and supporting failure can make your child more resilient, better able to cope and help them grow.
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Wher’re you from, mate?
Photo by Weyne Yew/Unsplash
Donna Starks, La Trobe University
Those four words have multiple layers of meaning. How young Aussies answered depended on multiple factors, such as the colour of their skin, family ties and where they live geographically.
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Business + Economy
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There’s a strong correlation between happiness and innovation.
Shutterstock
David A. Fleming-Muñoz, CSIRO; Stephan J. Goetz, Pennsylvania State University
Societies that are happier than others would be reflecting more confidence and trust in their institutions and economic systems.
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From the first hearings of the royal commission, the senior counsel assisting, Rowena Orr QC, laid bare the toxic culture behind many consumer lending practices.
Eddie Jim/AAP
Vicky Comino, The University of Queensland
Restructuring might help manage conflicts of interest between offering advice and selling products, but it doesn't fix the culture that sacrifices customers' interests to the pursuit of profits.
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Featured jobs
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University of Melbourne — Parkville, Victoria
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The University of Adelaide — Adelaide, South Australia
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La Trobe University — Bundoora, Victoria
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RMIT University — Melbourne, Victoria
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Featured events
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192 Wellington Parade, Melbourne, Victoria, 3002, Australia — Association for Sustainability in Business
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14-20 Blackwood St , North Melbourne, Victoria, 3051, Australia — Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation
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221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria, 3125, Australia — Deakin University
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Deakin Downtown, Level 12, Tower 2 Collins Square, 727 Collins Street, Docklands, Victoria, 3008, Australia — Deakin University
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