I remember a time when it took until October for things to start getting really, really silly.
But it’s only March. And things are already crazy.
When I took over New Matilda in May last year, I knew it would be a long, tough gig – one of the realities of independent media is that we run on the sniff of an oily rag, and must do a lot with a little.
I think at New Matilda, we do that particularly well. But we can’t do it without your support, and so I hope you’ll consider subscribing to New Matilda to help keep the coverage punching on.
In the past month, you will have noticed an increase in our coverage on issues like workers rights, climate change and mining. That’s courtesy of young Thom Mitchell, who came on board at the start of the year.
But we’ve also provided in-depth reporting on all the major issues from February – from the leadership spill, the pending deaths of Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, the appalling assault on Gillian Triggs, asylum seeker issues more generally, and George Brandis… we wrote a lot about George, for obvious reasons.
We broke the story of the campaign by Beyond Doubt which saw George’s email swamped in protest at his metadata laws and we weighed in on Westconnex. Amy McQuire also broke the news of SBS’s plans to axe their NITV National News service. and she also revealed how media turned away from Aboriginal protests in Canberra against child removal, preferring instead to focus on leadership speculation.
One of the month’s more popular stories was this one by Dr Lissa Johnson – a look at empathy and how governments use yours against you. And Ii you haven’t read this stunning piece from Amy – about the impact of feminism on Aboriginal people – it’s also worth the time
Max Chalmers revealed that as the Abbott Government was leading its assault on Gillian Triggs, it was also moving kids in detention back into Nauru.
We also popped Thom Mitchell in a car and sent him north, to cover the protests in the Leard State Forest against coal mining giant Whitehaven. Thom Has also been leading the compilation of our ongoing debate about nuclear energy, and whether or not it has a role to play in tackling climate change.
Ben Eltham provided high quality coverage of the leadership spill, and Ben and Ian McAuley both broke down the truth around Joe Hockey’s intergenerational report.
We brought you details of the federal Senate inquiry into for profit higher education providers, an issue close to our heart given one of our ongoing legal battles in the Supreme Court (we’re back in there next Friday and we’ll keep you posted of the outcome).
We covered the failed coup in the Northern Territory, and a four day factory stand-off in Dandenong, along with the passing of three legends of Aboriginal affairs – Brian Johnstone, Tracker Tilmouth and Faith Bandler.
And that, folks, is just a small fraction of the stories we covered in February. Looking back on the month, it’s no wonder we’re so buggered.
I’m obviously inordinately proud of the New Matilda team – I’d them put up against any newsroom in the country. Of course, we need your help to keep them writing. So please consider subscribing today and supporting the work of independent media in Australia.
To sweeten the deal, if you’re a current subscriber to New Matilda and you re-subscribe this month – or if you subscribe to our $180 per year Keen supporter package – we’ll send you two special DVDs – Utopia, John Pilger’s epic documentary on black Australia, and Robert Stone’s Pandora’s Promise, documentary about nuclear energy.
Finally, I genuinely appreciate the support shown by our loyal readers. Without you, none of this happens. But with your support, we can continue to keep some of the bastards at least a little bit more honest some of the time.
And on that front, stand by for a very big March… watch this space.
Regards
Chris Graham
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