The second ICR podcast in an interview with Associate Professor David McKnight. David offers his thoughts on journalism and the future of the Australian left.
The following comes from his UNSW biography:
David McKnight is a Senior Research Fellow at the Journalism and Media Research Centre at the University of NSW. He is the author of three books on topics diverse as contemporary politics, recent Australian history and international espionage. David also contributes regularly to the opinion pages of Australian newspapers.
His book on the cold war in Australia won the 1994 NSW Literary prize for non-fiction. His latest book, Beyond Right and Left: New Politics and the Culture War, was nominated for the Gleebooks prize on cultural criticism. It was also extensively cited by the then Labor front bencher, now Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd in 2006. He holds a major research grant and is investigating the political commentary of the media owned by the global giant News Corporation. He has recently completed another research project on the Australian Security Intelligence Organization 1968-1975.
He has worked as a journalist on the Sydney Morning Herald, ABC TV’s Four Corners and on the weekly Tribune.He is also a fellow of the Centre for Policy Development. He previously taught for 12 years in the journalism program at the University of Technology, Sydney.
David was kind enough to agree to an interview which we conducted in his office at the University of New South Wales on Friday the 29th June, 2009. I specifically asked him to comment on a subject that’s getting a wide airing at the moment – the sense of crisis in contemporary journalism.
It’s fair to say that David is concerned about the diminishing capacity of journalistic institutions. Later in the interview, we also talk about his thoughts on the Australian left, revisiting some of the arguments he made in Beyond Right and Left. We welcome your comments on our conversation. I’ll be talking to a range of people with a range of views on this issue over coming weeks.
As ever, our ICR Podcast theme music is my the awesome Axxonn
(PS – Very soon I’ll have an iTunes feed sorted out)
4 Comments
Great podcast Jason, and I’m really glad to see some content up on the website. I’d like to email you some photos and such to be posted as well, if you like. Thanks for doing this!
Hi Katie – better still, I can make you an author – let me sort that out!
Good stuff as ever, the date of interview in the text is wrong 29th June ?
Great post! I’ll subscribe right now wth my feedreader software!