Killing the news

Crikey’s Eric Beecher and academic Denis Muller join us on Democracy Sausage to ask how media should operate when the lines between news, opinion and political campaigning have blurred. 

What impact have media moguls throughout history had on our politics and democracy? How can business models and governance structures be adjusted to ensure the Australian public is served by good journalism? And how does truth compete with exaggeration in the realm of public discourse? 

On this episode of Democracy Sausage, Eric Beecher and Dr Denis Muller join Professor Mark Kenny to discuss how to revive the news. 

Eric Beecher is a journalist, editor and publisher. He has been a reporter with The Age, The Sunday Times, The Observer in London and The Washington Post. He was the youngest-ever editor at The Sydney Morning Herald and the editor-in-chief of the Melbourne Herald. He was the founder of news website Crikey. He is the author of The Men Who Killed the News: The Inside Story of how Media Moguls Abused their Power, Manipulated the Truth and Distorted Democracy.  

Denis Muller is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Advancing Journalism. He is a political scientist, consultant, former journalist and former editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Times, London.  

Mark Kenny is the Director of the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the University after a high-profile journalistic career including six years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times. 

Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to democracysausage@anu.edu.au. 

This podcast is produced by The Australian National University. 

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