Sunflowers

This is a fascinating piece of writing on the aftermath of MH17by one of Australia’s best journalists, Paul McGeough. In amongst the horror of the crash, McGeough and his photographer colleague Kate Geraghty collect sunflower seeds from the crash site of MH17 and arrange to give them to family members who lot loved ones in […]

The other side

What has been missing from the coverage of MH17 has been the impact on the Ukranians. THe way it has been depicted until I saw this article in the New Daily was that it was a solely western tragedy perpetrated by an evil “other”. The Ukranians to date have been depicted drunken callous marauding looters […]

Bringing them home

The journey has begun for the downed. The scene of a dilapidated old freight train pulling out of a station doesn’t give high hopes for dignity to be maintained in death. Having said that life wasn’t respected in the first instance, so one wonders why would dignity be respected. As they make their way home, […]

In the fishbowl

The media coverage of MH17 has highlighted how the boundary between public and private has blurred. There is a shift from the event to the story, where it is no longer about reporting what happened but more about the so called human face of disaster. The level and type of reportage also kicks into hyperdrive. […]

MH17

Like everyone, the horror of MH17 touches us. We all fly, we have all been in that situation, a plane a cruising altitude, shoes off, headrest adjusted, checking the movies, waiting for dinner service (chicken or beef, sir). This is why we relate to this, more so than, say the Korean Ferry Sinking earlier in […]