Life’s busy when you work full time, you have a family, you have a life to live and… on top of that you volunteer for three different organisations: ALIA Graphic Novels and Comics, the Basque Society of Victoria and another organisation that is only just being born. I really can’t say much about this last one but I’m super excited and we’re making some big plans that we hope to announce soon.

What can I say?

I must be crazy but I think I think the time has come to develop time bending skills. If you know how to expand time, please let me know.

THREE BRIEF LESSONS IN IRONY

So much of the media today is driven by narratives that are manufactured and pushed by the highly concentrated media landscape (a media landscape that is now more concentrated than ever).

We only know what gets reported and they frame the conversation for us with their reporting. Even choosing the words and language that we should use. Anyway… here are three brief lessons in irony related to media and media narratives.

Democracy

We are sold democracy. Democracy is the best and we live in democracies which we are told we should be very proud of. It’s the be all and end all. And, don’t get me wrong, I was born at the end of 40 years of dictatorship in my homeland. While I didn’t live it, I have seen the consequences of it and have heard first hand about the effects of authoritarianism. Democracy is definitely a better system and I would advocate for more democracy and more direct democracy.

But, let’s be honest, most institutions, especially the institutions that have real global power and influence, are deeply undemocratic. The UN Security Council, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organisation, the World Bank, etc. They’re all deeply undemocratic by every meaningful measure.

We, clearly, don’t vote for them nor elect them but they wield enormous power globally.

In Australia, we have elections in our representative democracy, but what’s becoming clear is that those in government and parliament are increasingly seen as out of touch with the community and beholden to vested interests, lobbies and donors. Only 30% of Australians report trust in government officials and a very concerning 72% perceive the rich and powerful as a major dividing force in Australia.

The main irony is this. We believe in the ideal of democracy, we believe in the system and support it, but a lack of transparency, the overt influence of lobbies and financial vested interests (including the revolving door of politicians who retire from politics and then get cushy jobs) and the very poor avenues of public participation in democracy beyond casting a vote during elections, leave us with a strong sense that they don’t represent us and that our democracy doesn’t represent us.

We need strong, fearless and independent media to hold them accountable. We need more democracy, more transparency (instead of secret AUKUS deals and approvals for new mines or extensions of mines released Friday evenings, etc) and, most importantly, more direct and varied ways for citizens to participate in direct democracy and decision making.

War

We are all against war. Even Trump, apparently. Although, I think that depends on whether he’s taken his medicine and whether he thinks he may receive the Nobel Peace Prize with all the imaginary peace deals he has brokered. But while our governments and institutions speak against war and for peace, including the UN Security Council whose “primary responsibility [is] for the maintenance of international peace and security,” the reality is that they are all involved with and in bed with the industrial military complex.

This is not a conspiracy and it’s something that we have been warned about plenty of times, including by such radical left wing guerrilla fighters such as five star army general and leader of the D-Day Guerrilla Rebels, former President Dwight Eisenhower in a powerful speech in 1961 that it’s really worth a read.

I also remember Uruguayan author and journalist Eduardo Galeano pointing out in his book Upside Down, published in Spanish in 1998 that:

“The decisions, the upper hand, are held by five countries in the Security Council, which are the ones that can veto. Look, what a portrait of the world, isn't it? It is incredible: the five powers that ensure peace are the five main arms producers; Those who do the business of war are concerned with peace, in this world that is turned upside down.”

Or how about the irony that more than a quarter of the National Press Club’s sponsors in Canberra are part of the global arms industry as reported by Michelle Fahy on Michael West? Can the National Press Club really be independent then? Or does the existence of those sponsorships explain why the National Press Club cancelled Pulitzer Prize Winning Chris Hedges at the very last minute when they received his outline for the speech, which included criticism of how western media has handled the Israeli occupation and destruction of Gaza and Palestinians? The ABC and David Marr, at least gave Chris Hedges time to talk about it in his own words.

News Media

Which brings me to news media. There is this idea that news media holds the powerful accountable, that it reports the news free of bias and it reports information accurately. While notions may vary slightly across different countries journalism, in its simplest terms, follows these main principles:

• Accuracy and truth. The information published must be accurate and verified. News deals with fact-based communications.

• Impartial and fair. As seen in point one, the only bias a journalist should have is to accuracy and truth.

• Independent. In order to report accurately and to hold the powerful to account, journalist and news media should be independent.

We know who owns some newspapers and why the news reported in their papers, radio stations and TV channels, are totally skewed. Murdoch, for example, owns about 100 physical and digital mastheads in Australia and the recently renamed Sky News Australia, now confusingly renamed News 24, not be confused with ABC News 24. Jeff Bezos, the sometimes richest man in the world and owner of Amazon, owns The Washington Post, where he has been imposing his ideas and changing editorial guidelines.

Some news media try to appear independent. They know it’s important to appear independent. For example, The Guardian always talks it up in terms of being unbiased and indepedent. But, can they really be independent when they depend on advertising money for their survival?

News media likes to appear unbiased, impartial but what we’re seeing is that mainstream media is at the mercy of corporate and wealthy owners. It’s at the mercy of market forces through advertising and anyone who strays from it is kicked out or ostracised.

A recent On the Media podcast episode discussed this in relation to the US news media landscape with Victor Pickard, a professor of media policy and political economy at the University of Pennsylvania. The whole episode is really worth listening to as they discuss media capture, the idea that “when the government fails to codify protections around the press's obligation towards public interests, political and commercial interests can take over” and the benefits of an independent public media.

This is why we’re seeing the rise of independent or alternative media which is, in my opinion, where some of the best journalism is happening right now and why, even though there are clear issues with public broadcasters who have also been captured to a degree, we must continue to support and advocate for strong public media and protections to the media.

THE MEDIA AND THE US-ISRAEL ATTACK ON IRAN

As it always happens with attacks like this and terrorist attacks like Bondi’s a few weeks ago, there’s a lot of information going around. Some of it will be true, some of it will be inaccurate, some of it will be propaganda and some will be AI slop and deepfakes.

In these situations it’s always best to wait. Facts and truth will emerge in due course. But having an interest in media and how media shapes narratives, I couldn’t resist making some quick points.

The Australian government (Albanese and Burke have spoken) has characterised Iran as “a brutal regime” “destabilising the world.” They have stated that it’s “critically important, that Iran does not end up with nuclear weapons.” And, that “we want the Iranian people to have charge of their government again.” This is exactly the same rhetoric that was used, almost word by word, in the lead up to the Iraq War in 2003.

Let’s quickly go point by point:

Brutal regime: Iran’s regime is horrendous, that much is true. There are plenty of brutal regimes in the world that are as bad or even worse, including neighbouring countries that both the US and Israel have strong financial ties with such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. This does not warrant starting a war of regime change.

Destabilising the world: It’s true that Iran has links and funds some terrorist groups. No one can deny that. The irony here is that Iran has not invaded any other country or carried out regime change in any other country. Meanwhile, the US has a long list of countries that they have invaded, carried out wars against and carried out regime change for decades. The irony is that if there are two regimes that are currently destabilising the world they are, without a doubt, Trump and Netanyahu’s regimes.

Nuclear weapons: Very much like there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Iran is nowhere near having nuclear weapons. The ones who possess nuclear weapons are the US (the biggest stockpile of nuclear weapons and the only country to have used them to obliterate two cities and their people) and Israel (who doesn’t admit to it but everyone knows they do and is the only country in the Middle East to have nuclear weapons).

Freeing the people: The claim is that illegal war is to free the Iranian people but it’s the people who will pay a very heavy toll as the attacks mount and the death toll rises. If we look at what happened in Iraq the death mounted to hundreds of thousands and the government was appointed by the US. This will be the same. This is about regime change, plain and simple, no matter the civilian cost.

Pre-emtive Strikes: The media narrative is already being shaped. Much like the Iraq War, western media sources, including ABC News have characterised this as pre-emptive strikes. A blatant lie and absolute distortion of the truth. To be clear, pre-emptive attacks are not legal under international law. The Iraq War was the beginning of this dangerous doctrine. We have seen it invoked other times by Israel and Russia, for example, and it’s being used again. But it’s still illegal and immoral. No matter how much it’s been normalised by governments and mainstream media.

So why is it that mainstream news media in western countries don’t report these things? Why is it they simply repeat what this government or that government says? Does international law matter in 2026?

The UN Secretary General has warned about the chain of events and the consequences this may have. Then he has said:

"Let me be clear. There is no viable alternative to the peaceful settlement of international disputes. Lasting peace can only be achieved through peaceful means, including genuine dialogue and negotiations."

Iran for all its faults (and there are plenty) has been calling for diplomacy and talks for weeks. They offered big concessions but they were not enough for the US and Israel. No matter what the US and Israel governments say, no matter how western media frames it, it was they who unilaterally started this war of regime change in breach of international law.

I would hope for western mainstream media to adopt a more critical view of what’s happening. To be more careful about headlines and the framing of their headlines and reporting. Words matter. The way they are used matters.

KICKING AROUND THE NET

• Early years literacy is absolutely essential and public libraries play an enormous role in fostering a love of books and developing literacy. So how should we make it easier for parents and children to access the library and how can we ensure that libraries are properly funded for this? Cory Greenwood has published a great blog post looking at this. It’s no secret and quite a concern that funding for public libraries continues to fall in real terms as the Public Libraries Victoria State Budget Submission outlines. In related news, Creative Victoria’s funding has fallen by more than $20 million since 2022 which threatens the closure of Writers Victoria and has a huge impact in arts and culture.

• The disappearance of YA books and YA librarians from libraries in the United States is a worry. The Australian context is different. Sure, the Australian context is different but it's important to keep track of what's going on because there are groups and individuals in Australia who would love to replicate what's happening over there, here. The tireless and ever awesome Kelly Jensen published a great post digging into this issue on Book Riot. And, even more concerning, she has also written about how hours after the State of the Union address republicans have moved to introduce legislation enabling book bans in public schools across the United States. This would take over state laws and also has the potential to be expanded into public libraries. As Jensen concludes: “These bills aren’t about removing books; books are just one of the tools. These bills are about the complete and total erasure and removal of queer people from American life.”

• The latest Tech Won’t Save Us podcast episode has a very interesting conversation with Amanda Hanna-McLeer, a writer, director and educator and Lucy Jackson, an early member of the Luddite Club, when she was a student, to discuss the story of The Luddite Club, from its beginnings as a high school organisation to its pivot into a non-profit, its growth into an international movement and the upcoming documentary by Lucy Jackson.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

I took this photo in Bangkok in 2006.

I remember it was really hot and muggy. I’ve never been good with hot weather. So after exploring parts of the city I sat down in a small public square to rest and have some water when I observed the above and I couldn’t resist taking a quick photo.

I’ve always liked the moment it captures, the contrast between the spiritual altar, the gold, the flowers, the colours… And then the city in the background, with old, grey buildings and the Coca-Cola truck, an intrusive symbol of capitalism.

I’m hoping my next blog post will be on comics, literacy, multimodal texts, multiliteracies, etc. In the meantime, I hope for peace and common sense in a world that seems to be breaking at the seams. We should never lose hope. We must fight for it, ever aiming for the sun and the horizon.