News update for Wed 22 Jan 2025

Your trusted guide to the top independent news and views of the day...

Jan 22, 2025

Welcome to your TrueNorth news update where every weekday afternoon we share curated articles from Australia’s independent news media sector.

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TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS UPDATES: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here

‘Catastrophic’: Great Barrier Reef hit by its most widespread coral bleaching, study finds - The Guardian

More than 40% of individual corals monitored around a Great Barrier Reef island were killed last year in the most widespread coral bleaching outbreak to hit the reef system, a study has found.

Scientists tracked 462 colonies of corals at One Tree Island in the southern part of the Great Barrier Reef after heat stress began to turn the corals white in early 2024. Researchers said they encountered “catastrophic” scenes at the reef.

Only 92 coral colonies escaped bleaching entirely and by July, when the analysis for the study ended, 193 were dead and a further 113 were still showing signs of bleaching.

A viral cash gift and the ethics of journalism - The Daily Aus Podcast

This week, a Channel Nine presenter was stood down after he allegedly accepted $50,000 for being the first TV journalist to call a high-profile businessman “McLaren Guy” instead of “Lambo Guy”. Channel Nine has responded saying they are “taking this matter extremely seriously” and have stood down the reporter, Alex Cullen. Today, we thought we’d go through more of a media literacy angle: what are the rules and ethics around journalists accepting gifts? We’ll explore this in today’s deep dive.

Listen to The Daily Aus Podcast

Trump has begun dismantling America’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Here’s why Australia may not follow suit - The Conversation

It’s been a significant day for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in the United States.

Such initiatives are about providing equality of opportunity and a sense of being valued for all members of an organisation. But a backlash has been brewing for years, led by some familiar, newly emboldened voices on the right.

Could this backlash spill over into Australia? We are seeing some signs of resistance to such initiatives already. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton certainly isn’t a fan of DEI.

Marwan Barghouti – the world’s most important hostage – must be released - Pearls and Irritations

A litmus test of Israel’s commitment to abandon genocide and start down the road towards lasting peace is whether they choose to release the most important of all the hostages, Marwan Barghouti. During the past 22 years in Israeli prisons he has been beaten, tortured, sexually molested and had limbs broken. What hasn’t been broken is the spirit of the greatest living Palestinian – a symbol of his people’s ‘legendary steadfastness’ and determination to win freedom from occupation and resist the genocidal forces of the US, Israel and their Western enablers like Australia and New Zealand.

Meta’s new policies and Australia’s social media ban: Why marginalised voices could lose the most - Missing Perspectives

"As a woman of colour who has struggled with mental health, I’ve experienced the duality of social media firsthand... I can’t help but think that Meta’s decision to deregulate, and the Albanese government’s decision to ban social media, are not all that different when they both limit the ability of marginalised voices to use social media safely," writes Varsha Yajman.

Silence In The Face Of Fascism Is Complicity: Australia Must Speak Up - Lyrebird Dreaming

Everyone learns early on that bullies thrive when we back down. It’s no different in foreign policy: when we appease authoritarianism and human rights abuses, we become complicit. This is why Australia - and the rest of the democratic world - needs to speak up now against fascist leanings of the MAGA movement in the United States. We must show the same courage and ethical conviction that Right Rev. Mariann Budde demonstrated at the inaugural prayer service in Washington when she publicly challenged Donald Trump’s bigotry towards LGBTQI+ people and immigrants.

Today’s cartoon by Cathy Wilcox

TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here

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From TikTok Ban to RedNote Rush: The Unexpected Cultural Exchange Between US and China - Bogan Intelligentsia

A fierce online censorship battle in the US reveals a deepening divide between unreasonable power and an awakened public.

More than three million “TikTok refugees” seeking sanctuary flooded onto Chinese social media app “Xiaohongshu”, also known as “RedNote”, opening up a remarkable cultural exchange between users on the platform. Video titles like “How Americans found out the US government was screwing them over” and “Americans interacting with Chinese directly” popped up everywhere. Americans were remarking at the abundance and affordability of Chinese food, the affordability of its emergency services, even quoting the friendly, inclusive and humanitarian nature of RedNote’s community guidelines compared with western social media platforms.

Trump’s plan to make billions off cryptocurrency - 7am Podcast

Just three days before his inauguration, US President Donald Trump announced a new venture into cryptocurrency. Trump promoted the launch of the token, called ‘$TRUMP’, on social media, inviting his followers to join a “very special Trump Community.” Within hours of going on sale, the price of the meme coin surged. Trump has previously sought to cash in on his popularity, selling an array of merchandise including Trump-branded sneakers, fragrances, and even NFT trading cards. But this newest venture raises fresh ethical concerns about profiting from an industry with deep ties to the incoming administration – one Trump himself has a hand in regulating. Today, cryptocurrency and tech researcher Molly White on the billions Trump seeks to make off his ‘meme coin’, and the ascendancy of cryptocurrency in the Trump administration.

Listen to the 7am Podcast

Also >

The second coming of Donald Trump - The Full Story Podcast
So this is Trump’s ‘golden age’ – chaos, dysfunction and a coalition of creeps - Marina Hyde for The Guardian
The Return of Donald J. Trump - The Rest is Politics Podcast

Wealth Inequality in Australia: A Study of Billionaire Gains Amid a Cost-of-Living Crisis - Blak and Black

The ever-growing concentration of wealth among the ultra-rich has become a hallmark of contemporary economies, and Australia is no exception. In 2024 alone, the country’s billionaires amassed an additional AUD $28 billion in combined wealth, presenting urgent questions about economic fairness, social responsibility, and the imbalance of power in addressing societal inequities. As the cost-of-living crisis continues to escalate, with daily essentials becoming less affordable, the sharp contrast between extreme wealth accumulation and chronically underfunded public services raises critical ethical and policy challenges for Australia.

Elon Musk might be antisemitic, but he’s OUR antisemite, so hands off! - Crikey

At a time of heightened media sensitivity to antisemitism across the West and routine complaints from Jewish community leaders, the Israeli government and right-wing politicians that governments have failed to crack down hard enough on antisemitic rhetoric and violence, as well as persistent claims that antisemitism is encouraged and enabled by progressives, one kind of antisemitism seems to be acceptable.

Elon Musk is an antisemite, and has an extended history of antisemitic words and deeds. “Jewish communties (sic) have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them,” one X user wrote in November 2023.

Dutton may think voters no longer care about good government. But there’s no such thing as a ‘free lunch’ - The Guardian

Australian politics has become a vehicle for personal enrichment in a way that would have been considered shocking last century.

In an unofficial election campaign where we have so far seen very few concrete policy proposals, Peter Dutton’s announcement that the LNP will offer a $20,000 annual tax deduction for small business to claim food and entertainment at clubs, pubs and restaurants comes as something of a surprise.

It should go without saying that this is appalling public policy.

Why the Coalition’s health record makes ‘Mediscare’ a genuine concern - The New Daily

If the Coalition wants to head off a Mediscare campaign, Dutton needs to acknowledge the Coalition attacks on the health system from a decade ago and make it clear that they will not be repeated.

He should give an explicit commitment to maintaining public hospital funding, Medicare bulk billing, and PBS copayment arrangements, as well as continuing to fund the myriad other programs that keep the health system working.

Unless this happens Labor is perfectly justified in pointing to the 2014 Budget and suggesting an encore performance is coming if the Coalition wins government.