Like everyone else, we at Crikey are trying to make sense of the COVID-19 pandemic as we live (and often stumble) through it.

That’s a hard and imperfect way of going about our business. But we thought the articles in today’s Crikey Weekender go some way to fulfilling our mandate to shed light, not heat — and to cut through the noise and rubbish.

I was recently asked what made Crikey different than other news media. I hope these three pieces alone answer the question: Kishor Napier-Raman on how the pandemic is changing our relationship with death, Bernard Keane on the new rise of the ‘other’, and Guy Rundle on Melbourne’s grim postcard from the future.

Crikey is also exploring some of less-discussed consequences of the virus, from its impact on foreign aid, to the conflicts of interest in the National COVID-19 Coordination Commission and the reasons behind the tragic loss of life in aged care homes. Yes, other media will tell you how many died, but how many other news organisations tell you why?

But Crikey isn’t only about COVID-19: we reported on attempts to curb the power and influence of big tech, examined fresh media collapses, and took aim at two corporate heavy weights — Clive Palmer and Kerry Stokes.

Yes, it’s been a good week at Crikey as we, like you, try to make sense of the mess we are all in.

KISHOR NAPIER-RAMAN 5 minute read

COVID-19 has taken away our ability as a society to avoid the topic of death. But we've needed to improve our 'death literacy' since well before the pandemic hit.

BERNARD KEANE 4 minute read

The pandemic has reinforced a growing enthusiasm for closing borders against external threats — and business is unwilling to provide any incentive to stop it.

JANINE PERRETT 3 minute read

Whether he's interfering in state politics or dismissing the pandemic as a media 'beat-up', Clive Palmer is on a roll of the worst possible kind.

GEORGIA WILKINS 4 minute read

The powerful COVID-19 commission has been made even less transparent, in changes that move it to work as an advisory board to cabinet.

MICHAEL BRADLEY 3 minute read

Thank God for the freedom warriors among us, preserving our non-existent rights in the cause of their grand delusions.

AMBER SCHULTZ 5 minute read

Australia usually prides itself on its aid in the Pacific. But the pandemic has put everything on pause.

CHRISTOPHER WARREN 3 minute read

The government has unveiled its new code of conduct that will force tech companies to pay news organisations for their content. But there'll be no money for the public broadcasters.

DEAN YATES 5 minute read

The experts agreed that Dean Yates' PTSD was 'significant'. So why couldn't he get workers' compensation?

STEPHEN MAYNE 4 minute read

Seven Group Holdings owns a huge piece of a company at the centre of a COVID-19 outbreak — just don't expect Seven to tell you about it.

JASON MURPHY 4 minute read

How safe are Australia’s banks? What will happen to the 800,000 loans they have deferred? Will the recession create a tidal wave of mortgage defaults that sends banks to the wall?

GINA RUSHTON 3 minute read

'There’s something to be said about what will be lost when the trusted mastheads go. I don’t want Facebook’s take on fashion.'

SIMON LONGSTAFF 3 minute read

Some people have perfectly good reasons to not conform, others shouldn't have their ideas — or conspiracy theories — given any oxygen. The media must learn which is which.

ANDREW P STREET 4 minute read

Handled well, the scandal could have been knocked on the head. But avoidance tactics and rumours led to a domino effect, knocking down three MPs.