Being part of an independent, agile and locally-owned publishing outfit has many benefits. One is that we can just do stuff to see if it works. This week, for instance, we’ve added a Conflict of Interest round to our mix in the form of reporter Georgia Wilkins. (Any tips? Send them through to coi@cikey.com.au.)

Looking at conflicts goes to our long-standing interest in holding the powerful to account and picking up rocks often ignored by other media. Part of that is asking questions of the news media itself. Why, for instance, would the ABC think about making its chief economics correspondent redundant in the midst of a recession? Why is Andrew Bolt dog-whistling on race? Why would The Australian instinctively seek to defend Dyson Heydon? These are just some of our recent queries. You can read our findings below.

And if you have any thoughts, comments or ideas, feel free to email us at letters@crikey.com.au, or respond to our question for the next instalment of The Proposition. The question is: If the coronavirus crisis results in at least one major permanent change to the way we live our lives, or conduct our society, what would that change be?

Before I go, I should mention that even though the Crikey paywall is back up, our pay-what-you-want subscription drive is still very much alive, and ends Tuesday June 30. While I appreciate there is plenty of good journalism out there (in fact we wrote about it only yesterday), it’s also true that it costs money to produce it.

Crikey, in short, needs you and, hopefully, you appreciate it.

CHARLIE LEWIS 2 minute read

Don't expect this to be the last time News Corp goes after Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe. Once they spot an ideological enemy, there is no development, no angle, that will be left unexplored.

GEORGIA WILKINS 3 minute read

Chemicals billionaire and former Trump adviser Andrew Liveris is sparking more questions about his potential conflicts of interest as the chair of a second COVID commission

BELINDA NOBLE 3 minute read

History tells us that the searing urgency for climate action after the summer's bushfires will cool unless principled people keep up the good fight.

DAVID HARDAKER 5 minute read

Over its 45-year history, the Council of the Order of Australia has stripped awards from 46 people. Is Bettina Arndt next?

AMBER SCHULTZ 3 minute read

The ABC is proposing a cut to its business reporting team in the midst of a recession.

BERNARD KEANE 4 minute read

Ten years on, the Gillard government is associated with scandal and soap opera. But its economic successes hold lessons for Australia in 2020.

GUY RUNDLE 5 minute read

The government's university fee hike is a sloppy, rushed proposal which will achieve the opposite of what it proposes... but maybe that's the point.

DAVID HARDAKER 6 minute read

Australian media are producing some of their biggest stories while mastheads continue to fold.

BERNARD KEANE 3 minute read

US states, cities, police forces and tech companies are turning their backs on facial recognition technology. Why is Australia continuing to embrace it?

GUY RUNDLE 4 minute read

Jacqui Lambie is in a unique spot to derail the government's proposed university fee hike. Here's why she should.