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Crikey is an independent news website featuring commentary on politics, media, business, culture and technology.

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An AI-edited image of Barnaby Joyce (Image: Supplied)

Australian media has been publishing AI-manipulated Barnaby Joyce images

Edited images of Joyce lying on a Canberra footpath were published by The Australian, 2GB, 9NEWS and other outlets run by Australia’s biggest media companies.

Qantas’ chair must revamp the airline’s tired, profit-hungry strategy

Amid falling profits, pilot strikes and an eroded public reputation, Qantas’ new chair has a big job on his hands.

Incoming Woolworths CEO Amanda Bardwell, and her predecessor Brad Banducci (Images: AAP/Private Media)

As Banducci checks out of Woolworths, another woman is tasked with saving a sinking ship

Amanda Bardwell replaces the humiliated Woolworths CEO at a time of public scrutiny, price gouging claims and a falling share price. It’s a familiar example of pushing someone off the glass cliff.

Why are your insurance premiums so high? Blame 20 years of allowing mergers

Think you’ve got choice in insurance? Wrong — thanks to market concentration, all you’ve got left is an illusion that you can shop around.

Nine chair Peter Costello (Image: AAP/Private Media)

Nine saved by Stan, bursting a Hubbl, and corrections galore

This week’s Media Briefs brings you Nine’s lifeline in a tough ad market, corrections galore, and a burst Hubbl.

Frozen embryos are now people in Alabama as the US tips closer to theocracy

In a ruling guided by pure biblical interpretation, frozen embryos — microscopic collections of cells — are now legally people in Alabama.

CEO of PwC Australia Kevin Burrowes (Image: AAP/Lukas Coch)

PwC Australia CEO claims he ‘doesn’t have’ key tax leaks report, despite Oz exec’s access

PwC CEO Kevin Burrowes has told a Senate inquiry he can’t hand over a key report on last year’s tax scandal because he can’t access it. But it seems he could try asking one of his Australian-based executives to hand it over.

Former prime minister Paul Keating (Image: AAP/Bianca De Marchi)

Keating redux: Competition is having a moment with politicians, but powerful enemies are gathering

While politicians might now be talking about competition, there’s a powerful constituency that prefers things just as they are, thanks.

Taylor Swift performing at the MCG (Image: AAP/Joel Carrett)

The simple, uncomplicated, welcome joy of Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift soars above her peers not because her fanbase is addled and easily led, but due to the exact opposite.

An AI-generated image of Joe Biden and Donald Trump (Image: Reddit/Midjourney/SonOfQuora)

With billions heading to polls, how will democracy handle the AI age?

Ask not why people are inclined to believe fake content, but instead why they distrust those telling them it’s real.

In Western Australia, it’s too damn hot, I tellsya! I’m going troppo!

Mining megacorps have evisercated my fair state for untold billions. Now we’re baking in the job’s final, sweltering days.

(Image: Adobe)

The AFP could learn a lesson from Oregon about engaging the public on surveillance technologies

Australian police seem only to use new surveillance technologies to court scandal. In the US, one city council is taking action to win back public trust.

Julian Assange (Image: EPA/Filip Singer)

Assange’s Belmarsh torture is an attack on journalism, free speech and inquiry

The UK and US are applying deliberate psychic torture, which may become extrajudicial execution.

Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese (Images: AAP/Private Media)

Australia’s political donations and lobbying system is broken by design

‘Do ut des’ — Latin for ‘You give in order to have given back’ — strikes at precisely what’s rotten with federal donations and lobbying laws.

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox (Image: AAP/Mick Tsikas)

Employer groups cry wolf on working from home. Like they absolutely always do

Employer groups are furious at minor improvements to workers rights? What else is new?

Departing Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci and Senator Matt Canavan (Images: AAP/Private Media)

Culture warriors line up to take credit for Brad Banducci’s self-checkout

Forget Four Corners — according to parts of the media and certain politicians, a certain exhausted word was responsible for Brad Banducci’s exit.

Julian Assange in a prison van in 2019 (Image: EPA/Neil Hall)

Why did Julian Assange’s legal team accuse the CIA of a murder plot?

As Julian Assange faces a legal crossroads, his team is using explosive claims to try to convince a pair of judges his case is worth another examination.

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Former independent senator Rex Patrick, David McBride, and Julian Assange (Images: AAP)

‘So… un-Labor’: Albanese lily-livered as whistleblowers head for extradition or jail

The prime minister makes big promises on integrity and secrecy, but sits on his hands as our nation’s whistleblowers face the full brunt of the law.

CEO of Djirra Antoinette Braybrook

‘Remain in the Yes’: Walk with us to keep Aboriginal women and children safe

We need properly funded, community-controlled specialist services to combat domestic violence against Indigenous women and children.

The end days of mass media are upon us

With a growing number of journalists losing their jobs, talk of an ‘extinction-level event’ in the industry is becoming more and more common.

Taylor Swift performing in Melbourne on Friday (Image: AAP/Joel Carrett)

Strained attempts to shoehorn Taylor Swift references in politics and media — a list

‘But surely, Crikey, you’re doing exactly the same thing?’ Damn right.

A wounded Palestinian receiving treatment on January 22 in Nasser hospital in Gaza's Khan Younis, now in 'catastrophic condition' following an Israeli raid on Friday, February 16 (Image: AAP/Mohammed Dahman)

‘The last chapter of the book of death’: Palestinian messages from Rafah and on Gaza

As Rafah in Gaza contends with a looming Israeli ground offensive, messages over the past month from Palestinians reflect fear, disbelief and persisting hope.

Two Palestinian children walk past destroyed houses during an Israeli military operation in Al Bureije refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, 13 February (Image: AAP/EPA/Mohammed Saber)

Lawyers in uproar over order not to discuss Israel-Palestine

Exclusive: An all-staff email to Victoria Legal Aid employees said they should avoid discussing the conflict at work.

RBA governor Michele Bullock (Image: AAP/Lukas Coch)

There’s high inflation in insurance. Now there’s high profits too. Coincidence, Michele?

Two of Australia’s biggest insurers have revealed big rises in profits and dividends. What was that about profiteering?

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers (Image: AAP/Lukas Coch)

Let’s talk about… tax, baby

The Australian media’s love of conflict and willingness to kowtow to vested interests have prevented us from having a serious conversation about tax reform. That needs to change.

Jill Gallagher, CEO of the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (Image: Supplied)

We need Aboriginal health in Aboriginal hands — not another Close the Gap report

Aboriginal community-controlled health organisations are the key to improving health outcomes for all First Nations peoples.

(Image: Adobe)

Will AI replace doctors’ ‘gut instincts’?

Doctors’ intuition plays a key role in healthcare, even when computers suggest another treatment approach. But with AI advancing, is that all about to change?

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek (Image: AAP/Lukas Coch)

Australia could miss a huge opportunity to fight climate change after world’s hottest January

Most Australians believe environmental laws protect from the impacts of climate change, but the Senate committee has recommended rejecting a bill aimed to achieve just that.

The Great Barrier Reef in Queensland (Image: AAP/Dean Lewins)

Australia has no national plan for climate change adaptation. Why?

Climate adaptation, which is about keeping our most vulnerable communities safe, is not a diversion from reducing emissions. We need to do both.