Like dogs and cats, snakes and rats, journalists and the government are not supposed to be friends.
It is always going to be a fractious, difficult relationship. We, the voters and taxpayers, grant politicians enormous power and resources to run the government on our behalf. The media’s job is to make sure they do it responsibly and ethically.
As the American newspaper baron William Randolph Hearst reportedly once said, “news is whatever someone doesn’t want printed; all else is advertising”.
The natural order of things
requires there to be a necessary tension between those two institutions. But mutual hostility isn’t necessarily always a good thing.
Europe | Center for International Maritime Security cimsec.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from cimsec.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
It’s been 10 years since Mark Wales last deployed to Afghanistan.
The retired Australian Special Forces soldier is proud of his service but doesn’t hesitate to declare that the US-led alliance, of which Australia was a part of, lost the aimless war to the Taliban.
“It s surprising to me that no one is banging their fists on the table about this. We’re trying to just creep away saying, ‘oh we just lost that war. I hope no one notices, ” the 41-year-old tells SBS News from his home in Perth.
“It’s a pretty big deal. If we’re losing wars at a national level it has to be understood and measures [need to be] put in place so it doesn’t happen again.”
Afghan militia leader Matiullah Khan gave gold watches to Australian Special Forces commanders
Posted
FriFriday 5
updated
FriFriday 5
Uruzgan chief of police, Brigadier General Matiullah Khan (centre), was killed in 2015.
(
Share
Print text only
Cancel
Australian Special Forces commanders were given gold watches by a corrupt Afghan warlord who doubled as a powerful local police chief.
Key points:
His political connections and private army helped keep the Taliban at bay in Uruzgan Province
To refuse the luxury items might have caused offence or embarrassment
The ABC can reveal notorious Afghan militia leader Matiullah Khan, who was killed in 2015, regularly presented Rado watches worth more than $1,000 to senior Australian soldiers during rotations in Uruzgan province.
Event description
Best selling author and former ABC producer, Will Davies, discusses his latest book about the untold story of Z Special Unit in WWII. About this Event
Will Davies shares with us his knowledge and understanding of Z Special Unit and how he came to write it s extraordinary story.
In the week prior to ANZAC Day discover a part of our history and remember the sacrifices and bravery of so many.
About the Book
The untold Z Special Unit and Operations, the precursor to the elite SAS, and the extraordinary feats they undertook in the Pacific during the Second World War.