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Category Archives: David Penberthy

Zombie non-core promises

November 9, 2009 – 2:25 pm

They just can’t be killed:
John Howard’s dramatic re-entry in the political debate is notable for two reasons – the former PM has steadfastly refused requests for anniversary-type interviews, and he has also said repeatedly he would not “do a Keating” by commenting on domestic affairs, save to defend his record.

By Tobias Ziegler | Tagged | Comments (41)

If you drive a car, I’ll tax the street

October 21, 2009 – 9:32 am

In today’s Daily Telegraph and on The Punch, David Penberthy trots out a great example of how to do tabloid fear mongering. His target in this case is Treasury secretary Ken Henry and the possibility that there may be congestion taxes, or some other new cost to motorists. The formula he uses is a very [...]

By Dave Gaukroger | Comments (43)

Come on, there must be some way of making this stick

September 23, 2009 – 1:01 pm

After a bit of mental gymnastics to clarify the lines of attack he wouldn’t dream of pursuing, David Penberthy attempts to justify his continuing coverage of the RUDD SWEARS non-story thus:
But overall a view is emerging of a man who does one thing in public and one thing in private.
That’s what they’re reduced to? [...]

By Jeremy Sear | Comments (18)

Giving credit where it’s due

August 21, 2009 – 7:31 am

David Penberthy has issued an apology for the offensive text message he reproduced in an article about the Ashes. And I want to give him full credit for it – his explanation comes across as both genuine and intelligent. At the time, I suggested it showed inexcusably poor judgment – with the benefit of my [...]

By Tobias Ziegler | Tagged | Comments (14)

News is news no matter where it comes from

August 4, 2009 – 12:36 am

If you have to write:
… speaking from a psychiatric ward in Canberra last night …
there may be an ethical concern.
I honestly don’t know what else to say. A traditional, commercial media outlet, thought it appropriate not only to interview a patient in a psychiatric hospital ward, but to report “confessions” made in that interview. Bravo.
UPDATE: [...]

By Tobias Ziegler | Also posted in The Australian | Comments (14)

Penbo thinks you should hear what his mate had to say

July 13, 2009 – 10:46 pm

David Penberthy relays a text mesage from his mate Steve:
WHY IS THERE A MEMBER OF AL QAEDA HOLDING A F***ING GLOVE AND A FAT POM IN A TRACKSUIT OUT IN THE MIDDLE?
What’s remarkable is not the text message itself. I suspect we all have one or two bonehead acquaintances who make inappropriate, stupid or just [...]

By Tobias Ziegler | Tagged | Comments (14)

Conversation conditional

July 6, 2009 – 10:00 am

David Penberthy, editor of The Punch goes all blogwar on Crikey’s arse:
The Punch had expected to get about 80,000 readers (unique browsers) in its first month. The official figures show we ended up with 206,281 readers. This compares to Crikey, which is five years older than us, and had 179,069 readers in the same period.
This [...]

By Scott Bridges | Also posted in The Punch | Comments (40)

One of those irregular verbs

July 4, 2009 – 12:58 am

I write about you in a professionally detached manner;
You engage in “navel-gazy bullshit”.

By Jeremy Sear | Also posted in The Punch | Comments (4)

Memo Penberthy: Look in the mirror

June 24, 2009 – 10:23 am

The Punch’s editor, David Penberthy, tells our MPs that the public is sick of the ute saga and the cheap point-scoring attempts. He notes that:
It’s not as if there’s a shortage of important issues to be discussed by our parliamentarians at the moment.
There’s this thing called the global financial crisis that the public is much [...]

By Tobias Ziegler | Comments (15)

The intellectual dishonesty of “the politicians’ republic”

June 9, 2009 – 10:24 am

There are few more glaring examples of “intellectual dishonesty” in recent Australian political debate than the campaign successfully run by monarchists like David Flint against the minimalist republic model in 1999. Their line that it was “the politicians’ republic” was misleading – but, you’ve got to give them credit, devastatingly catchy. If you’re looking for [...]

By Jeremy Sear | Also posted in David Flint | Tagged , | Comments (42)