The Conversation expands its editorial team and boosts non-partisan coverage of public policy
- Written by The Conversation
As we gear up for an election year, the editors at The Conversation have been thinking hard about the role of quality journalism in the political process. We want to find better ways to provide readers and voters with the trustworthy information they need to make good decisions, for their own benefit and the community as a whole.
The growing difficulty of this task is now pretty well understood. A bit over a decade ago a former Australian Labor politician, Lindsay Tanner, published a book called “Sideshow”, in which he argued that politics had been dumbed down by media outlets more interested in entertainment than serious policy.
Tanner’s book drew on the work of academic and former Chair of The Conversation, Julianne Schultz, who in a 1998 monograph, “Reviving the Fourth Estate”, said entertainment values were increasingly driving news judgements in Australia.
Even earlier, Neil Postman’s 1985 book “Amusing Ourselves to Death” had argued that due to the influence of television, public discourse in the United States was becoming a branch of show business.
All these trends predate the earthquakes unleashed by social media and AI. New York Times commentator Ezra Klein recently argued that the Democrats lost the 2024 presidential race, at least in part, because they lacked the wherewithal to navigate the attention economy created by social media algorithms and changing digital media consumption.
All of which is to say that news values and attention-seeking can’t easily coexist, but nor is it a winning strategy to publish quality information and simply hope people will find it.
To reach audiences with non-partisan information, editors have to commission and curate coverage that is relevant, current, reliable and able to hold attention in a crowded market.
In covering the 2025 Australian federal election, that’s exactly what we aim to do. We intend to focus on what the politicians say they will do in office, and draw on the expertise of Australia’s leading academics to analyse the likely outcomes.
As the election draws closer, The Conversation will also conduct a survey of you, our readers, to identify the issues that matter most to you. It will be called #settheagenda and, as was the case in previous campaigns, it will shape our coverage. Please look out for it and take a few minutes to let us know your thoughts.
We are also investing in our editorial team so we can bring you more quality information and academic analysis and expertise.
We have just made two new senior editorial appointments to ensure we have the capacity to cover the key issues.
Alison Carabine joins The Conversation in the newly created role of Public Policy Editor. Victoria Thieberger replaces Peter Martin as Economics Editor.
Carabine, who will be based in the Canberra Press Gallery, is a Walkley award-winning journalist with more than 30 years’ experience. She spent 13 years as Political Editor on Radio National Breakfast.
Thieberger joins us from the Australian Financial Review, where she was Special Reports Editor. She has been a financial correspondent in New York and London, and has decades of experience as an economics journalist and editor for Reuters, Business Spectator and The Australian. Victoria will be based in Melbourne.
The new Public Policy Editor role has been made possible by a group of generous supporters who understand that media failure is hurting the quality of debate and who want to be part of the solution.
My deepest thanks to Stephen Ball and Tracey Jarvis-Ball, The Beeton Family Fund, The Broadley Trust, Michael and Ros Crommelin, Kathy Egea, Stephen Howard and Elizabeth Martell, Peter Laver, The Keir Foundation, Joyce Kirk, Bev Rogers and Michael Wise. (And if you recognise the importance of this work and you’d also like to make a contribution, please contact Helen Johnstone.)
Thanks for reading and supporting The Conversation and helping us provide quality information to the Australian public.
It’s going to be an interesting year, and we’re looking forward to hearing from you as we try to win in the attention economy while also producing quality information that’s accurate, non-partisan, and powered by the deep expertise of Australia’s academics.
