7 Wednesday news bites (Sep 14)

1. Media inquiry will go ahead in Australia

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy yesterday revealed the Government would hold an inquiry into privacy, individuals and the media but that the inquiry would not deal with competition concerns held by some who believe the Rupert Murdoch News Corporation controls too much of the Australian media landscape with 70 per cent of newspapers, digital and other outlets. The inquiry would also not look at perceived bias across the media landscape. At this stage it is proposed that the Australian Press Council and the Australian Communications and Media Authority be given broader powers to protect individuals.

2. Jackie O knew of JFK affairs, candid tapes reveal

Interview tapes recorded with then Jackie Kennedy after her husband President John F Kennedy was assassinated reveal she knew about her husband’s affairs (she found intern underwear in the bedroom) and retaliated with her own affairs. On the Cuban Missile crisis, she said to JFK: “If anything happens, we’re all going to stay right here with you. Even if there’s not room in the bomb shelter in the White House. … I just want to be with you, and I want to die with you, and the children do, too–than live without you.” And she spoke of her husband’s growing pride in her after she conducted a televised tour of the White House, her home: “Suddenly, everything that’d been a liability before–your hair, that you spoke French, that you didn’t just adore to campaign, and you didn’t bake bread with flour up to your arms–you know, everybody thought I was a snob and hated politics. … I was so happy for Jack, especially now that it was only three years together that he could be proud of me then. Because it made him so happy–it made me so happy. So those were our happiest years.”

3. Senator Nick Xenophon names alleged rapist priest in Parliament

South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon last night used parliamentary privilege to name and shame a Catholic priest for allegedly raping a current Anglican Archbishop more than 50 years ago. Senator Xenophon had handed the Catholic Church an ultimatum, telling them to suspend the priest by lunch yesterday or he would reveal all. The Catholic Church said it wanted to afford the priest ‘procedural fairness’ and natural justice, noting the priest had been a valued member of the Church for more than 50 years. The question is, did Xenophon do the right thing or was it an abuse of privilege?

4. B-Safe domestic violence alarm no longer funded

The Federal funding of $125,000 a year for an alarm and recording device for families escaping domestic violence has been discontinued and advocates of the program say those who have come to rely on the alarms will now live in fear. The B-Safe program was trialled on 72 women and 140 of their children with advocates saying it has reduced acts of violence. The alarms are similar to those used by the elderly and also begin recording sound when activated so evidence can be collected.

5. Gen Y workers: will work harder for challenges

There seems to be a new ‘profile’ emerging of Gen Y workers every day now, but we thought we’d offer this one up for comment. The ‘What’s Working Survey’ of 1000 people from Mercer suggested Generation Y workers moved up in their careers by zig-zagging first, to acquire skills. The survey showed 52 per cent of respondents aged 25-34 were unhappy in their current work compared to 40 per cent overall. Younger workers were more agile in the job market, willing to cut and run if conditions were not right where older workers valued job and financial security. How about you, what do you look for in a job?

6. Facebook troll jailed for 18 weeks, banned for 5 years

An English man who defaced the Facebook tribute pages of a dead teenager who threw herself under a train has been jailed for 18 weeks and banned from using any social networking site for 5 years. The man was jobless at the time of the attacks. Fair, or not enough?

7. There’s going to be a Sex and the City return … as a prequel

The original author of Sex and the City Candace Bushnell has written a prequel which details the life of Carrie Bradshaw during high school. The creator of the show, Michael Patrick King, stopped short of calling the idea an abomination, saying ‘why would I want to make Carrie less evolved? The Carrie I know only existed in Manhattan’. Hmmm. Thoughts?