Just outside Canberra, in scrubby farmland, a team of dedicated Australians are guiding Nasa's Cassini spacecraft on its historic but suicidal course to Saturn from the Tidbinbilla tracking station. It's the grand finale of a 20-year mission that has revolutionised our understanding of the solar system and sent home more than a quarter of a million stunning images of Saturn and its moons. Guardian photographer Jonny Weeks paid them a visit: view his photo essay here. Writer Andrew Stafford examines how journalists talk about mental health and people in crisis, particularly in the frenzy of modern news reporting, speaking from his own personal experience. "On the evening of 22 February 2016, I scrawled a note to my former partner, threw a handful of clothes and possessions in the car, and took off into the night," he writes. "I didn't know what I was doing, or where I was going: north, south, east or west. Somewhere along the way, I fired off three tweets that were unfortunately reflective of my state of mind before deactivating my social media accounts ... [When I stopped] my face was on the front of news websites. I'd been officially declared missing." Literary journalist Robert McCrum has contended with death not once but twice as his journey to the final goodbye accelerates – and he has come to believe it is words that are the best weapon with which to come to terms with ageing. In an extract from his new book, McCrum writes: "To me, the mystery of death and dying is only equalled by the mystery of life and living. Consoling narratives must be patched together from transient fragments of experience." Media roundup The Canberra Times splashes with a report on youth employment in the capital, and says exploitation, underpayment, harrasment and unsafe work practices are "far too prevalent", based on a Unions ACT survey finding that 76% of those aged 15-25 reported having been underpaid, while more than half had been made to work unpaid trial shifts. The NT news has a morbid front page about council's "grave decision" to charge ratepayers more for burial costs, while the West Australian splashes with a powerful front page of the Charlottesville white supremecist attacks over the weekend, as does the Australian. And the ABC has an interesting read on how a 19th-century poem by Rudyard Kipling, 'If', read by Australian actor Jack Thompson is a latest tool being used to help address men's mental health issues. Coming up It's the first court date for former Queensland University of Technology students Jackson Powell and Calum Thwaites against the information commissioner and the Human Rights Commission over the QUT 18C racial vilification lawsuit. Australian sports broadcaster and journalist Les Murray will be farewelled in a state funeral at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, later this morning. Support the Guardian It might take a minute to catch up on the news, but good journalism takes time and money. If you already support Guardian Australia, your generosity is invaluable. If not, and you value what we do, please become a Supporter today. Thanks. |
No comments:
Post a Comment