Tim Watson-Munro is Australia's best-known criminal psychologist, as much for the dramas in his own life as for the cases he's been associated with. But many of those cases have been sensational, and they are chronicled in his new book, Dancing with Demons
A criminal psychologist's fall from grace - Conversations - ABC Radio
Media Dragon: Lawless and Time Capsules
Acciona is due to take the demands to the Supreme Court on Friday in a bid to force through payment from the NSW government. The company was subcontracted by ALTRAC, the partnership commissioned by the NSW government to carry out and manage the project ...
Career advice: ‘be selfish’ and don’t box yourself in, EPA boss advises.
Nial Finegan discusses his career path, and why having a technical background doesn’t mean you can’t be a great leader.
PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE CALLS FOR CHANGES IN LIFE INSURANCE INDUSTRY
On 27 March 2018, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services released its report [Click here to open this document] into the life insurance industry. The Committee made 50 recommendations calling for substantial changes to ensure the life insurance industry is held to account in relation to:
1. claims handling processes;
2. transparency of remuneration, commissions, payments and fees;
3. consumer protections and industry codes of practice;
4. retail life insurance and approved product lists;
5. advice provided in the best interests of consumers;
6. group life insurance; and
7. access to medical records and genetic information.
 In a section of Long Island woods known as a gang hangout, MS-13 marks its turf with “503,” the country calling code of El Salvador. The gang also has buried bodies in the woods. (Natalie Keyssar for ProPublica) |
Sharing Henry's story
“If Henry is killed…” Those are the first four words in
ProPublica’s harrowing
story about a teen locked up in a New Jersey detention center.
Few sources have more at risk than Henry in getting his story
told — of a former MS-13 gang-banger who cracked in Long Island, writing
a high school essay about the violent trap he was in, getting the help of a
teacher and eventually authorities who promised him a spot in the witness
protection program if he turned in fellow gang members.
 He did. Then the
U.S. reneged on its promise. ICE grabbed him and stuck him in a
center with other, suspicious MS-13 members. Today, he is scheduled for a
final hearing before an immigration judge, who will decide if he should be
deported to his native El Salvador and face a threatened death sentence
there.
We spoke with ProPublica immigration reporter Hannah Dreier
and with Adriana Gallardo, who helped transform Dreier’s narrative into a
separate, hard-hitting social story with Twitter cards, photos and
Facebook videos of Henry’s texts. That full interview is here.
But first, welcome to the Poynter Morning Mediawire. Here are
the stories that may affect your day:
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Remembering MLK (Screengrab)
CHANGED BY MLK: This Memphis sanitation worker heard King in his final days.
At 75, Cleophus Smith is
still on the case. “I really had a lot of animosity. I came from the
streets. I was a street thug, and Dr. King was the one who taught me, through
his humility, his leadership. I said, ‘That’s the way I’d like to be.’” By
Ora DeKornfeld, Emma Cott and Eric Maierson. (Hat tip: Connie Schultz.)
INSIDE: "Let Kathryn in!" said Coretta Scott King. For
five days after the assassination,
AP correspondent Kathryn Johnson was the only reporter in the King home,
chauffeuring his grief-stricken dad, cooking breakfast — and being greeted by
Jackie Kennedy, who thought she was the white maid.
STRONG, UNCOMPROMISING: The Washington Post’s Eugene
Robinson says King was seen as a radical by some, “a complicated figure” —
and should be remembered that way. The challenge, he
says in this Post video, is to be open to that complex legacy.
‘IT FEELS LIKE IT WAS YESTERDAY’: Andrew Young, in
a CNN interview with Jesse Jackson at the motel where King was shot.
Young and Jackson both had accompanied King to the motel 50 years ago.
WE NEED OPTIMISM: That’s
the message of King biographer Taylor Branch, referring to the confidence
of a better future by fighters for civil rights. “There’s no greater miracle
than that a people who had been denied anything but the whiplash of our
professions of liberty nevertheless had the political genius and the
indescribable courage to lift the rest of us toward the meaning of our own
professed values,” Leonard Pitts Jr. quoted Branch as saying. (Hat tip: Rick
Hirsch.)
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Quick hits
TV NEWS IS GOOD — FOR NOW: A new
report from the Knight Foundation shows that local TV news hasn’t yet
been hit by the same forces as local newspapers, but a lot of challenges are
coming. Poynter's Kristen Hare writes: "Seven hundred and three local
newsrooms now produce news for 1,072 stations. TV’s making most of its money
from advertising (about 55 percent of total revenue), political ad spending
and retransmission fees."
NOW IT’S 87 MILLION: That’s the maximum number of
Facebook users whose
data on the social network was improperly harvested by the Trump campaign
vendor Cambridge Analytica, Facebook said Wednesday. It said 71 million
of them were Americans. Previous outside calculations had the figure at more
than 50 million.
WHAT DID THE TRUMP PEOPLE KNOW?: The hijacked
data included names, hometowns, work and educational histories, religious
affiliations and Facebook “likes” of users. It’s unclear if or how extensive
Cambridge Analytica used the data and a related personality test to optimize
Trump’s campaign chances by playing to specific characteristics, such as
self-confidence, anxiety or fear.
IT GETS WORSE: Mark Zuckerberg said most of its 2 billion users likely have
had their public profiles scraped by outsiders without their
explicit permission.
MAKE GOOGLE, NOT WAR: Thousands of Google employees,
including dozens of senior engineers, have signed a letter protesting the
company’s involvement in a
Pentagon program that uses artificial intelligence to interpret video
imagery. “We believe that Google should not be in the business of war,” says
the letter, addressed to Sundar Pichai, the company’s chief executive.
WHY THEY CAN’T QUIT: Bloomberg
says some Sinclair Broadcast Group contracts require the local TV
employees to pay 40 percent of a year’s wages to the company if they leave
before the end of the contract.
ONE QUIT: In Nebraska, a Sinclair producer said corporate-ordered
promos prompted him to resign. "This is almost forcing local news
anchors to lie to their viewers," Justin
Simmons told CNN.
CARTOONISTS BLOSSOM: The Sinclair issue has
been a bonanza for editorial cartoonists, writes
Michael Cavna.
BUT NOT THIS ONE: Death
threats have forced one of Colombia’s leading cartoonists off Twitter and
other social media. The threats came after Julio Gonzalez, a.k.a.
“Matador," depicted a conservative presidential candidate as a pig. “If
they want to come for me, I do not have bodyguards or anything,” Gonzalez
said in a farewell tweet. “I have a pencil and my brain, and the people who
follow me, a big hug.” (Hat tip: Carol Hills.)
HOW TWITTER TURNED TOXIC: For years, the
company’s zeal for free speech blinded it to safety concerns. And the trash
talk and abuse increased after President Trump’s election, but so did
traffic. Fast Company’s Austin Carr and Harry McCracken explore
the “monster” Twitter created.
USA TODAY NAMES PUBLISHER: More than 20
years ago, Maribel Perez Wadsworth began at Gannett on the agriculture beat
at the Rockford Register Star. This morning, she takes over as USA Today
publisher, the company
announced. Wadsworth, also president of the USA Today Network, will
remain in charge of the network’s $1 billion consumer division. In February, Gannett
named Nicole Carroll editor-in-chief of USA Today.
AWARDS SEASON: It’s a big year for NYT’s Maggie Haberman. She just won the White
House Correspondents’ Association award for presidential coverage. Other
award-winners: Josh Dawsey, now of the Washington Post, for his Politico
story on Sean Spicer's resignation; Reuters for an 18-month investigation
into Taser-related deaths; and CNN for breaking the story of presidential
briefings of possible compromising information with Trump on Russia. (Hat
tip: Ronnie Greene.)
WHAT IS REAL?: Margaret Sullivan examines
a study showing a majority of people believe media report “fake news,”
and she
concludes: “When words can mean anything, and a truth-averse president
has made himself the master of meaning, democracy is in peril.” Related: An
Ohio State poll shows pro-Trump “fake news,” some of it from Russia, may have
depressed HIllary Clinton’s votes enough
to swing the 2016 presidential election.
MAINE IS HIS: Reed Brower, who made a fortune in direct marketing, owns
six of Maine’s seven daily newspapers and a swath of its weeklies as well.
Now he has gained a 50 percent share of Portland’s weekly newspaper, which
had been founded to provide an alternative to the daily paper that is now its
partner. Jake
Bleiberg reports.
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What we’re reading
THE NEWS WE NEED: In the world where platforms, or discovery centers, control
audience, the problem for news providers and consumers “is not just paying
for stories — it may include paying for these stories to reach the
audiences who need them.” So says Ethan
Zuckerman of MIT’s Center for Civic Media. That’s needed if the news
cannot meet the battle for attention on these platforms, he writes.
THE PARKLAND YEARBOOK: At Marjory Stoneman Douglas High
School, students are wrestling with how to tell the story of a “normal” year
when it was so indelibly marked by a mass shooting. The balance is important.
“This,” says
yearbook co-editor Elizabeth Stout, ‘’has to be remembered for the rest
of our lives.”
 A
memorial layout for the yearbook. (Screengrab)
HELL: Four prisoners have died in this warden’s private
Mississippi prison, but he’s not penalized for that, the
NYT’s Timothy Williams reports. He’s incentivized to stay within budget,
even if outside experts say a lack of guards makes the facility unsafe.
BEYOND THE HEADLINES: The Post’s Martine Powers digs
into the dog deaths on United Airlines and finds something new: Half the
dogs who died on flights over three years came from breeds that other
airlines would not accept. Those include short-nosed breeds susceptible to
respiratory issues, such as bulldogs, boxers, pugs, Boston terriers,
Pekingese, mastiffs, shih tzus. “For people who needed to travel with a boxer
or a bulldog, United was often the only way their dog could travel by air,”
Powers writes.
HOW IT’S COVERED: The NYT’s Matt Apuzzo has reported on five U.S. attorneys
general. In this first-person piece, he says he looks for stories
that surprise within the halls of the Justice Department.
JUST ONE MORE: A little boy. A turtle he found in a parking lot — and named
Little Dude. A manuscript, about the strengthening turtle and the weakening
boy, that sat in a drawer for 20 years. Now, that manuscript is published.
The Boston Globe’s Billy Baker and “Goodbye
Little Dude.” (Hat tip: Bill Mitchell.)
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New on poynter.org
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UK: Fair Tax Fortnight Fair Tax Mark
Fair Tax Fortnight (9–24 June) is a UK-wide celebration of the companies and organisations that are proud to pay their fair share of corporation tax, and an exploration of the positive contribution this makes to society. Check the link for events and other information.
Oligarchs hide billions in shell companies. Here’s how we stop them The Guardian
Spanish judge prevents Swiss bank leaker Falciani from leaving country Reuters
Catch Me If You Can: Exxon complicit in corrupt Liberian oil sector Global Witness
Ukrainian Businessmen Linked to Russian “Front Man” for Equatorial Guinea’s Ruling Obiang Family OCCRP
Tanzania: Chinese Firms Pinned Over Tax Evasion allAfrica / Tanzania Daily News
Zambia to Conduct Tax Audit of Mining Companies for Past 6 Years Bloomberg
See also: Zambia slaps miner First Quantum with $8 billion tax bill Reuters
EU’s Main Lender Still Tied to Tax Havens, Watchdog Warns Bloomberg BNA
See also: EIB needs to commit to responsible taxation policy, NGO coalition says EURActiv
Europe is losing the fight against dirty money Politico
‘Outgoing Europol boss says he’s seen big improvement in EU security, but there is much more to do.’
Tunisians take to the streets over IMF-imposed austerity Bretton Woods Project
The Panama Papers revisited: yogurt, bananas, small moustaches and fonts ICIJ
‘Here are 11 unexpected insights’
My law degree wasn’t meant for money laundering. But boy, it would make it easy. The Washington Post
The unsolved mystery of who owns Sherlock Holmes’s original £130 million home Quartz
‘Valued at more than £130 million ($183 million), the property spanning 215 to 237 Baker Street is held via a web of secretive offshore corporations which hide its owner’s identity. It is notorious among anti-corruption activists … ‘