Latest news with #HoniSoit
Sydney Morning Herald
21-07-2025
- General
- Sydney Morning Herald
El Jannah's new store redraws Sydney's ‘Red Rooster Line'
Depending on where you live in Sydney, your local chicken shop might serve tabbouleh and chips, Portuguese tomato rice or green goddess salad. That's because Sydney isn't just divided by postcodes – it's also divided by poultry. In 2016, Twitter user Big Jez proposed an interesting theory – if you plot Red Rooster locations across Sydney, a near-perfect boundary emerges separating the city's north east from the south west. Big Jez called it the 'Red Rooster Line,' but it's also known in social policy circles as the Latte Line, the Colorbond Fence and the Quinoa Curtain. Running diagonally from Windsor to Carlton (later revised to include the airport store in Mascot), it carves the city in two, tracing inequalities – not just in Buffalo Crunch packs – but also in education, employment, property prices and even HSC results. The idea gained traction a year later when Honi Soit editors Natassia Chrysanthos and Ann Ding expanded on it in the University of Sydney's student newspaper. They argued it wasn't just Red Rooster defining Sydney's geography – other chains were also shaping the city's boundaries, reflecting divisions of class and culture.
The Age
21-07-2025
- General
- The Age
El Jannah's new store redraws Sydney's ‘Red Rooster Line'
Depending on where you live in Sydney, your local chicken shop might serve tabbouleh and chips, Portuguese tomato rice or green goddess salad. That's because Sydney isn't just divided by postcodes – it's also divided by poultry. In 2016, Twitter user Big Jez proposed an interesting theory – if you plot Red Rooster locations across Sydney, a near-perfect boundary emerges separating the city's north east from the south west. Big Jez called it the 'Red Rooster Line,' but it's also known in social policy circles as the Latte Line, the Colorbond Fence and the Quinoa Curtain. Running diagonally from Windsor to Carlton (later revised to include the airport store in Mascot), it carves the city in two, tracing inequalities – not just in Buffalo Crunch packs – but also in education, employment, property prices and even HSC results. The idea gained traction a year later when Honi Soit editors Natassia Chrysanthos and Ann Ding expanded on it in the University of Sydney's student newspaper. They argued it wasn't just Red Rooster defining Sydney's geography – other chains were also shaping the city's boundaries, reflecting divisions of class and culture.
Daily Mirror
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Ladies in Black: why U's new Aussie drama is better than Call the Midwife
The TV adaptation of Madeleine St John's 1993 novel is coming to U and it's packed with drama, light-hearted mayhem and thought-provoking intrigue, with a killer cast. If you're after a warm, character-driven drama with heart, heritage and a fabulous wardrobe to match, Ladies in Black might just be your perfect next binge - and it's better than Call the Midwife. Set in the glittering world of a 1960s Sydney department store, this glossy new series is based on Madeleine St John's 1993 novel, The Women in Black and was initially released in Australia last year - but it's available to stream on U from this Saturday (July 12). With a fresh cocktail of fashion, friendship and female empowerment - all led by Goodfellas and Entourage star Debi Mazar, it combines feel-good nostalgia and powerful, quietly political storytelling, tackling issues like women's rights, racism and class. In this show, Debi plays Magda, the glamorous and fiercely intelligent head of model gowns at Goodes, a fictional version of Australia's legendary department store company David Jones. But Magda's not draped in silks - she's wrapped in secrets and ambition. 'Her dream has always been to have her own boutique, her own business,' Debi says, 'She is someone who sees the future of fashion.' Debi helped shape her character's backstory, inspired by her grandmother's own history. 'I made Magda Polish,' Debi says, 'She says 'I've had so many losses', so I created a back story for her. She's married to Stefan but I imagine she might have married someone who was Jewish. I feel that she lost a baby. Magda's life has not been easy. I related to Magda a lot because my grandmother was from Latvia, she married a Jewish man. But because he was Jewish, and it was wartime, he had to escape. She stayed but then her country was occupied. My grandmother went through a lot of similar things as Magda.' Kickers' 'durable' Back to School shoe range that 'last all year' Alongside Debi is a cast of fresh and familiar faces - including rising star Clare Hughes as Lisa, a teenage shopgirl and aspiring writer. Lisa's story, full of hope and heartache, will resonate with anyone who has dared to want more. 'She wants to become a writer and she's desperately trying to get her articles published in the student newspaper,' says Clare. 'She's trying to balance all of that and work out who she is. She's discovering boys and sex and drinking which is all very new to her.' One of her first grown-up experiences? Heartbreak. 'She's very curious about boys and love and decides that Richard, the editor of Honi Soit, is the right one for her,' Clare says. 'But she falls in love with the idea of him.' Lisa faces another challenge of the era: sexism in every direction. 'She's writing about the pill and has a lot of feminist ideals in her head, but she's constantly coming up against 'the boys' telling her what to do,' Clare says. 'I admire that she puts them in their place.' Meanwhile, Jessica de Gouw shines as Fay who is newly married to the dashing Rudi (Thom Green). 'She is very empowered in the Goode's department store,' Jessica says. 'But at the same time, she's starting out this life as a newly married woman and none of it fits' Jessica says. 'She's madly in love with her husband but struggling in the domestic sphere.' Fay's past is also shrouded in mystery, but there are clues it could be heavy. 'Early on, I had conversations with John Logue, our hair and makeup designer, about what Fay could look like. We decided she might be a redhead,' Jessica says. 'She had another life before Goodes'. She worked at the Trocadero. She was somewhat more risqué than the women she's now surrounded by so we wanted to give her that edge and spiciness.' Jessica had to adapt to big change, trading her brown locks for an auburn hue. Amid the shifting sands of grief, love and liberation, a new figure arrives at Goodes: Virginia Ambrose, played with icy elegance by Miranda Otto, once known as Eowyn in the Lord of the Rings saga. Virginia, Magda's poised and intimidating replacement, brings a different energy - and a few surprises. 'She provokes a lot of things in the department,' Miranda says, 'She asserts herself in a certain way and you think that she's one particular thing. But then you discover there's a lot more to her. She's mysterious.' Off-set, however, Miranda couldn't have been more thrilled to work with her director sister Gracie again. 'We worked together for the first time on The Clearing,' Miranda says. 'She brings an awesome energy to the set. You can tell that Gracie has played sports because she understands the team; she inspires them and keeps the energy going.' As Magda gears up for her bittersweet exit, one more arrival threatens to unravel things further - enter Angela, a sharp and ambitious newcomer with a powerful pedigree. Played by breakout star Azizi Donnelly, Angela is the daughter of Goodes' fiercest competitor, Dawud Mansour. 'She moves between worlds' Azizi Donnelly says, 'Her story is about discovering herself and going after her ambitions and dreams as a fashion designer.' Ladies in Black is Australia on the brink of change, captured through the eyes of the women making it happen. Visually, the show is stunning, filled with swoon-worthy dresses, sleek 1960s hairstyles and sumptuous sets. But beneath all the glamour, there's a wider message: women supporting women, lifting each other up and rewriting the rules. At a time we're all craving comfort, connection and maybe a little escapism, Ladies in Black brings all three. It's a reminder that, sometimes, the most radical thing a woman can do is believe in herself - and help others do the same.
The Guardian
06-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
David Marr follows Sam Maiden to the exit after Honi Soit withdraws speaking invitation
Before Samantha Maiden was the Gold Walkley award-winning political editor of she was editor of the student newspaper On Dit at Adelaide University. So, in the spirit of collegiality, when she was invited in March to speak at the Student Journalism Conference to be held by Honi Soit at the University of Sydney in August, she accepted the offer. After all, the hosts were fawning, saying they 'would be honoured to hear you speak, and it would really be a highlight of the conference'. But this week their sentiments changed dramatically. 'We have received community concerns about your political coverage and reporting on the Palestinian genocide,' the organisers said in an email to Maiden. 'As a left-wing newspaper, Honi Soit recognises that Israel is committing an ongoing genocide in Palestine and we do not feel that our values align, or that we can platform your work as a result.' Maiden had been de-platformed. 'The truly weird aspect of this bizarre cancelling is I don't recall writing anything about Palestine recently at all, let alone anything controversial,' Maiden wrote on Thursday. 'I have literally no idea what they are on about, and regardless, even if I had written something or said something controversial that the Honi Soit editors did not agree with, so what?' Enter David Marr, another distinguished journalist who had agreed to speak at the conference. When the ABC's new Late Night Live host heard Maiden had been 'de-platformed' he told organisers their decision was 'not my idea of how a good newspaper – let alone a student paper – should behave'. 'Isn't the point of Honi Soit and a conference of this kind to examine different – and perhaps uncomfortable views – about the big issues of the day? I'm out. David Marr.' Honi Soit replied, telling Marr they wanted to 'create a safe place for our student community'. 'If we had not decided to uninvite Samantha in light of the complaints we have received, there was a high likelihood that there may have been protests or boycotts on the day of the event,' editors wrote in an email seen by Weekly Beast. This incensed Marr, who has asked them to explain what they mean by 'safe place'. 'Do you fear violence? Who would be to blame if it broke out? Sam Maiden? Are you afraid of boycotts and demonstrations? Haven't they been part and parcel of university politics for ever?' Marr: 'When the great issue facing universities – here & abroad – is the right to speak freely about Gaza in the face of those determined to outlaw those views, doesn't deplatforming speakers YOU don't want heard show you behaving just as badly as them?' The Student Journalism Conference's social media account has not caught up with Maiden's cancellation. On Friday it was still promoting Maiden and Marr as speakers. While factcheckers have debunked claims travellers who intend to visit Australia are accidentally buying tickets to Austria, some journalists are still getting the two countries mixed up. Not even the great New York Times is immune, this week posting on social media that it was an Australian publication which was responsible for a fake 'exclusive' interview with Clint Eastwood. It was of course the German-language Austrian newspaper Kurier which published the cobbled together piece. 'Clint Eastwood has accused an Australian publication of running a fake interview with him,' the NYT Bluesky account claimed. Published on Wednesday, the post was still live on Friday. It's not often that News Corp and the NRL are not in lockstep. But the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age reported on Friday the top brass at the Murdoch newspapers 'boycotted the offer of NRL hospitality at last week's State of Origin match in Brisbane amid a war of words with Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'landys'. V'landys was not happy with a series in the Daily Telegraph, Courier Mail and Code Sports about rugby league player-agents which revealed 62% of agents believed drug use is a problem with players. The editor of the Telegraph, Ben English, told SMH sports reporter Michael Chammas: 'It was great journalism, it was really topical and it provoked some constructive conversations about the future of the game. It's exactly the sort of journalism we should be doing. If different stakeholders, such as the NRL, didn't have an issue with what we write, we wouldn't be doing our job.' Credit where credit is due. While editors boycotted the game, the Herald noted, the News Corp chairman, Lachlan Murdoch, was all too happy to take in the Brisbane match from his private suite. News Corp Australia has embraced the use of AI for its illustrations in recent years. And not just illustrations. Guardian Australia revealed in 2023 the media company was producing 3,000 articles a week using generative artificial intelligence. In recent years ChatGPT often replaces newspaper photography or commissioned art on Daily Telegraph opinion pieces, which we told you about last year. But the use of AI on a piece this week caught our eye. 'AI is coming for your job,' the article said. 'You've probably been hearing this for months, or even years, but now it's happening. 'Many questions remain unanswered – how will it happen? And what are the jobs AI is already taking?' The story quoted University of Technology Sydney professor Giuseppe Carabetta, who said jobs across all levels of the service industries were being offloaded to AI. Were the editors aware of the irony of the image they chose to illustrate the article? The caption on the image read: 'Mr Carabetta said the AI job takeover is already happening. Picture: AI generated'. The Victorian supreme court trial over a beef wellington lunch that left three in-laws dead has attracted intense media interest, extending beyond local media to international outlets and the attendance of celebrated writer Helen Garner. And then there are the podcasts, which are, well, mushrooming. But the strict rules for reporting the trial of Erin Patterson have slipped up a few media outlets as well as people posting on Facebook. Our reporters on the ground, Nino Bucci and Adeshola Ore, say a suppression order on some names was breached by outlets including Crikey and the ABC. The ABC's popular podcast Mushroom Case Daily with reporter Rachael Brown and producer Stephen Stockwell inadvertently breached the order but it has since been rectified. The former editor-in-chief of the Australian Financial Review, Michael Stutchbury, took the well-worn path of former conservative leaning editors and joined a centre-right thinktank this week. Stutch, 68, served less than a year as editor-at-large and left the paper to become the executive director of the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS). He replaces Tom Switzer, a former opinion editor at The Australian and editorial writer at the Australian Financial Review. Earlier this year, The Australian's former economics editor and Washington correspondent, Adam Creighton, joined the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) as a senior fellow and chief economist. He still writes a column for The Australian. Joining the AFR this week – but not replacing Stutch – is Kate de Brito, the former editor-in-chief of and Kidspot, editor-in-chief of Mamamia and head of digital for the News Corp editorial network. Until 2023, de Brito was executive editor of Foxtel's news streaming service, Flash. She has been appointed deputy editor news, replacing Jessica Gardner, who has become US correspondent.
News.com.au
05-06-2025
- General
- News.com.au
Sydney University newspaper uninvites news.com.au Political Editor Samantha Maiden from speaking at event
Thirty years after I enjoyed the honour of editing the student newspaper On Dit at Adelaide University and engaged in all of the traditional undergraduate ratbaggery, perhaps it was only a matter of time before I got cancelled. As it turns out that moment arrived this week, in the form of the politburo running the student newspaper Honi Soit. In March, a lovely person called Imogen kindly invited me to Honi Soit 's student newspaper conference at Sydney University. 'No doubt you are a very busy person, and have lots of fantastic opportunities offered to you. However, I am hoping that you would be willing to speak in an interview for an event at our conference, to talk to a room of young Australian journalists about your work in federal politics and your role as the political editor for she wrote. 'I can say on behalf of the attendees that we would be honoured to hear you speak, and that it would really be a highlight of the conference.' Given my background as a former Adelaide university newspaper editor, where I attended with Penny Wong, Natasha Stott-Despoja, Mark Butler, Adelaide Festival director Jo Dyer and the journalists Annabel Crabb and David Penberthy in their undergraduate heydays, I thought it might be fun, and I could even take my son who is 17, who might enjoy seeing Sydney University. I even dug out some old photographs of myself with my co-editor Vanessa Almeida. As an aside there is a huge missed opportunity here. Honi Soit should have waited to flash mob me at the actual event and scream obscenities at me, which my teenage son may have enjoyed quite a lot. But I digress. Although I had considered doing the conference by zoom, I had proposed to catch the train down to spend time with my son and friends. Naturally, I was doing it for free. Alas, this charming train journey to Sydney will not occur as it turns out I am, unbeknownst to myself, a sleeper radical on the issue of Israel. It all came into sharp focus following a mysterious investigation by the Honi Soit editors. This week, they wrote a solemn email cancelling my attendance at the conference that they had asked me to attend, citing unspecified thought crimes involving Palestine. 'We are reaching out regarding your involvement in the 2025 Student Journalism Conference,'' they wrote. 'We have received community concerns about your political coverage and reporting on the Palestinian genocide. 'As a left-wing newspaper, Honi Soit recognises that Israel is committing an ongoing genocide in Palestine and we do not feel that our values align, or that we can platform your work as a result.' The truly weird aspect of this bizarre cancelling is I don't recall writing anything about Palestine recently at all, let alone anything controversial. I have literally no idea what they are on about, and regardless, even if I had written something or said something controversial that the Honi Soit editors did not agree with, so what? As it turns out, it matters quite a good deal to the editors of Honi Soit who are determined to build themselves a Peter Dutton style echo chamber where they only talk to people who they agree with. 'It is important to us that the speakers at the Student Journalism Conference have views that we can stand by, and in light of the reception to the announcement of your event, we do not feel that we can host you as a speaker at our conference,'' they wrote. 'We apologise for the inconvenience.' At first, I regarded it as some sort of amusing joke. But the more I thought about I reflected on how troubling it is that these sensitive petals at Sydney University, a good proportion of whom come from wealthy families, private schools and the world of mummy and daddy paying for their rent, are in such a froth about people that they think may think differently to them. Another panellist, the ABC broadcaster David Marr, kindly wrote a letter in support of free speech in solidarity. He's deplatforming himself from the conference. 'Imogen, I've just learned that you've deplatformed Sam Maiden because of 'concerns' about her 'political coverage','' he wrote. 'That's not my idea of how a good newspaper – let alone a student paper – should behave. Isn't the point of Honi Soit and a conference of this kind to examine different – and perhaps uncomfortable views – about the big issues of the day? I'm out.' And I didn't have to dig far into the archives of Honi Soit to find writer Robbie Mason, a self-described 'anarchist' with a very hot take on all of this in an article titled: Cancel culture is a dumb, toxic, liberal phenomenon antithetical to leftist organising. 'Cancel culture is an evangelical headhunting mission centred on public humiliation, ostracism and guilt by association,'' he wrote. 'When I think of cancel culture in its current form, I think of micro-transgressions and microaggressions. Rumours. Fight versus flight. Tears on bedroom carpets, downward glances in corridors and Twitter warriors emboldened by the poisonous sting of a keyboard. 'This encampment – this safe space – has transformed into a towering fortress. It is built upon the smeared reputations and social corpses of the most vulnerable in society – young activists, people of colour and non-university educated workers, for instance. 'As an anarchist, I am distrustful of a technocratic elite replicating the behaviour of ruling classes. 'Academic writing leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Forcing readers to continually decode the meaning of research and jargon ensures an intellectual elite remains in control of society and dominates public discourse – albeit an intellectual elite often with their hearts in the right place. This is nonetheless a form of power and hierarchy. 'As an anarchist, I am inclined to distrust hegemonic leftist arguments and mob rule.' Me too, Robbie Mason, Me too. In fact, the whole affair reminded me of Milan Kundera's first novel, The Joke, which describes how a student's private joke derails his life. Naturally, the author was my special study in Year 12 English. The novel opens with Ludvik back in his hometown in Moravia, where he is shocked to realise he recognises the woman cutting his hair, though neither acknowledges the other. In the novel, he reflects on the joke that changed his life in the early 1950s, when he was a supporter of the Communist regime. A girl in his class wrote to him about 'optimistic young people filled through and through with the healthy spirit' of Marxism; he replied caustically, 'Optimism is the opium of mankind! A healthy spirit stinks of stupidity! Long live Trotsky!' Pressured to share the contents of the letter with others in the Communist Party at school, Ludvik is unanimously expelled from the Party and from the college. Having lost his student exemption, he is drafted into the Czech military where alleged subversives formed work brigades, and spent the next few years working in the mines at a labor camp in Ostrava. I shall report back how it goes for me in Ostrava. Wish me luck.
