a round-up of radicals and more from the Crikey bunker

Media on media An eclectic crowd of media types turned out last night for the opening of the spectacular building housing the Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas in Chippendale, Sydney. Writers, editors and executives of all stripes showed up to drink Veuve Clicquot, eat delicious canapés and rub shoulders with Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull, Communications Minister Paul Fletcher, former NSW chief justice Jim Spigelman and the woman of the moment, billionaire philanthropist Neilson.

JNI executive Mark Ryan spoke about bipartisanship, saying that social media had affected public discourse: “Social media has democratised debate, put information within easy reach and connected people across the world.

“But it has also become a weapon for extreme, unreasoning, misinformed, malevolent opinion — for anger, hatred, lies and conspiracy theories. It has hardened and deepened the fault lines of our entire civic life.”