Update March 2019
This list of recommended blogs and online news portals was not easily come by and apart from my own web research, I thank Mr Denmore (The Failed Estate), for sending me on a journey. These blogs will appeal to broad-minded thinkers. Some are very learn-ed or learned, as Homer Simpson might say. A few will lead you on to other blogs and in-depth reading. Some blogs which previously rated on this page have dropped off the Internet.
- Historian and prolific writer on international affairs Gwynne Dyer has earned his reputation as an independent scribe;
- Former public service mandarin John Menadue maintains a blog called Pearls and Irritations. He also curates a weekly newsletter with links to writings by others;
- Independent economist John Quiggin curates what is arguably Australia’s longest-running blog, commentary on Australian & world events from a social-democratic perspective.
- Club Troppo is a middle-ground group blog focusing on economic, legal, political and social commentary;
- Billed as “journalism from the outside” The Failed Estate by Mr Denmore offers frank insights into the media jungle;
- Crooked Timber is a multi-faceted international blog which will take you on a ride;
- George Monbiot is a British writer, known for his environmental and political activism;
- The Conversation is so much more than a blog – real journalism written by experts in their fields;
- The New York Times and Politico break stories and sustain good quality, in-depth news about the US”
- Crikey, one of the early adaptors to online journalism is about to get more interesting as the home of an investigative united funded by John B Fairfax’
- Long Reads and Medium are sites where you will find longform journalism, short fiction, interviews and analysis by skilled writers and thinkers;
- Kathryn Johnston‘s blog Scattered Straws, focuses on homespun philosophy and gentle observations on the life of a retiree in Motowoboa.