‘Pretentious’, ‘hyperbolic’ and ‘irresponsible’: what was behind Nine newspapers’ Red Alert series?

It was one of the most alarming front-page stories in the nation’s history. Last week, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age splashed the first episode in a three-part series with the headline: “Australia faces the threat of war with China within three years – and we’re not ready.” The most likely cause of war, the articles said, was a Chinese invasion of Taiwan to which the US would respond. “The nature of the threat extends to the prospect of a full-scale war – and Australia would have to be…

Paul Keating blasts Age and SMH for ‘provocative’ China war story

The former Australian prime minister Paul Keating has accused two of the country’s biggest newspapers of “the most egregious and provocative news presentation” in five decades, after they published front-page stories warning the country faced war with China within three years. The former Labor leader, who has long argued Australia should not be drawn into a war over the status of democratically governed Taiwan, took aim at the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age on Tuesday. The papers published a special report based on assessments of five national security experts…