Sydney Writers’ Festival is celebrating its best year ever, while Adelaide Writers' Week is reeling from its worst. There's one critical difference.

Social media giant Meta has strongly suggested it will abandon its Australian fact-checking operations — such as those used to flag lies over the Bondi terror attacks — in line with its moves in Donald Trump’s America.

The collapse of the Adelaide Writers' Festival is the latest in a string of controversies, as arts sector boards – increasingly stacked with corporate types, rather than creatives – bow to vested interests.

Governments are becoming architects of manufactured ignorance. Amid disappearing evidence, citizens are struggling to hold power to account, say Australian university experts.

There is a very close link between unemployment rises and concerns about migration – yet Covid-19 appears to have upset the trend.

AI is reshaping the news ecosystem. If used poorly, it risks "weakening the very foundations of informed citizenship", experts say.