WHAT'S NEW?

Hello to the regular visitors of The Australian Journalist Desktop, and welcome to anyone visiting for the first time. This site has evolved somewhat in the year it has been up and running with new links and tips added regularly. I hope you find the desktop to be a useful gateway to the many great Internet resources out there that make our lives as journalists, researchers and students that much easier. As always, please continue telling me about any interesting sites you come across that would make The Australian Journalist Desktop an even better resource. And please be sure to refresh or reset the cache when revisiting this site to keep in touch with the regular updates.

12/4/00 - Yet again, the front page has been redesigned to be a little more user friendly with direct links to the relevant pages on a side panel.

6/1/00 - Welcome to a new century and a new look AJD.  At least 46 broken links have been replaced or repaired in the growing database.  Most notable is the change in format.  New subject headings, designed around the layout of a newsroom make navigation of the site easier.  Try the new areas of:  The News Room (with rounds system), Fax Machine, Library, Contacts, and Interview Room.  Chat and facilities to find an Australian journalist will be added over the next couple of weeks.  Unfortunately I don't have enough time as a working journalist to keep updating a regular topic discussion on the message board, so it is open for general discussion. Please feel free to discuss topical issues here.

12/7/99 - Now with 305 links to useful sites. All links tested and changed to open in new windows. The topic for the messageboard has not changed for nearly two weeks due to a mediocre response. We'll leave it on "When is it okay to break the law for a story?" until July 17. Please use the messageboard as a means of contacting other journalists / students / media armchair critics etc. and participating in our online debates.   New suggestions for topics on the messageboard always welcome.

27/6/99 - Well, here are the new links as promised. I have also added a links page, legal issues page and miscellaneous listing (currently home to industrial relations and job hunting). Most notable on the 'visual' front is the return of the side bar to improve speed (the old graphics were taking too long to load at times). Under 'links' I have also listed all of the journalism schools that I know of in Australia - if I am missing any, please let me know.

25/5/99 - Work is under way to redesign this site again to improve the layout and organisation of links. Soon, about 100 more links will appear along with the new look.

25/5/99 - A message board was added to the site (see home page) to provide a forum for discussion on the Australian media. Please visit the message board and suggest topics. The 'health' page is also now up and running. Side bar links to 'consumer' and 'phone nos' added.

21/5/99 - The site has undergone another major overhaul. Basically, the aim of this 'renovation' was to remove the bulky frames which were taking up too much space - especially the heading. Hopefully you will find this version (3.0 - I guess you could say) far more visually appealing. A 'current news' section was added to the top of the index page to give instant access to the latest news. The 'Australian media' section has been renamed the 'Media Centre' and moved to this new section at the top of the index page.

17/3/99 - More local government links added to the politics page.

14/3/99 - Victorian state branches of the ALP and Liberal parties added to politics page. Link to Victorian hansard also updated in politics page. ABC News Headlines added to tv section of media page.

7/3/99 - Internet Search facilities added to contents (contains a few popular search engines). External links altered to open in new windows.

1/3/99 - Only a couple of new links have been recently added to this site because I've been busy redesigning the whole site.

Stay tuned for more additions soon ...