I was a subscriber to Crikey for twenty years, from the very early days of Stephen Mayne and Christian Kerr, AKA Hillary Bray. In those early days, Crikey was feisty, funny and invaluable, providing the daily doses of sanity required to counter the loathsomeness of Kennett and the loathsomeness of Howard.
Mayne and Kerr, and Crikey generally, were not left, and certainly not left enough for me. Both had been conservative political staffers and they leaned towards small government. They had their blind spots. In particular, Kerr absolutely despised the Australian Greens in the manner that is entirely appropriate now but was not then. Or, maybe it was. Maybe Kerr was right about that, too. In any case, Crikey writers were typically thoughtful and clear, you knew what they believed and why. More than anything, Mayne and Kerr were about good governance, of which Australia had, and has, woefully little. Crikey would take on anyone and everyone, seemingly never pulling their punches. They were despised in return, sidelined by pretty much everyone, including the toadying big shot media. I wore my Crikey t shirt with pride.
Over the years, Crikey changed. Mayne sold out and Kerr went to The Australian (and went kind of nuts). There was still good stuff: First Dog and Guy Rundle and Bernard Keane. But the good bits became not as good and less frequent, and the editorial tone changed. The gossipy, muckraking fun, the willingness to take on anyone, disappeared. Crikey became less humorous and more preachy, more left and less critical. About five years ago, with genuine sadness, I stopped subscribing.
Earlier this year, Crikey emailed, flagging a mistake and/or offer. They claimed to have accidentally offered an annual subscription at a very low price. Accident or gimmick, the price was very low and I decided to give Crikey another go. Mistake.
It is difficult to describe how bad Crikey has become. It is like The Guardian except much thinner and much stupider. It is correct often enough, but only in a stopped clock manner. On any topic Crikey is now entirely predictable, thoughtlessly “left” and unreadably boring. It is as preachy and as humourless and as obvious as a football team of Patricia Karvelases.
In the old days, I would look forward with childish eagerness to Crikey’s daily newsletter, which would appear somewhat randomly in the early afternoon. I would then spend the next hour devouring its contents. Not now. Now, I cannot even bother opening the email. Crikey is now entirely meaningless and utterly pointless, as dead as a dodo.