Journalism in the age of Covid-19

The world is a noisy place. So much chatter. So many points of view. There’s a flood of facts flowing through our phones. How many of those facts are true? And how can today's journalist report on news and feature stories that people can connect to?

Inside Indonesia stories

These articles are part of a mini-series featuring the work of QUT journalism students who travelled to Indonesia in November 2019 as part of the Australian government's New Colombo Plan Mobility scheme.

Jakarta's youth use trash to shape their futures

by Aleisha McLaren & Alana Riley

Yoki is the workshop manager at Ffrash, a volunteer-run social enterprise within KDM, a not-for-profit organisation just outside Jakarta that houses and educates former street children. The workshop aims to counter the negative stigma about street children and associates them with violence, theft and drug use.

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Moving toward a circular economy

by Grace Desoe, Mathew Perry & Yi Peng

Plastic waste is a significant environmental issue in Indonesia, deeply impacting the whole country. Indonesia is second only to China as the world’s largest contributor to ocean plastic pollution. Four of its rivers – Brantas, Solo, Serayu and Progo – are on a list of the world’s dirtiest rivers, carrying the most waste into our oceans.

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Buried under the weight of a recycling crisis

by Shelley Cheng & Gemma Edwards

After China banned the importation of waste in 2018, Indonesia saw a surge in paper scrap imports containing plastic waste. This in turn led to the government bringing in tighter import rules, stricter customs inspections, and the repatriation of hundreds of tonnes of contaminated waste back to their countries of origin - including Australia.

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Counterfeit fashion is hot property

By Alice Sinclair, Daniele Antonaglia and Max Eagles

"The original price is Rp16 million," says the young Indonesian man as he points to a new season Dior bag on the glass counter of his cluttered stall, located in a multi-levelled, indoor market hotspot for counterfeit goods in Jakarta.

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QUT News

Students say thanks on World Teachers' Day

It’s been a particularly challenging year for school teachers. Now students in classrooms across Queensland are preparing to show their appreciation – as part of World Teachers’ Day, VJ Paige Van Lunteren reports.

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Algorithm aims to fight online abuse

Online abuse is nothing new for some women using social media. But a new Twitter algorithm aims to detect sexualised threats and remove them from the platform, VJ Charlie Dally-Watkins reports.

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Fitness industry fights back to full health

While Brisbane returns to a state of relative normality, the effects of COVID-19 are still being felt by many businesses, and fitness facilities have found it particularly hard, VJ James Stephens reports.

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Coronavirus strikes a bad note with the music industry

The coronavirus pandemic has left music venues empty, musicians without an income and fans starved of live performances. Despite eased restrictions, the road to recovery may be further away than expected, VJ Jack Ryan reports.

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University challenge: The new norm of learning online

University students say this year’s move to online learning has been challenging thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. Some say the delivery’s been inconsistent, but others say there are benefits to this style of learning, VJ Dominique Tassell reports.

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Beaudesert Gates & Steel owner, Greg Egan. Picture: Matthew Simmonds

Australian businesses bucking the trend under COVID-19

Posted on  Posted in Business, Consumer, National, News , QUT News

By Matthew Simmonds

Some Australian businesses reported record-breaking sales numbers this year, both due to – or in spite of – the unprecedented impact of COVID-19.

Small businesses such as Beaudesert Gates & Steel recorded a sales spike in April, which owner, Greg Egan, said had not dropped.

“It just kept going, like, it was just amazing. I said, ‘well it’s gotta stop soon’, but soon still hasn’t come,” he said.

The coronavirus and subsequent working from home orders meant an increased demand for hardware products, bringing foot traffic to an all-time high at the small community business.

The coronavirus and subsequent working from home orders meant an increased demand for hardware products, bringing foot traffic to an all-time high at the small community business.

Mr Egan said it was a common trend within the hardware business sector.

Big-name corporations like Woolworths, JB Hi-Fi, and Officeworks, also recorded continuous revenue growth throughout 2020.

The supply of essential items such as furniture, cleaning products and food, as well as leisure items for the home including digital devices and gaming accessories, made some of the big competitors big winners financially.

Gary Mortimer, Australian retail expert, said the COVID-19 induced success was seen across businesses in the food retail and appliance sectors.

“Having that big kick has certainly pushed their revenue line and profit into strong results for the full year,” he said.

But the Australian economy still faces serious concerns.

Mr Mortimer said the success stories were only a glimmer of positivity to COVID-19’s overall financial impact.

“Despite, you know, I guess, sales rebounding to some extent, it’s still a very small drop in the ocean.

“COVID-19 has certainly taken a significant hit to the Australian economy,” Mr Mortimer said.

Australia is still on the long path to economic recovery, but some business owners are just happy to ride the unexpected success wave while they can.

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