Maria Spackman

Maria Spackman

Covering the past, present and future of journalism... and whatever else takes my fancy

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News Ticker
  • [ January 23, 2022 ] That’s it, I quit: Jack Spackman hangs up on Hong Kong radio Jack Spackman
  • [ January 9, 2022 ] Death of a Queen: The night the Queen Elizabeth burned in Hong Kong harbour The Spackman Files
  • [ June 13, 2021 ] Silly streak seals pressman’s fate at Hong Kong dragon boat race Hong Kong Deadline
  • [ November 22, 2020 ] Killing of Lee Harvey Oswald: The slow journey of a great news photograph Photojournalism
  • [ October 31, 2020 ] Twisted tales – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ Murder Ballads Session 2 Murder Ballads
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Articles by Maria Spackman

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Remembering Arthur Hacker, creator of Hong Kong icon Lap Sap Chung

October 13, 2013 Maria Spackman 1

Arthur Hacker single-handedly brought civic pride to a Hong Kong generation. It’s impossible to overstate the impact of his creation Lap Sap Chung (literally Litter Worm) on the city in the 1970s. Hong Kong, it […]

Journalism

News gets out: In memory of Anthony Lawrence 1912-2013

September 29, 2013 Maria Spackman 3

When official sources fail, good journalists shine. One of the best was the BBC’s Anthony Lawrence, who died in Hong Kong in September 2013 at the venerable age of 101. One of his greatest stories is an example […]

Adventures of a Girl Reporter

Collard greens and Vegemite, it’s a cultural thing

September 15, 2013 Maria Spackman 2

I don’t know much about golf, but when Adam Scott won the US Masters in 2013 I did know that he would have the honour of choosing the menu for the following year’s Champions Dinner. A cultural […]

Observations

Imperfect lessons in democracy

August 25, 2013 Maria Spackman 2

My record on picking election winners is poor at best so I’m happy to leave that effort to others. All I have to do is decide who to vote for. It’s an opportunity I haven’t […]

A Colonial Childhood

Little Red wolves in sheep’s clothing

March 10, 2013 Maria Spackman 4

When the Spackman family shipped up in Hong Kong, February 1967, we arrived at a turbulent time in the little colony’s history. The Cultural Revolution in China was in full swing and by May had […]

Journalism

In search of the new model journalism

February 24, 2013 Maria Spackman 8

Pity the poor journalist. For every pompous hack filing his or her daily lecture to the nation, there are countless others trying to do more and more every day with less and less. At the […]

Observations

An invitation to stand up to Everyday Sexism

February 10, 2013 Maria Spackman 13

When my youngest daughter the Little Chef stood up to an example of Everyday Sexism, she soon discovered she wasn’t alone. Sometimes all you need is an invitation. I was both chilled and thrilled when […]

Observations

Of course we’re not racist, but…

November 25, 2012 Maria Spackman 2

We Australians might like to think our policies on asylum seekers are based on humanitarian concerns, but to the rest of the world, I think we may appear to be a bit racist. 

Adventures of a Girl Reporter

Shared rite of reporting passage – dealing with the nutjobs

October 28, 2012 Maria Spackman 0

Once upon a time the general public was largely shielded from the wilder shores of the nuttiness which affects each of us in its own degree. Those who frolic in the deeper end have always […]

Observations

Mussel flexing women destroy the joint

October 14, 2012 Maria Spackman 8

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s speech in which she denounced the opposition leader Tony Abbott’s sexism and misogyny made headlines around the world. But it followed an extraordinary period when the spotlight never shifted far […]

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  • Death of a Queen: The night the Queen Elizabeth burned in Hong Kong harbour
    January 9, 2022 2
  • Silly streak seals pressman’s fate at Hong Kong dragon boat race
    June 13, 2021 0
  • Killing of Lee Harvey Oswald: The slow journey of a great news photograph
    November 22, 2020 1

Adventures of a Girl Reporter

  • The view’s all right on a Saturday night from the First In, Last Out in Hastings
    September 29, 2019 0
  • Stranded in Salzburg with no Sound of Music, just a bunch of horny hoteliers
    August 18, 2019 0
  • Lost in translation over California skies
    April 28, 2019 0

My Extraordinary Uncle

  • A lesson in chopsticks etiquette with My Extraordinary Uncle Bill Yim
    September 30, 2018 1
  • Oh! You should be so lucky to see Hong Kong’s Bill Yim flash his draws
    June 24, 2018 10

Journalism

  • And then he Walkley’d away with my heart
    December 6, 2015 8
  • Greste, Page, Ware and Wockner – a century of journalism on the frontline
    August 2, 2015 2
  • Journalists rush to protect their own against data retention laws
    March 29, 2015 6

Photojournalism

  • Killing of Lee Harvey Oswald: The slow journey of a great news photograph
    November 22, 2020 1
  • Singapore exhibition showcases the power and the glory of Vietnam photojournalists
    March 31, 2019 0
  • Should we see dead people?
    September 13, 2015 0

Hong Kong Deadline

  • Suzie doesn’t live here anymore – The night old Wanchai died
    August 21, 2016 14
  • My secret life of crime revealed
    March 20, 2016 2
  • In a corrupt town the dirty cop is king – remembering Peter Godber
    August 24, 2014 8

China Mail

  • After the siege: China Mail job hunt tough for some
    March 26, 2017 5
  • After the siege – a fair go for Hong Kong’s China Mail
    February 12, 2017 4
  • After the siege – the China Mail battle for hearts and minds
    November 2, 2014 5

Radio Baxter

  • Leonard Cohen bows out before the Age of Indecency 
    November 13, 2016 0
  • David Bowie’s death means everything. And nothing
    January 24, 2016 5
  • Rock n Roll trolling, California-style
    March 1, 2015 2

Sally Baxter, Gardening Reporter

  • Sally Baxter Girl Reporter welcomes you to her Hong Kong roof garden
    March 17, 2019 1
  • Farewell to a traditional Aussie backyard
    March 18, 2018 0
  • Death stalks the garden in a penguin tee
    November 26, 2017 3

A Colonial Childhood

  • The story of the Battle of Hastings in 1066 is well known, and not just among the English.
    History: On the Hastings battlefield we were standing in it, and in Hong Kong?
    October 14, 2018 0
  • Dodging rats in the dark for photographic magic
    October 15, 2017 1
  • Hong Kong 1967: Snapshots of my grandmother
    May 14, 2017 4

From the beginning…

  • Footloose girl takes the long western road home
    April 20, 2014 6
  • In 1967 Jack and Margaret Spackman arrived in Hong Kong
    February 23, 2014 3
  • Nostalgia and its trimmings
    February 9, 2014 4

My Extraordinary Aunt

  • Dad’s childhood spent clinging to the sheep’s back
    August 6, 2017 3
  • My Extraordinary Aunt: College days in 1960s Hong Kong
    May 28, 2017 5
  • My Extraordinary Aunt: In the shadow of Lion Rock
    April 9, 2017 11

Absent Friends

  • Francis James – international man of mystery
    March 15, 2015 6
  • Remembering Arthur Hacker, creator of Hong Kong icon Lap Sap Chung
    October 13, 2013 1
  • News gets out: In memory of Anthony Lawrence 1912-2013
    September 29, 2013 3

Chinese Astrology

  • Chinese astrology predictions for Trump, Xi and Putin in Year of the Pig
    January 18, 2019 0
  • Chinese Astrology predictions for Donald Trump in the Year of the Dog
    February 4, 2018 0
  • All the cocks a’crowing, each on their own dunghill
    January 29, 2017 5

Ankylosing Spondylitis

  • And then he Walkley’d away with my heart
    December 6, 2015 8
  • To hell and back – a hero’s journey with ankylosing spondylitis
    November 22, 2015 6
  • The highs and lows of living with an immune disorder
    June 7, 2015 1
Your Girl Reporter – also on radio

Find me at #RadioBaxter or #SaturdaySoundtrack while I groove through my chores with some choice trax. Don’t forget to playalonga with my #BathtimeBlues Or stay right here and kick back in the Reading Lounge

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I publish regularly on Sundays, with a break in January and June. Catch you later!

Copyright: Maria Spackman

 

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