questions.Good article Tim. genfie : 07 Sep 2012 8:25:43am As a public servant, I could be fired for expressing a - particularly political - opinion publicly under my own name. For those not in the public sector, 'apolitical' is a real thing that dictates our public behaviour. Professionally speaking, I have no opinions. Justin : 06 Sep 2012 5:01:28pm Tim, another well written piece. At times I feel I get more from reading the exchanges, links and comments on Twitter between informed, engaged and articulate citizens than I do from our so called professional journalists. As fellow Drum contributor Greg Jericho has identified, there are a growing number of amateur bloggers that are doing a better job of fact checking and debunking myths and spin by our politicians than much of the mainstream media. The collapse of the old business model is harsh for those currently losing their jobs but I hope in the long run it sees a return to journalism roots. Skeptic : 06 Sep 2012 4:26:04pm Starting with the supposedly "under-paid" civil servants who hang around the parliament. I was told they are our leaders, current and alternative ones. I tried to learn a little, just little bit of civility from them, foolishly thinking that these highly educated, cream of the crop, representatives of Australia clearly know a few things we simple folks don't ! How bloody wrong have I been ! The behaviours of some of the losers on Cyber space is disgraceful. Interesting enough, I