Past weeks saw much talk about ethnic studies and race relations. Without belabouring why our mainstream editors avoid this topic, let's look at what the younger generation of reporters can do, if given the edge to question, search and write.

Our journalists do need to move beyond transcribing press statements and 'reporting' whatever ministers say at press conferences. One option, which I've used to teach 'cross-cultural reporting' in Australia is derived from the acrostics Oracle.

Journalists could be likened to the Delphic Oracle - a place where ancient Greeks consulted the gods for advice or prophecy; a person or thing regarded as a source of wisdom. Weren't journalists once perceived as sources of 'wisdom' and 'knowledge'?