Truth, Lies and Media

Join us for the last weekly discussion in 2025 - It's been a wonderful year! We'll be back in early 2026. Thank you for listening and for all your support! Have a safe and happy holiday season, and all the best from us at TLAM - Nicole, Denis, Simon, Brendan, Denes and Pixie.

A fired up Kerry O’Brien delivers some truth bombs at journalism’s night of nights .. but why did some of Nines papers omit his praise for courageous Palestinian reporters who paid with their lives to report a genocide. Plus .. the BBC bends the knee to Trump, cutting criticism from a prestigious lecture it commissioned.And whose ABC? Wall to wall white guys handed all the plum broadcasting jobs at ABC Radio Sydney.  

Phil Johnson returns to share his unique experience and insights.Content Warning - This conversation includes themes of violent crime and post-traumatic stress. For help please call the Blue Knot Helpline on 1300 657 380.Rain falling on a roof is a disturbing sound for journalist Phil Johnson. People walking behind him makes him jumpy. Then there’s the nightmares. Our special Saturday edition “Truth Lies & Media” encore, with this remarkable veteran former court reporter, takes us deeper into the stories you don’t see behind the big headlines and, as always, is as compelling as it is courageous.Join us next Wednesday for our weekly Truth, Lies and Media episode.

We take a revealing look inside the head of billionaire ex media baron James Packer who, from his yacht, has savaged Dan Andrews for nearly "ruining his life" with a multi million dollar tax bill that Crown had to pay when Packer was at the helm. Still you'd consider the insults a badge of honour when you consider his list of heroes - an alleged war criminal, a hardline media propagandist and a fascist President.Plus .. Donald Trump publicly berates an ABC journalist who challenges a Saudi Prince that the President is fawning over.  Donald Trump hurled his "fake news" jibes at reporter Mary Bruce despite the CIA finding that it was Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who ordered the grisly killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.And Andrew Bolt along with other News Corp stars, now facing a discrimination complaint brought by iconic Australian actor Claudia Karvan and Palestinian anti genocide activists."Truth Lies & Media" drops at midnight Wednesday morning .. and don't miss our upcoming Saturday deep dive .. This weekend we take a behind-the-scenes look at life being dropped into true crime stories with veteran former court reporter Phil Johnson - what it does to survivors, to loved ones and to the journalists who bring you the news. 

A major shake up is unfolding at Channel 9 which will see dozens of jobs axed as the free-to-air broadcaster merges with its 'Stan' streaming operations.The dramatic restructure reflects the reality of declining traditional TV revenues while digital streaming services boom - but what will it mean for audiences?We take a look at the legacy of the notorious hard man of the NSW Labor Right Graham Richardson who has died aged 76 - the ruthless powerbroker whose shady dealings prompted investigative journalist Kate McClymont to describe him as "the one who got away." And the Victorian Liberals suddenly have a new leader after some lightning bolt bloodletting that no-one saw coming. We look at the art of getting the jump on the betrayal and the brutality of political leadership spills - the story that has it all.

Sally Gibson was a young self described ‘politics nut’ and writer for ‘The Age’ who had watched in horror as her hero Labor PM Gough Whitlam had been sacked. But women weren’t selected to cover the big politics stories back in the day. In fact when she’d applied for a journalism cadetship she was told no .. because her husband ‘would want dinner on the table by 6pm.’Then one day the phone at her desk rang. It was a call that would dramatically pitch her into the lives of all the larger than life players from Nov 11 1975 and sweep her up in a landmark TV docu-drama called “The Dismissal.’