We Used to be Journos

In this episode, we dissect the media’s coverage of Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Australia. We look at how two networks asked very different questions, analyse the warm, sympathetic coverage in the lead up and keep an eye on the outlets that dutifully repeated government lines even as footage showed police violence in plain sight.We also look at what was missing from most of the coverage. Hint: it was any mention of the genocide. Also, Australian commercial radio outs itself yet again as tacitly racist after Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance.And Today host Karl Stefanovic launches a podcast that winks hard at a far right audience.Plus a shout out to The Point, an independent think tank’s new publishing arm, stacked with good writers.Support Ette Media by becoming a subscriber here.If you want to see our mugs as we yap you can watch the episode in full here.Thanks to @jaidanielpyne for composing the music for our podcast.

In this episode, we look at the many red flags surrounding Labor’s new hate speech laws as well as the mainstream media’s strikingly uniform response to them. Jan provides an update on the sale of TikTok. Americans can stop worrying about China controlling their data and algorithms because a small group of pro-Trump billionaires has that covered now. Antoinette breaks down Australia Day polls and offers a toolkit for spotting agendas in the opaque polling world.There’s also a shout out to the women taking on pornographic deepfakes made by X’s Grok, plus an illuminating piece on the Beckham family feud, which Jan has a strange and (and unverified) theory about  FINAL tickets to our live show can be bought here .Support Ette Media by becoming a subscriber here.If you want to see our mugs as we yap you can watch the episode in full here.

In this episode Jan and Antoinette look at the fight to control the narrative over protests in Iran where the death toll has exceeded 3000. With an internet block out, state media tightly controlled, foreign actors bragging about armed interference, and exiled figures presenting themselves as the solution, protestors and their plight largely disappear from the story - by design. Meanwhile, Trump’s press secretary snaps at another reporter - this time to dodge a basic question about the shooting of an unarmed mother by an ICE agent. There’s also a shout out to some responsible reporting on neo-Nazi material and a peak at the growing influence of InDaily SA, the newspaper muscling in on Murdoch's territory in Adelaide.  TIPS FROM ANTOINETTE ON IRANIAN WOMEN TO FOLLOW:Tara Kangarlou Iranian journalist, author and NGO founder Gissou Nia Iraninan human rights lawyer Samira Mohyeddin Iranian journalist and academic LIVE SHOW TICKETS in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane or Canberra tickets are here.Support Ette Media by becoming a subscriber here.If you want to see our mugs as we yap you can watch the episode in full here.

In this episode, Jan Fran speaks with the woman at the centre of the collapse of the Adelaide Writers Festival, Palestinian author and academic Randa Abdel-Fattah. The conversation is blunt and urgent. They talk about censorship, lobby pressure on cultural institutions, what it means to keep speaking as a Palestinian Australian as media outlets launder bad faith attacks, and the focus drifts anywhere but Gaza. TICKETS TO OUR LIVE SHOW CAN BE BOUGHT HERE. SUPPORT ETTE MEDIA BY BECOMING A SUBSCRIBER HERE.

Part two of our summer special brings another round of Etterati questions, and this batch is delightfully varied.Prehistoric animal favourites. Media predictions for 2035. Practical tips for the days when hope feels elusive.Tickets to our live shows in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane can be bought here.Support Ette Media by becoming a subscriber here.Follow The Antony Lowenstein Podcast here. If you want to see our mugs as we yap you can watch the episode in full here.

Part one of our summer special is your Q&A therapy session disguised as a podcast. We answer all your burning questions. We talk about twenty years of friendship, juggling being fledgling media moguls with sanity, staying clear-eyed in the chaos and navigating holiday conversations with problematic fam. Tickets to our live shows in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane can be bought here.Support Ette Media by becoming a subscriber here.Follow The Antony Lowenstein Podcast here. If you want to see our mugs as we yap you can watch the episode in full here.

Independent journalist Antony Loewenstein joins Jan Fran to discuss how he's processing the Bondi terror attacks both as a Jewish man and long-time advocate for Palestine. Antony and Jan move through the tension between allowing victims time to grieve and needing to challenge political agendas that seek to curb our civil liberties. Antony talks through what he believes is driving the rise in antisemitism, and why parts of the Jewish diaspora feel increasingly alienated from Israel. He also lays out why the crowd must keep speaking and moving, even when the powerful wish the masses would go silent.Need a last minute gift? Tickets to our live shows in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane can be bought here.Support Ette Media by becoming a subscriber here.Follow The Antony Lowenstein Podcast here. If you want to see our mugs as we yap you can watch the episode in full here.Thanks to @jaidanielpyne for composing the music for our podcast.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Jan and Antoinette focus on the first 24-hours of media coverage of the antisemitic terrorist attack in Bondi that left 15 people dead.  They examine how the story unfolded, which voices were given prominence, the role of social media in circulating original and often horrifying footage, and how easily misinformation spreads and how certain narratives take hold. It is a careful, unsparing look at how news is constructed and politicised under pressure, and what is lost when speed overtakes care.Support Ette Media by becoming a subscriber here.Buy tickets to our live show It’s A No From Me. If you want to see our mugs as we yap you can watch the episode in full here.Thanks to @jaidanielpyne for composing the music for our podcast.