Category Archives: Australian media

One Nation’s AI video is vile and tired – but the ensloppification of Australian politics doesn’t stop there

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The inflammatory clip shows the wild west of online politicking created by unrestricted access to AI – and why watchdogs need more powers to do something about it

One Nation’s new AI-generated campaign video is a new low – even for them.

The video – reportedly played at the party’s Victorian campaign launch over the weekend – is an AI-generated collection of racist tropes, depicting a man who appears to be African brandishing a machete, an apparently Middle Eastern man with an explosive vest, a south Asian man in a turban talking about “mass migration” and an Indigenous elder talking about people receiving “money … on the basis of need, not identity”.

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‘That is a lie’: alleged Alan Jones victim denies family tried to get money out of broadcaster, court hears

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Youngest complainant in trial alleges Jones put his tongue in his mouth and touched him on the bottom during visit to shock jock’s property

An alleged teenage victim of Alan Jones has denied his family tried to deceive the broadcaster and get as much money out of him as they could during a tense cross-examination in a Sydney court.

Asked whether he was intent on getting as much financial assistance as he could from the former 2GB host, the witness replied: “That is a lie.”

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Prominent athlete tells Alan Jones trial he sent shirtless photo before unwanted kiss he wished ‘never happened’

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Former 2GB and 2UE broadcaster has pleaded not guilty to 22 indecent assault and sexual touching charges

An alleged victim of Alan Jones has told a Sydney court that an unwanted kiss from the former shock jock more than a decade ago is seared in his memory and he wished it never happened.

The ex-sportsman, known as complainant M, agreed during cross-examination by the defence that he sent Jones a shirtless photo of him in Paris some months before the alleged kiss.

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‘I was being polite’: prominent athlete continued texting Alan Jones after alleged assaults due to his reputation, trial hears

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Witness tells court he sent Jones friendly messages after two alleged assaults because he had been generous to him

A prominent athlete who has accused Alan Jones of twice kissing him without consent has told a Sydney court he continued to text the broadcaster after the alleged assaults because Jones was powerful and had been generous to him.

The witness, who is appearing for a second day in the seventh week of a lengthy trial, agreed he had sent Jones friendly messages after the two alleged assaults.

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Court case brought by Zionist federation against journalist Mary Kostakidis ended ‘by consent’

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Former SBS newsreader had been accused by Zionist Federation of Australia of breaching Racial Discrimination Act when sharing X posts

Federal court proceedings brought by the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) against journalist Mary Kostakidis have been discontinued “by consent” with “no order as to costs”.

The former SBS newsreader had been accused by the federation of breaching the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) by sharing two X posts about a speech by the late Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah in January 2024.

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Grace Tame apologises for comments labelling rape of Israeli women during Hamas attacks ‘propaganda’

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The former Australian of the Year said she stood with survivors of sexual violence ‘everywhere’ and ‘no matter who they are’

Grace Tame has apologised for her comments labelling the rape of Israeli women by Hamas during the 7 October attacks as “propaganda” and “debunked”, saying her words were “misinterpreted”.

The former Australian of the Year issued the apology in an Instagram video on Thursday. The comments were made in an ABC interview about Israel and Gaza in March.

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SMH columnist Peter FitzSimons tells Alan Jones trial alleged victim was ‘revolted’ by abuse

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FitzSimons tells court that complainant C told him Jones, who has pleaded not guilty, would touch his penis and he ‘kept pushing it away’

Sydney Morning Herald columnist Peter FitzSimons has told the Alan Jones trial an alleged victim he spoke to in 2019 was “tearful” and sounded “emotionally traumatised” when detailing alleged assaults by the 2GB broadcaster.

The commentator and author gave evidence in the Downing Centre local court on Thursday about a telephone call he had with the alleged victim known as complainant C in October 2019.

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Logies 2026: Sam Pang wins gold and Sam Neill wins posthumous best actor at Australia’s TV awards

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Neill won for his performance in legal thriller The Twelve: Cape Rock Killer, at a ceremony dominated by wins for the ABC

Sam Neill has won a posthumous best actor award at Australia’s biggest television awards, the Logies, with comedian Sam Pang taking home the night’s top honour, the Gold Logie award for most popular personality.

Neill, who died in July, won his posthumous Logie for best lead actor in a drama, for his performance in legal thriller The Twelve: Cape Rock Killer. His close friend, the actor Heather Mitchell, accepted the award on his behalf.

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Alan Jones trial: complainant wants to ‘humiliate’ broadcaster by revealing intimate details of alleged assaults, defence tells court

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Barrister alleges ‘account of penis wiggling is an attempt to humiliate’ broadcaster who has pleaded not guilty to 22 charges of indecent assault and sexual touching

Alan Jones’s defence barrister has told a Sydney court one of the broadcaster’s alleged victims invented details of alleged indecent assaults at a Fitzroy Falls farm to “humiliate” and “smear” the former media titan.

Complainant J told the court during evidence-in-chief earlier this week that during one alleged incident in the property’s bedroom, Jones’s penis was not fully erect and “not very big”.

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Trump wants ‘fair treatment’ in fight over Labor’s levy on tech giants to pay for news, US trade group warns

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National Foreign Trade Council ‘disappointed’ at move to expand News Bargaining Incentive but Australian experts say government is not going far enough

A major US trade body has rubbished the Albanese government’s plan to make more big tech platforms pay for Australian journalism, issuing a veiled warning about how Donald Trump may respond to the “deteriorating trend”.

The National Foreign Trade Council said it was “disappointed” at the Australian government’s move to expand its News Bargaining Incentive (NBI) to take in Microsoft’s LinkedIn, amid trade tensions between Washington and Canberra including newly increased tariffs on Australian goods.

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Teenager didn’t tell anyone Alan Jones allegedly kissed and touched him as he feared losing financial help, trial hears

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Former 2UE and 2GB radio broadcaster is facing 22 charges. Jones, 85, has pleaded not guilty

A former schoolboy athlete has told the Alan Jones trial he didn’t tell anyone the broadcaster was allegedly kissing him and touching his genitalia when he was a teenager because he was “fearful” of losing Jones’s financial support.

The man, known as complainant J, alleged that after he drove Jones to a function in Canberra and they were alone in the hotel room, Jones kissed him in a “smothering” way. After the drive back to Sydney, Jones allegedly said to him: “You’ve been a really good boy. I’m going to give you some more money.” His regular weekly stipend increased by $100, the court heard. J also said Jones told him he didn’t have to tell anyone he was giving him money as it was “a gift”.

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Gina Rinehart threatens ABC with legal action over Race Around the World program

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Hancock Prospecting says chair Kim Williams among those ‘on notice’ for failing to remove program that joked about turning Rinehart’s insides into a sausage roll

Gina Rinehart has threatened the ABC with legal action over crude comments aired on the national broadcaster, including a joke about mixing her guts into a sausage roll.

The four-minute film, titled A Very Relaxing Video, aired on the Race Around the World program on 12 July and concluded with the film-maker, Kate McGuinness, making crude and offensive comments about Rinehart.

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Anthony Fauci’s diaries take aim at News Corp journalist Sharri Markson’s ‘nonsense’ Covid-19 investigation

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US former top health official, who was subpoenaed to appear at a Senate hearing into Covid-19, says Markson’s reporting about virus’s origin ‘does not make any sense’

Dr Anthony Fauci, the US’s chief medical adviser at the start of the pandemic, has described a book by News Corp investigative journalist Sharri Markson backing the “lab leak” theory of Covid-19’s origins as a “bunch of nonsense” in his newly released diaries.

This week, Fauci, 85, was subpoenaed by the Republican senator Rand Paul to appear at a Senate hearing into Covid-19 and his handling of the pandemic.

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Adelaide airport pulls ads from conservation groups but keeps gas and mining ads during ALP conference

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Digital billboards from environmental groups, targeting Labor MPs attending national conference, cancelled with airport stating they are ‘too political’

Conservation groups have questioned why their advertisements targeting Labor politicians were pulled by Adelaide airport for breaking rules on political advertising while others promoting gas and mining kept running.

Labor politicians including the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, have been arriving through the airport for this week’s ALP national conference from Thursday to Saturday.

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Pauline Hanson blames ‘fake news’ media for her bad press. But serious leaders have to own their actions

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In a fortnight of rolling blunders, the One Nation leader digs deep into the Trump playbook of blame-shifting

There’s apparently only one thing to blame for Pauline Hanson’s string of bad headlines in recent weeks, from her decision to pal around with the far-right convicted criminal Tommy Robinson to her description of domestic violence on Wednesday as a “two-way street”.

According to the One Nation leader, it’s of course not Hanson herself who is to blame.

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Barnaby Joyce says One Nation doesn’t want return of White Australia policy but backs Pauline Hanson on mass deportations

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Lee Hanson claims her mother’s comments on Tommy Robinson podcast were ‘misinterpreted’

Barnaby Joyce says Pauline Hanson does not support the White Australia policy but he has backed her support for “mass deportations” of those overstaying their visas.

Hanson and her colleagues have spent days clarifying, explaining or walking back headline-grabbing parts of the One Nation leader’s trip to Europe, including a podcast interview with the far-right convicted criminal Tommy Robinson, her attendance at a Dolce & Gabbana fashion show and downtime by a hotel pool in Italy with the mining billionaire Gina Rinehart.

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Is the most popular song played on Australian radio stations the product of generative AI?

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Josh Fawaz’s song, a cover of Like a Prayer, has raised questions about how generative AI is being used in music and whether it should be declared

An Australian producer has gone from little-known artist to viral sensation in a matter of months, with his hit song catapulting on to global charts and receiving thousands of radio spins.

There’s just one problem: music experts and other musicians are questioning whether he produced it. They claim Josh Fawaz’s most popular song, a cover of Madonna’s Like a Prayer which reached the No 1 spot on the National Radio Airplay chart, could have been made using AI.

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Journalist Richard Guilliatt resigns from Walkley awards board after critic wins reporting prize

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Exclusive: Resignation comes after abuse survivor said she was devastated her father, who was jailed for 48 years, was interviewed for the Shadow of Doubt podcast

The journalist Richard Guilliatt has resigned from the Walkley awards judging board after the Walkley Foundation dismissed complaints about his podcast and then handed an award to the journalist whose reports were critical of him.

Nina Funnell won a mid-year Walkley for freelance journalist of the year for a series of three articles in news.com.au about a survivor of sexual assault who was abused by her own parents for 14 years.

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ABC and SBS need ‘oversight’ committee to vet Israel coverage, Jillian Segal tells royal commission

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Antisemitism envoy says public broadcasters, which currently have an ombudsman to handle complaints, need an independent oversight committee

The antisemitism envoy, Jillian Segal, wants a new “oversight” committee to vet the ABC and SBS’s Israel coverage, she told the royal commission on Thursday morning.

Both the ABC and SBS have an independent ombudsman to handle complaints.

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Who is Tommy Robinson? The Karl Stefanovic guest who has cost Australia’s famed TV host his job

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Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is an anti-Islamic, far-right political activist well known in the UK and Europe

The man who calls himself Tommy Robinson has roared into prominence in Australia after the morning TV mainstay Karl Stefanovic posted an interview with Robinson for his podcast.

The fallout was swift. Nine Entertainment, Australia’s largest locally owned media empire, has severed ties with Stefanovic, and he will not appear on a radio show with Eddie McGuire on Friday.

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