Category Archives: Australian media

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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Karl Stefanovic to leave Nine immediately after Today host’s podcast controversy

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Network says it was ‘no longer possible’ for Stefanovic to host Today, days after he interviewed far-right activist Tommy Robinson on independent podcast

Karl Stefanovic is leaving Nine immediately, the network said in a statement on Friday.

It was presented as a joint decision, however it follows days of controversy after the highly paid Today presenter used his independent podcast to interview British far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

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Karl Stefanovic won’t appear on Friday radio show with Eddie McGuire amid Tommy Robinson interview fallout

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Nine Entertainment is expected to sever ties with the Today show host but is yet to make details of the separation public

Karl Stefanovic will not appear on his scheduled Friday afternoon radio show with Eddie McGuire after widespread criticism of his podcast interview with UK far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

Stefanovic only recently signed the deal with ARN Media to co-host The Long Weekend nationally on Gold FM, but the threat of an advertising boycott has led to the contract being reviewed, Guardian Australia understands.

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Guardian Australia’s Matilda Boseley among journalists recognised at 2026 Walkley mid-year media prizes

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Boseley won for her high-profile, multiplatform political explainer series, Parliamen-Tea: explaining the chaos of Australian politics

Guardian Australia’s Matilda Boseley’s political explainer series Parliament-Tea was recognised at the 2026 Walkley mid-year media prizes, winning the young journalist award for innovative storytelling.

The high-profile, multiplatform political explainer series, in which Boseley explained machinations in Australian parliament over a cup of tea, engaged a younger generation in national policy debate. The category recognises journalism that breaks standard structural moulds to reach and inform audiences through dynamic digital platforms and creative production formats.

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ABC began international search to replace Justin Stevens as news director without his knowledge

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Hugh Marks confirms ABC secretly engaged recruitment firm and signals sweeping changes at national broadcaster

The ABC managing director, Hugh Marks, has confirmed he secretly engaged a recruitment company to look for a replacement for news director Justin Stevens after the two disagreed over the direction of ABC News.

Marks said Stevens “did not know” he had begun an international search for a new head of news but it was a necessary move because they “couldn’t get agreement on the way forward”.

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A Zara dress, the Jim Reaper and a communist state: how Australia’s media interpreted the budget

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The Murdoch papers sharpened their sickles and hammered Jim Chalmers’ budget for ‘the most radical redistribution of wealth since the Whitlam era’

The voters of New South Wales woke up in a communist state on Wednesday – at least according to the Daily Telegraph, which claimed that “Lying Jim” Chalmers was cackling like the devil as he gouged them with big taxes in the federal budget.

To underline this apparent sharp turn to the left, the Tele added a red hammer and sickle and used a red background.

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Trump administration labels Australia’s media bargaining laws ‘foreign extortion’

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Albanese defends plan forcing Meta, Google and TikTok to make deals with Australian news publishers through a levy

The Trump administration has described Australia’s moves to make big tech companies pay for news online as “extortion” but Anthony Albanese defended the plan by saying it was about protecting and rewarding media outlets for the work they produce.

Labor’s plan to encourage Meta, Google and TikTok to make deals with Australian news publishers, or face a 2.25% levy, is likely to be supported by the Coalition and Greens in parliament. But a bigger problem may be the ire of Donald Trump, who has strongly opposed extra regulation being imposed on US-based tech companies. A major tech industry lobby group on Wednesday urged the White House to consider retaliatory trade measures.

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Podcast interviews of NSW couple jailed for abusing their daughter in the spotlight

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Exclusive: Corrective Services investigates how Richard Guilliatt of The Australian was able to interview Rob and Karen Gilfillan for Shadow of Doubt

Corrective Services New South Wales is investigating how a journalist from The Australian was able to interview a man and a woman convicted of abusing their daughter for a podcast that raised questions about their guilt.

After legal restrictions were lifted last month the victim said the podcast had been highly detrimental to her mental health.

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Bruce Lehrmann loses last-ditch legal effort to appeal defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson

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The high court has dismissed his bid to clear his name of findings that, on the balance of probabilities, he raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019

Bruce Lehrmann has lost his last legal avenue to challenge his failed defamation case against Network 10 and Lisa Wilkinson after Australia’s top court dismissed his case.

The high court dismissed his attempt to challenge the outcome in a short judgment published to its website on Thursday.

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ABC journalists to strike for first time in 20 years with widespread news disruption expected

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Union says below‑inflation pay rises and insecure work threaten the future of Australia’s public‑interest journalism

ABC journalists will walk off the job on Wednesday for the first time in 20 years, triggering severe disruption to the public broadcaster’s news services for 24 hours.

The protected industrial action involves staff in the journalists’ Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) and the non-journalists’ Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), which represents staff in technology and control systems.

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Sports writer and photographer win Quill awards for work for Guardian Australia

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Jonathan Horn scooped best sports feature prize for a series on AFL, while Chris Hopkins won for pictures of a cancer sufferer caring for her son

Sports writer Jonathan Horn and photographer Chris Hopkins have won Melbourne Press Club awards for their work for Guardian Australia.

Guardian Australia was recognised with eight nominations in a range of categories in the 31st annual Quill awards, which were presented in Melbourne on Friday night.

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ACM to brief staff after co-owner Antony Catalano charged with assault of a woman

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Australian Community Media says employee ‘wellbeing’ top priority amid ‘shock and deep concern’ over 59-year-old’s charges

Australian Community Media will hold a staff meeting on Monday afternoon to share the regional media group’s response to the arrest of its part-owner Antony Catalano who is facing charges of assault of a woman.

On Sunday the board and executive leadership team of ACM distanced itself from the 59-year-old newspaper mogul, saying they were “shocked and deeply concerned” about the charges.

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Jackie O says she ‘did not quit or resign’ from hit radio show after on-air bust with Kyle Sandilands

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Statement by breakfast co-host about ‘speculation and misinformation’ appears to contradict comments made by the network

Jackie ‘O’ Henderson has broken her silence to say she did “not quit or resign” from the Kyle and Jackie O Show, and she is “deeply saddened” the hit breakfast radio show may come to an end.

“I am deeply saddened by the events of the past week and the possibility of the show ending,” she said. “This has come as a shock to me, as it has to everyone else.”

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Plibersek accuses Mafs of platforming ‘coercive control’ after contestant wanted a woman ‘obedient’ like a dog

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Social services minister Tanya Plibersek criticises hit reality TV show Married at First Sight for ‘messaging which encourages control and dehumanises women’

The social services minister, Tanya Plibersek, has accused Australia’s biggest media company, Nine Entertainment, of “normalising” coercive control by airing an exchange in which a Married at First Sight contestant says he wants a woman to be obedient like a dog.

Plibersek urged parents not to let their children watch the “dangerous” reality TV juggernaut, which regularly attracts more than 2 million viewers on broadcast television alone.

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All-male lineup take top slots at ABC Sydney after Chris Bath’s shock departure

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Director of audio concedes ‘there is always more to do’ on diversity as station staff express dismay at dearth of female presenters

ABC radio’s chief, Ben Latimer, says “there is always more to do” on diversity after Chris Bath was replaced with a male presenter on ABC Sydney, leaving the station with an all-male lineup from Breakfast through to Drive in 2026.

Bath, who announced her resignation after only one year on Monday, will be replaced by Thomas Oriti in the key Drive slot, which was vacated by the veteran broadcaster Richard Glover after 26 years.

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John Laws, Australian talkback radio star, dies aged 90

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Laws was inducted into the Australian Radio Hall of Fame in 2003 and received an Aria lifetime achievement award in 2008

The one-time biggest name in Australian talkback radio, John Laws, has died aged 90.

A member of the Australian Media Hall of Fame, Laws attracted 2 million listeners to his morning radio program at the height of his popularity during a career that spanned more than seven decades.

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