Truth, Lies and Media

Australia's most decorated soldier Ben Roberts Smith is arrested over alleged war crimes and taken into custody .. the alleged crimes, which Roberts Smith denies ever happened, may never have come under scrutiny had it not been for the dogged work of investigative journalists Nick McKenzie and Chris Masters.

Plus .. Trump's armageddon threats follow his expletive ridden demands that Iran open the f+king strait of Hormuz "you crazy bastards" - the sort of commentary you'd see graffitied on the back of a public toilet door.
Can we call him deranged yet?

And facing extinction, the Victorian Liberal President blasts the party's disastrous habit of taking policy advice from hard right Murdoch mouthpieces Peta Credlin and Pauline Hanson.
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Newsrooms go into overdrive as Australia's most wanted man Dezi Freeman is shot dead .. but how do you report the death of a police killer without sounding like you are dancing on the grave of a dead man?

Also this week - the disturbing trend of "journocide" as Israel murders three Lebanese reporters.

And the dangers of an old media habit that "sanewashes" the rambling, incoherent pathologically lying Donald Trump.
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Denis Muller warns of the dangers around broadcasting a known liar and racist live to air as respected political journalists call on the media to challenge the hate of Pauline Hanson while One Nation surges in popularity.

Major disruptions to hit news programs as ABC staff go on strike, frustrated over repeated below inflation pay rises and the insidious practice of forcing staff on to precarious month to month contracts.

Plus how do you report on an emerging crisis as hundreds of petrol stations across Australia run out of fuel? Actual facts need to make a comeback rigfht across the media spectrum .. but who will play it straight and who will weaponise the fear?
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A special live recording of our discussion with Michael Bradley - How Crikey fought off the Murdoch empire, and other stories.

You can find more of Michael's work here:
https://publishing.monash.edu/authors/michael-bradley/

Our sincere thanks to everyone who came along, and the staff of the Northern Arts Hotel for a fabulous night!

Recorded on March 15 2026.

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Beware the unholy alliance - Mark Zuckerberg's gargantuan Meta and the monster Murdoch media have just joined forces in a deal that creates the world's biggest disinformation machine enabling News Corps hard right, hate filled content to teach Meta's artificial intelligence products how to respond to questions.

Expect a massive hook up which will amplify anti migrant, anti science, anti minority narratives.

Denis Muller says if you're worried about disinformation and fakery, this is a vision from hell.

While we're skating the hellscape, Donald Trump is falsely accusing media outlets of treason for failing to gush over his disastrous bombing war, a crime punishable by death. The Presidents sycophantic media regulator is threatening the broadcast networks with licence revocation unless they stick to the company line.

And the brash Australian media mogul, ACMs Antony Catalano who snapped up dozens of regional mastheads in 2019, has made headlines of his own - for all the wrong reasons.
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