Double Take

Journalist and University of Melbourne lecturer, Sami Shah joins CMT Co-Director Monica Attard on DoubleTake to unpack the media treatment of the Jason Arday story. The conversation straddles news media influence, social media power, the boundaries of responsible reporting, and where the limits lie in regulating harmful coverage, and how the issues raised by Arday's story play out too in news media organisations approach to diversity in hiring and treatment in the workplace.

In this episode of DoubleTake, CMT Co-Director Derek Wilding speaks with Matthew Ricketson about his book with Andrew Dodd, “Getting Murdoched: How Murdoch's Media Wields Power and Punishment”. Matthew is a Professor of Communication at Deakin University and formerly a journalist.

The discussion explores the way individuals - including Matthew – have been the subject of sustained criticism by the Murdoch press, and the impact of this coverage on them. It examines media policy and regulation in Australia and asks how regulation is holding up to the challenge of maintaining news standards in a landscape where news businesses face competition from social media and other digital platforms.

With AI scraping vast amounts of content online, is the concept of public commons - a shared public resource with rules around access and use - under threat?

In this DoubleTake podcast, we explore the future of the public information commons in the age of AI.  

Paul Keller, Co-Founder and Policy Director at Open Future and a Research Fellow at the Institute for Information Law at the University of Amsterdam, joins CMT's Michael Davis to discuss how public commons can be maintained in the face of AI’s increasing gatekeeping role. 

Keller discusses why the impact of generative AI on the information ecosystem extends far beyond copyright or licensing, highlighting broader public interest issues such as supporting and safeguarding the full spectrum of information producers, from independent creators to major news organisations to maintain a healthy and pluralistic information ecosystem.  

A special Double Take episode on the Digital News Report, focusing on Australian findings.

This year's report highlights the upswing in news consumption among younger audiences and their reliance on influencers and social media to access news. Many under 25s have never used traditional sources like newspapers or radio, even as interest in politics grows among under 35s.

DNR researcher and Adjunct Professor, Dr Caroline Fisher joins Monica Attard, CMT Co-Director to discuss why influencers are becoming the new opinionista's in the digital news landscape.

Dr Alena Radina sits down with Kevin Kallaugher, the legendary political cartoonist behind some of The Economist’s most iconic and globally recognised imagery. Together, they dive deep in a conversation about survival, the evolution of satire, and the growing dangers of speaking truth to power in an era that has grown increasingly hostile to both. 

This month, journalist, academic and author Associate Professor Margaret Simons joins us to discuss the evolving concept of objectivity in journalism.

CMT Co-Director Derek Wilding speaks with two guests, Julie Eisenberg and Angela Flannery about CMT’s new research and the latest developments in the quest to make digital platforms contribute to news sustainability in Australia. 

As AI rapidly infiltrates every aspect of our lives, the news industry is facing another onslaught from the digital realm. AI companies with billion-dollar values are lobbying the government for copyright exceptions, having trained their systems on copyrighted materials including news. People are increasingly turning to AI for their news and information, and newsrooms are grappling with how AI can benefit news production and help connect them with audiences.

ABC Chair Kim Williams weighs in with consideration to the impact AI will have not just on journalism, but on human civilisation.

Our annual review is back - and how could we sum this year up without looking at AI in news - what it means practically and ethically? Sacha Molitorisz speaks with journalist, broadcaster and podcaster Joe Hildebrand, and ABC's Managing Editor (Standards & Compliance) Sashka Koloff about declining trust, hallucinations and sex robots. You'll have to listen to understand.

Monica Attard speaks with Dr Siobhan McHugh, a leading podcast studies scholar and a multi award winning narrative podcast producer, and Dr Sarah Gilbert who leads the UTS Impact Studio, translating the scholarly work of academics into digestible podcasts.