Australia is three weeks into the 2025 federal election cycle, and this time around the issues dominating the agenda have been as wide-ranging as housing, energy prices, climate change and somehow even, American President Donald Trump.

But as Opposition Leader Peter Dutton's campaign falters captures the media's attention, is Prime Minister Anthony Albanese enjoying a smoother ride than he otherwise would be?

Joining Tina Quinn to discuss is ABC Radio National's Melissa Clarke, The Saturday Paper's Jason Koutsoukis, and News Corp's Clare Armstrong.

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As the as the so-called ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has collapsed, the official death toll in the region has surpassed 50,000, although experts warn the real number is much higher.

Of those many thousands who have perished are hundreds of journalists who have been killed in Gaza while simply reporting on the conflict.

This last week brought shocking footage of a media tent being bombed, with a number of journalists inside burning to their deaths.

Over the border in Israeli-occupied Jerusalem, is a very different situation.

That's where you'll find foreign correspondents from western media organisations, like the BBC, CNN and Australia’s ABC, reporting from.

Many of them would like to be on the ground in Gaza, but the Israeli government refuses to grant them access, so much of the information they receive from inside Palestine comes from the local journalists on the ground there.

On this episode of Fourth Estate, Tina Quinn speaks to two journalists from these two neighboring cities.

Al-Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud, in Gaza, and the ABC's Matthew Doran, in Jerusalem.

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After what seemed like an interminably long lead-up, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has finally called the election for May 3 - ending weeks of speculation about when Australians will head to the polls.

The date was seemingly ‘leaked’ an hour before Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton was due to hand down his much anticipated budget speech, catching the Liberals on the back foot and no doubt setting the tone for the usual horse race that is a federal election campaign.

Joining Tina Quinn to discuss the current state of play and the challenges which lie ahead for both sides, was Canberra insiders Amanda Copp (Nine News), Claudia Long (ABC) and Paul Bongiorno (The Saturday Paper).

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As Fourth Estate returns this week, we examine whether the issue of anti-Semitism is being weaponised by both our media and political class.

Joining Tina Quinn to discuss is investigative journalist Antony Loewenstein, Crikey's Rachel Withers and The Sydney Morning Herald's Max Maddison.

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This week we turn back the clock to Tina Quinn's conversation with foreign correspondent, Lynne O'Donnell.

Lynne has spent close to 30 years covering terrorism, conflict and war across Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

In 2022, Lynne herself made headlines around the world, when she was detained by Taliban intelligence agents in Afghan capital of Kabul, forced to retract some of her articles, and coerced into making a public apology during what she described as three days of “cat-and-mouse” with regime authorities.

A week after she fled Kabul, Lynne joined Fourth Estate from Islamabad, Pakistan to talk about her ordeal.

This episode was originally broadcast in July, 2022.

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This week we step back into the archives to Tina Quinn's conversation with famed human rights lawyer, author and broadcaster, Geoffrey Robertson.

The year was 2021. Scott Morrison was still prime minister of Australia, it was the early days of the Biden presidency, before Russia’s war with Ukraine, and this most recent conflict in the Middle East.

Julian Assange was still fighting off extradition from his UK prison cell to the United States, where a life sentence seemed likely.

And Donald Trump seemed to be firmly in everybody's rear view mirror.

But one thing was very unchanged.

Injustice was, as it still is, rising at alarming rates, with little in the way of consequences for those committing some of the most heinous crimes on incredibly grand scales.

In this episode, Geoffrey Robertson discusses what he felt was a plan B.

This episode was originally broadcast in May, 2021.

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Crikey’s proprietor Eric Beecher, is a rare combination of journalist, media owner and idealist. 

“A media mongrel”, he says his friends call him, at 33 he became the youngest-ever editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, but was wooed away by the most consequential press mogul’s of the modern age, Rupert Murdoch.

But as he tells Tina Quinn, it was a short-lived tryst.

He joins Fourth Estate this week to talk about the dangers of moguls, why press manipulation goes back much further than the Murdoch dynasty, and the future of serious, quality journalism.

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After close to two months of speculation, Hamish Macdonald, the former Q+A host and current Radio National and The Project presenter has been confirmed as the new Mornings host on ABC Radio Sydney.

Macdonald replaces Sarah Macdonald, who announced on air only days after being told that her contract would not be renewed, prompting public outcry from her very loyal listenership.

It comes amidst concerns from the ABC audience, that its local radio stations are at risk of being commercialized by its new management.

Joining Tina Quinn to discuss is Jenna Price, Columnist at the Sydney Morning Herald, and Daanyal Saeed, Media Reporter at Crikey.

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This week we dip back into the Fourth Estate archives to Tina Quinn's 2022 discussion with Samantha Maiden and Jess Hill, reflecting on the ten year anniversary of the famous and historic 'misogyny speech', delivered by Australia's then Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

While many seemed to miss the gravity of the moment in the immediate aftermath, and dismissed the speech as a misstep by a then embattled Prime Minister, it was a moment which became a global sensation, and a decade on has continued to linger in the public's memory.

So why did some in the Australian media get it so wrong at the time, and how has it informed reporting in the decade since as sexism and misogyny has experienced a reckoning?

This episode was originally broadcast in October of 2022.

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David Marr was 33 years old when he was appointed editor of the National Times, but his tenure was short lived.

He was spectacularly sacked within two years, but his unmatched prose would see him become an internationally renowned biographer, and an award winning journalist for his coverage of the deaths of Aboriginals in custody for the ABC's Four Corners program.

In part two of his conversation with Tina Quinn, David discusses his extraordinary career reporting on the leading social issues of our time, like racial injustice, gay rights, and the plight of asylum seekers.

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