On The Listening Post this week: As the Australian bushfires blaze on, Rupert Murdoch's news empire continues to peddle climate scepticism. Plus, the legacy of murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The Murdoch media empire: Polluting Australia's airwaves?

In Australia, soaring temperatures, extended droughts and strong winds have resulted in a wildfire season like no other.

Yet, as so much of the country burns, most of the Australian media outlets owned by Rupert Murdoch refuse to call this story what scientists say it is: a disaster exacerbated by the climate crisis.

Millions of acres have been burned out, dozens of people have died, wildlife is on the run and papers like The Australian and networks like Sky News Australia are not only dismissing the scientific consensus, but are trafficking in some false, debunked narratives.

Murdoch's media empire has long held a disproportionate influence over Australian politics and he and Prime Minister Scott Morrison are united on this issue. Throw in Murdoch's close ties to Australia's powerful fossil fuel lobby and all the elements are there for a conspiracy of disinformation on the biggest, gravest story of our time.

Contributors:

Richard Cooke - Contributing editor, The Monthly

Amy Remeikis - Political reporter, The Guardian Australia

Rodney Tiffen - Author, Rupert Murdoch: A Reassessment & Emeritus Professor, University of Sydney

James Painter - Research Associate, Reuters Institute and author, Climate Change in the Media

On our radar

Richard Gizbert speaks to producer Tariq Nafi and The Intercept Brasil's, Leandro Demori, about how prosecutors in the country are going after an Intercept reporter, Glenn Greenwald, for exposing corruption in an investigation known as Operation Car Wash.

Murder in Malta: Daphne Caruana Galizia's journalistic legacy

The small, Mediterranean island state of Malta has been producing a lot of news recently, all as a result of a blog called Running Commentary and its author, Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Described as a "one-woman WikiLeaks" Caruana Galizia wrote stories on politics and corruption. And because Malta's mainstream media did not want to touch those stories, the blog was the only place people could learn about a system involving the people they elected - bribes, kickbacks, money laundering and embezzlement.

Running Commentary came to a sudden end in 2017, when Caruana Galizia was murdered - killed by a bomb planted in her car.

This past month, Malta's Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat, resigned - after it emerged that his aides may have had a hand in that murder.

The Listening Post's Flo Phillips investigates the work of a reporter who was killed for what she exposed - and how the late Daphne Caruana Galizia's journalism continues to make the news.

Contributors:

Matthew Caruana Galizia - Son of Daphne Caruana Galizia and investigative journalist

Manuel Delia - Author, Murder on the Malta Express and blogger, Truth Be Told

Caroline Muscat - Founder, The Shift News & former news editor, The Times of Malta

Mark Laurence Zammit - Presenter, Xarabank

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