We Used to be Journos

In an exclusive investigation, we look at Melbourne University Press’s decision to close one of Australia’s oldest literary journals. MUP says it’s about money, we reveal new testimony that says otherwise. So what’s it really about? 

Plus, we look at the saturation of media coverage following Charlie Kirk’s murder. We explore how the media should cover the far right, how “centrist media” gets it wrong and how the focus on one man distracted us from the biggest story in the world. 

And the Islamophobia envoy’s findings landed on a Friday - a slot reserved for news no one wants noticed but that’s not our main gripe.  

A Yes From Me:

Zeteo News: Charlie Kirk in His Own Words

ABC ‘The federal press gallery is ceding power to the Albanese government’

Our earlier episode on Antisemitism envoy findings

Support Ette Media, join the Etterati by becoming a subscriber here.

If you want to see our mugs as we yap you can watch the episode in full here.

Thanks to @jaidanielpyne for composing the music for our podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Antoinette away this week, Jan Fran holds down the fort with former BBC journalist and presenter Karishma Patel. Karishma walked out of the BBC in October 2024 over its coverage of Gaza and has since become one of its loudest and most public critics.

In this episode, she and Jan dive into life inside the BBC, what finally pushed her to resign, and why she’s now taking the organisation to task in public. They unpack the slippery word “impartiality” – how it so often doubles as a muzzle for journalists who dare to prod the status quo - and ask whether it’s more effective to stay and fight from the inside or cut loose and build something different. The pair also unpack the momentum around building a new media ecosystem.

Regular programming resumes next week.

You can find Karishma on Instagram 

You can read her piece in The Independent 

You can read her piece in The Guardian

Support Ette Media by becoming a subscriber here.

If you want to see our mugs as we yap you can watch the episode in full here.

Thanks to @jaidanielpyne for composing the music for our podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jan and Antoinette have been busting to share their inside Lebbo goss about Bob Katter. 

Also, we cover the coverage of the so-called March for Australia - a rally led by neo-Nazis and followed by limp reporting. 

The Herald Sun dibberdobs … again and the Canberra Midwinter Ball leaves Jan feeling icy as she watches old-school journalists and new school content creators clink glasses with the same old politicians. 

Plus: praise for the independent media organisation (of course) that delivered the much-needed analysis of the “anti-immigration” march, and a cartoonist whose pencil cuts straight through inequality. 

It’s a Yes From Me: 

Lamestream analysis

Cathy Wilcox cartoon

Support Ette Media by becoming a subscriber here.

If you want to see our mugs as we yap you can watch the episode in full here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Antoinette (finally!) gives her reaction to the ABC’s new Public Comment Guidelines, which Jan calls the ‘Lattouf guidelines.’ The broadcaster says the new rules aren’t due to its Federal Court loss to Antoinette but we’re not so sure. We also examine the messy, co-dependent and ever-changing relationship between journalists and the public comments they were encouraged (then discouraged) to make on social media. 

Elsewhere, Sky’s Sharri Markson “interviews” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a “world exclusive” but it was less interview and more stenography with a side of flattery for the wanted war criminal who’s also credibly accused of committing genocide. Plus, the Bush Summit - a billionaire–backed, media-run roadshow - rolls into town where words like “net zero ideology” and “climategate” get cooked up, and served reheated as news.

Plus, some recognition for journalism-done-good, reassurance that cynicism hasn’t fully eaten our souls.

It’s a Yes From Me:

+972 Magazine Independent journalism from Israel-Palestine

The Guardian: Australia’s gun lobby says it’s ‘winning’ the fight against firearm control

Support Ette Media by becoming a subscriber here.

If you want to see our mugs as we yap you can watch the episode in full here.

Thanks to @jaidanielpyne for composing the music for our podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Jan examines the fishy relationship between Woodside Energy and Seven West Media. Antoinette looks at The Daily Telegraph revving up far-right, anti-immigration protests despite demonising other protests, a move that gives Jan flashbacks to the Cronulla Riots.  

Meanwhile, as Deepcut News breaks a story of censorship at the Bendigo's Writer's Festival, we spill some insider tea on a backflip of Palestinian voices at another publication. 

Plus, Jan and Antoinette swap survival tactics for dodging news fatigue without sticking their heads in the sand - and point out who’s tuning out, and why that’s a problem.

Deepcut News takes the lead on Bendigo Writer’s Festival

MEAA’s Stop Killing Journalists video

Support Ette Media by becoming a subscriber here.

If you want to see our mugs as we yap you can watch the episode in full here.

Thanks to @jaidanielpyne for composing the music for our podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Jan and Antoinette are gutted by news that more of their Palestinian journalist colleagues - including Al Jazeera's Anas Al-Sharif - were killed in Gaza. Instead of honouring their work, much of the media repeated - nay led- with the Israeli line that they were “terrorists” despite a complete lack of evidence.  

We pull apart the evidence and long, well-documented history of Israel deliberately targeting the press, in what remains the only “conflict” where foreign journalists are banned from bearing witness. 

Also: we pull apart one tired claim from a former Attorney-General’s opinion piece and we examine the role of the press in the cancellation of a Palestinian cookbook author’s visa and why the outrage is often selective. 

We close with a few recommendations of the satirists and comedians landing blows the media won’t  - a reminder that sometimes the sharpest truths arrive wrapped in a punchline.

It’s a YES From me:

Chaser’s Instagram page

Geggy on Israel, The Greg Larson Show

Support Ette Media by becoming a subscriber here.

If you want to see our mugs as we yap you can watch the episode in full here.

Thanks to @jaidanielpyne for composing the music for our podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Jan and Antoinette reflect on their decision to attend what’s being called Australia’s biggest anti-war march. Fresh off that Harbour Bridge high, they grapple with the chaotic, contradictory and downright distorted media framing of the protest. 

At the Logies, things felt … well, the same. Veteran Ray Martin’s speech piqued our interest but the moment was quickly lost. There’s also a not-so-stellar call that raises sharp questions about editorial integrity and sharper questions about morality. Under gentle duress, Jan gives (rare) praise to a podcast that cracks a historic code to reveal a dark truth and Antoinette tips her hat to a gutsy little newsletter punching well above its weight.

It’s A Yes:

The Descendants episode 1: decoding a massacre – Full Story podcast

TrueNorth Newsletter curated by Denise Shrivell

Where to donate to support Gaza: 

Plan International

Amnesty International

Medicines Sans Frontiers 

UNICEF Gaza crisis appeal

Jayson Gilham’s legal crowdfunding

Support Ette Media by becoming a subscriber here.

If you want to see our mugs as we yap you can watch the episode in full here.

Thanks to @jaidanielpyne for composing the music for our podcast. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Jan and Antoinette unpack the sudden, strangely synchronised media concern for starving Palestinian children. Why now? What’s changed—and what still hasn’t? A look at the caveats, spin, and selective outrage still dominating the conversation.

We also look closely at the prestigious Andrew OIllie media lecture that is meant to be a forward-looking media lecture but curiously fails to glance at much of the present. 

We try not to throw up listening to the Nelk Boys hour-long interview with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu - an internationally wanted war criminal who was given a direct line to millions of young men via their podcast.  

And to end on a less soul-crushing note, we spotlight some solid investigative journalism that seeks to hold power to account. 

You can listen to Guardian journalist Nour Haydar’s inspiring lecture here.  

Support Ette Media by becoming a subscriber here.

If you want to see our mugs as we yap you can watch the episode in full here.

Thanks to @jaidanielpyne for composing the music for our podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Jan and Antoinette have a candid and sometimes chaotic conversation about whether they still see themselves as journalists—and why they threw caution to the wind and launched an independent media company. This honest exploration of the Australian media industry is part reflection, part existential crisis.

It’s A No From Me: A dissection of a political TV debate that’s more spectacle than substance, and the framing of the massacre of Palestinians seeking help is manipulated to fit a narrative that’s as deadly as it is misleading.

It’s A Yes From Me: Antoinette gives a thumbs up to independent media peers who are growing and commissioning writers Cheek Media and DeepCut News.

Meanwhile, Jan shouts out British journalist Mona Chalabi’s interview on Real Talk —because sometimes, you just need a good interview to rewire your brain and remind you that you’re not alone.

Support Ette Media by becoming a subscriber here.

If you want to see our mugs as we yap you can watch the episode in full here.

Thanks to @jaidanielpyne for composing the music for our podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we take a look at Australia's antisemitism envoy and her plan to “monitor” and “advise” public broadcasters. Jillian Segal says her plan wont stifle criticism of Israel but we aren't so sure. We also have an honest conversation about the pro-Israel lobby and its influence on the Australian media, from all-expenses-junkets to Israel for top editors to those same editors punishing journalists for signing an open letter calling for fairer Gaza coverage.

It’s a No From Me: Lattouf dissects the pearl-clutching media panic over Albo’s China visit, while Jan stumbles on a spicy little column in The Australian that takes a personal swipe at this very pod (thanks for listening)!

And just to prove we can still see the good in the world, we shout out some media legends doing solid work.

This week:

Jess Harwood cartoonist

Anthony Klan of The Klaxon.

Support Ette Media by becoming a subscriber here.

If you want to see our mugs as we yap you can watch the episode in full here.

Thanks to @jaidanielpyne for composing the music for our podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.