We Used to be Journos

In this episode, Jan and Antoinette examine the BBC ‘bias’ scandal that saw its director general and head of news resign. They go through the complaint letter that kicked off the scandal and examine other accusations of bias that haven't gotten nearly as much attention. 

Plus, as two Leb chicks who grew up in Sydney’s western suburbs in the early 2000s - Jan and Antoinette have memories of John Laws that are very different to the gushing media coverage of his passing.   

Also, Antoinette salutes the AFR for sniffing out The West Australian’s suspiciously glowing coverage of one ASX darling, while Jan backs the Italian journalist fired for asking a question about Gaza - and the colleague who asked it again, just louder.

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In this episode, Jan takes a look at the use of AI in New York’s mayoral race and finds Cuomo’s campaign ads against Zohran Mamdani don’t just bend the truth but snap it completely and add a good dose of racism. This can’t be the future of political advertising…or can it? 

Also, the Coalition reckons net zero is “too toxic” but Antoinette discovers it’s only toxic to billionaires with an agenda and a media empire.  

Plus, news of long running atrocities in Sudan find their way into Western headlines but why now? 

It’s a Yes: The new magazine that mixes politics, culture and art to achieve a lofty goal and a much-loved indi media company tries to break free of the algorithm. 

Sudan coverage tips: follow Yousra Elbagir  Sky News UK’s Africa correspondent, Yassmin Abdel-Magied or Sudanese journalist Almigdad Hassan and follow updates from Sudanese Journalists Syndicate.

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

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Egyptian-Canadian journalist Omar El Akkad joins Antoinette Lattouf on stage at the Queenscliff Literary Festival for a searingly honest and intimate conversation.

The author of ‘One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This’, confronts a brutal question: what does it mean to live in the US while its government bankrolls, supports and enables Palestinian ethnic cleansing? He speaks to his sense of personal complicity, silence and the media’s role in manufacturing consent.

Yet even as despair presses in, El Akkad refuses to surrender hope. He explains why giving up is a luxury Palestinians cannot afford and neither can those who claim to stand with them.

This is a conversation that refuses comfort.

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Omar El Akkad's book One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This.

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As former ABC chair Ita Buttrose promotes her latest book Jan and Antoinette pull apart the plentiful puff pieces. 

Antoinette hunts for proof of Melbourne’s machete epidemic and finds it exists mainly in headlines.  

Plus who is watching free to air TV… no really who? Because we crunched some numbers and they don't add up. 

Also a double shout out to the Labor Party (yes, shocking): first for new AI laws that make it harder for big tech to take artists’ work for free, and second to the junior staffer whose leaked memo lays out the party’s Gaza gaslighting talking points.

Support Ette Media by becoming a subscriber here.

Buy an ‘Etterati: Members Only’ or ‘It’s A No From Me’ tee 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 bonus episode, Pulitzer Prize–winning US journalist Chris Hedges joins Antoinette Lattouf to unpack his time in Australia so far, including some fraught interactions with sections of the Australian media.

We also discuss what he flew all this way to talk about: how western journalists are betraying their colleagues in Gaza. 

Plus, Chris offers some honest advice for young people who still want to tell stories and speak truth to power.

Support Ette Media by becoming a subscriber here.

Buy our new Etterati and It’s A No From Me T-shirts here. 

If you want to see our mugs as well as hear our dulcet tones 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, as Anthony Albanese meets Donald Trump at the White House we take a look at the manufactured moment that saw former PM Kevin Rudd hit the headlines. 

Plus, we unpack the media’s warped definitions of a “ceasefire” in Gaza as near-identical coverage around the world tows the Israeli line and ignores Palestinians.   

And, with the commentary creep in journalism leaving audiences confused we proffer an unlikely solution. Also in medialand women get punted, men get promoted.   

It’s A Yes From Me: the U.S reporters resisting Trump’s creeping authoritarianism by hitting the pavement… in more ways than one. 

Support Ette Media by becoming a subscriber here.

Buy our new Etterati and It’s A No From Me T-shirts here. 

If you want to see our mugs as well as hear our dulcet tones 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, a tip off leads Jan and Antoinette to discover a U.S. website had published the private phone numbers of high profile Australians including the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and the NSW Premier. 

Some awkward verification calls followed as well as some questions about what the PM knew and when.   

We take you through the story from start to finish and wade through the world of AI-driven data scraping to understand what this means for your privacy (and the PMs)

In It's a No From Me, Antoinette adds The West Australian’s ceasefire editorial to the “vile pile”, plus some TLDR tips on spotting below average “expert” takes on Gaza.

In It’s a Yes From Me, Jan Fran salutes The Shot and The Sunday Shot and  Antoinette cheers on an opinion piece about Senator David Pocock tackling the gambling lobby. 

LinkedIn spokesperson statement: “Our policies are clear that any unauthorised scraping of data from LinkedIn is prohibited. In addition to the technology and teams we’ve long had in place to stop unauthorised data scraping, we continue to invest in new defenses to protect our members’ data. You can read about our latest efforts 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 we reveal what really happened behind the scenes of Pulitzer Prize winner Chris Hedges’ National Press Club address - a talk that vanished from the schedule. Was it ever confirmed, did it get cancelled or did the NPC, as Hedges alleges, cave to the Israel lobby? We’ve got the paper trail.  

Also, the Trump administration’s crackdown on press freedom takes a dark turn: a veteran journalist is arrested while live streaming an ICE raid and then kicked out of the country by the same immigration body he’d been filming.

We also unpack Israel’s latest influencer campaign targeting Gen Z, a glossy front in the propaganda war during its genocide in Gaza.

Plus, a nod to the SBS doco on robodebt and its inadvertent role in providing much needed media literacy and a quick shout to a new toolkit for starting your own hyperlocal newsroom.

Grab your tickets to A Night of Humanity at Enmore Theatre 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 try to answer the question many of you have asked: why am I agreeing with Candace Owens? They take a look at the divisions within the MAGA movement over Israel and why things aren’t quite what they seem. 

Plus, it costs $25 million to police protests in Victoria - or does it? We dig into that figure and not only is it inflated by we find certain politicians working with certain media outlets to manufacture a story.  

And, AI is coming for your ears. Jan looks at Inception Point AI - the new podcast company flooding the zone with thousands of podcasts episodes each week with not a human in sight.  

There’s also a shout out to one of our favourite columnists who also used to be a journo.  

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.

We’re live at the Wheeler Centre in Melbourne this week, handing out a report card on independent media now that Ette Media has survived its three-month probation.

Jan Fran, once reporting on Eurovision for SBS, is now not-happy-Jan at the broadcaster’s refusal to boycott if Israel takes the stage. 

Antoinette brings the receipts on The Daily Telegraph’s dodgy hit job against the Jewish Council of Australia, which just happened to interrupt the Council’s paid ad opposing genocide. 

And yes, it gets raw: the audience pulls no punches in the Q+A, and neither do we.

It’s A Yes From Me:

Antoinette tips her hat to ABC’s John Lyons for irritating President Trump.

Jan Fran can’t get enough of Greg Larsen’s eulogy of Charlie Kirk.

We Used To Be Journos live was originally presented on 20th September 2025 in

partnership with The Wheeler Centre

Follow Wheeler for more smart, passionate and entertaining

public talks.

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