First of all, here's what we have for you this week:
- Killer Grabs: Quotes from around the traps.
- Gary Stevenson on combating inequality and fighting the far-right — By Scott Mitchell
- The Good Ones: The best journalism, opinion and entertainment for you to enjoy.
If you've a detected a slightly more sombre and urgent tone from Lamestream in the past couple of weeks, you aren't imagining things.
We've recently witnessed some of the most significant and worrying crackdowns on media freedom, corporate consolidation of media ownership, and political interference into the operating of media organisations in modern history.
The same week that Jimmy Kimmel was suspended, and eventually re-instated, by Disney in the US, a federal court awarded Antoinette Lattouf a total of $220,000 in compensation for her unfair dismissal from the ABC. That case is a stark reminder that what we're seeing happen in the US is not isolated to that country and not a unique aberration under Trump.
Journalism and media is under constant threat in Australia, and one of the biggest challenges is just how concentrated and politically homogenous our media environment is. Just this week, Nine announced its new chair, media Peter Tonagh. Tonagh is a former Foxtel and News Corp CEO, and a former deputy chair of the ABC.
That means that alongside News Corp's own print, digital and broadcast TV footprint, the chairs of both the ABC and Nine are now ex-News Corp CEOs. Media competition in Australia may as well not exist.
That's why independent media is so vital. In that vein, in today's newsletter, exclusive to our subscribers, we're featuring the full-length interview Scott conducted with independent media superstar Gary Stevenson.
Stevenson's YouTube channel, Gary's Economics, has more than 1.4 million subscribers and is one of the biggest left-wing media platforms in the world.
In the interview, Scott and Gary discuss the rise of the far-right in the UK and Australia, how economic inequality is contributing to extremism, the state of the housing crisis, and, of course, the importance of independent media.
It's a cracking conversation, and only our subscribers get access to the whole thing. Feel free to forward it on to anyone you think would enjoy it.
Killer Grabs
"Australia is calling for a ceasefire. For the immediate release of the hostages. For aid to flow to those in desperate need. And for the terrorists of Hamas to have no role in Gaza’s future." — Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, addressing the UN.
This was the full extent of Albanese's comments on the horrific situation in Gaza. He did not mention Israel's name once. He did not ascribe them any blame for what is occuring. But he did attack Iran multiple times.
"I support Sussan." — Liberal MP Andrew Hastie, when asked about his leadership ambitions.
This is how you know, 100 per cent, without a shadow of a doubt, Sussan Ley's days as leader of the opposition are numbered.
"Nine Entertainment beams two versions of Survivor – the first is the program it broadcasts every week, while the second one speaks to the politics of its boardroom and its management roster." — The Age and SMH business columnist Elizabeth Knight.
Knight used this extended Survivor metaphor to describe the cutthroat, backroom shenanigans that have taken place at her corporate owners and seen the departure of a CEO and now two chairs within 18 months.
As far as metaphors go, it's far from the worst and it's a neat trick to use a reality TV show that airs on the network to describe the power struggles of that same network.
The only problem? Survivor doesn't air on Nine. It airs on Nine's competitor, Network 10. Oops.
