Pauline Hanson and the Ritual Humiliation of Australia's Media

Journalists Finally Wake-Up to One Nation’s Attacks on Press Freedom… Sort Of

For the past few weeks, we’ve been critical of the lack of any kind of co-ordinated response from the media industry to Pauline Hanson’s war on press freedom. 

From blanket bans on outlets she doesn’t like, to calling The Guardian’s Sarah Martin a “nasty bitch”, Hanson made it clear that, despite being the most popular politician in the country, she doesn’t really believe in the concept of the fourth estate being part of our system of democratic accountability and scrutiny.

But even as her attacks on the press have ramped up, there’s been no co-ordinated attempt from Australia’s media owners, or workers, to push back on Hanson, defend their own and draw a line. In fact, some news outlets, like News Corp, had reported gleefully on Hanson’s attacks on the ABC and The Guardian, demonstrating their allegiance was stronger to One Nation than it was to the rest of the press.