Another fairytale Melbourne Cup story goes down in history .. but who shines a light on the shameful way many of the thoroughbred champions are treated? 

And .. first there was Robodebt - now the Australian Tax Office is using an aggressive private debt collector to hunt taxpayers including welfare recipients - while billionaire media propagandist Rupert Murdoch pays no tax.

Is salacious gossip “news?” We look at the Victorian Liberal MP and his wife who are suing the Herald Sun in the first test of new privacy laws .. 

And ABC staff who struggle to get a pay rise unimpressed as Aunty pays $836,000 to the former executive who illegally sacked Antoinette Lattouf - for just 8 months work. 

Thank you to our amazing supporters! You can help us here: https://buymeacoffee.com/truthliesandmedia

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Silencing the truthtellers .. A furore ignites after the National Press Club cancels a pro Palestinian commentator and then falsely denies he was ever booked ..

The ABCs David Marr then interviews the Pulitzer Prize winning war correspondent .. but it too turns into an attack.

Why such rage triggered by the celebrated Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Chris Hedges whose sin was apparently to observe that the Western media had been amplifying Israel's lies over the killing in Gaza.

Plus .. 

Google AI falsely names a Sydney Morning Herald employee as a child killer.. we discuss the chilling danger of replacing journalists with artificial intelligence.

Also .. Lying for votes - new research reveals politicians and political parties were the key drivers of misinformation during the 2025 federal election .. 

And ex ABC Chair Ita Buttrose is doing a media blitz to sell her new book .. but is also wiping her hands of any blame for the multi million dollar debacle that started with the illegal sacking of journalist Antoinette Lattouf to placate an aggressive pro Israel lobby.

Thank you to our amazing supporters! You can help us here: https://buymeacoffee.com/truthliesandmedia

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In front of a world audience Anthony Albanese charms the irascible, unpredictable, self-aggrandising President of the United States, inking a lucrative rare earths deal for Australia and artfully defusing a petty insult thrown at ambassador Kevin Rudd - who once called Trump the "village idiot".

The Age describes the landmark meeting as "a raging success" but News Corp drags out its haters to run LNP talking points and to claim Rudd was "lashed" and "humiliated"

Mind you, this is the same discredited hard right News Corp who, courtesy of The Australian

newspaper, eagerly agreed to curbs on reporting issued by Pentagon control freaks that effectively criminalised journalism - before an embarrassing backflip.

In the UK we take a critical look at the BBC edict ordering journalists not to wear "Black Lives Matter" t-shirts in the newsroom ..

And fifty years after their murder by Indonesian special forces, we honour the memory of the Balibo Five - the newsmen who died attempting to report on the brutal and bloody invasion of East Timor.

Thank you to our amazing supporters! You can help us here: https://buymeacoffee.com/truthliesandmedia

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The global rebrand of Donald Trump as peacemaker is being beamed to the world .. Will the media fall for the spin that is trying to turn a tyrant into a saint? Or will they get beaten up if they resist?

Also, the ABC blows 2.5 Million dollars losing a fight with a sacked broadcaster.

And, an FOI crackdown - the Prime Minister used to be a big supporter of transparency when he was in Opposition – but not so much any more.

Thank you to our amazing supporters! You can help us here: https://buymeacoffee.com/truthliesandmedia

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

A Special Live Event with ABC Friends Inner Melbourne.

Moderated by Dr Jennifer Bowen, Nicole and Denis discuss the making of this podcast, and answer questions about the state of the media in Australia and the world.

Recorded on October 7, 2025, at the "Meet the Podcasters" event.

Many thanks to everyone involved for a fantastic night!

Thank you to our amazing supporters! You can help us here: https://buymeacoffee.com/truthliesandmedia

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

Using the violent language of Mussolini, Trump and his Secretary of War Pete Hegseth tell 800 generals and admirals that they will be expected to wage war in Democrat cities against American citizens they are sworn to protect claiming there is "an enemy within."

The American media immediately went "red alert" at the unprecedented threat from a President to the people .. 

Why did the Australian media focus on Hegseth's "fat generals" slur and

"woke bashing?"

Plus Oscar winning actor Jane Fonda reactivates the Hollywood free speech activist group her father started to combat the rise of McCarthyism warning Donald Trump there's a fight coming ..

And Rupert Murdoch's News Australia pays no tax but carries on demonising welfare recipients for expecting an "age of entitlement."

Thank you to our amazing supporters! You can help us here: https://buymeacoffee.com/truthliesandmedia

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

A speeding stolen car, an injured pedestrian and terrified onlookers puts Bourke Street in the headlines again, in a chilling reminder of the deadly 2017 rampage. But when crime is retraumatising a city, why is the media response endless "lock em up and throw away the key" stories?

Plus the end of an era with the Channel Seven media baron Kerry Stokes to retire after a $400m Seven West merger deal with Australia's biggest radio owner Southern Cross Media.  

Another ominous legal settlement for Donald Trump who'll get $24m from YouTube which suspended his account in the wake of the Jan 6 riot - an extortion shakedown in plain sight says Dr Denis Muller.

And Sky News which lectures the ABC and other media on journalistic integrity dumps the TV show that put an Islamophobic bigot live to air wearing rashers of bacon on his shoulders to protect him from "terrorists".

Register here for our live Q&A Event on 7th October, hosted by Friends of the ABC:

https://events.humanitix.com/truth-lies-and-media-meet-the-podcasters-talk

Thank you to our amazing supporters! You can help us here: https://buymeacoffee.com/truthliesandmedia

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

The public backlash at the sacking of American late night host Jimmy Kimmel to appease Donald Trump becomes a hurricane .. and the Disney-owned ABC backflips as it hemorrhages money and subscribers.  

Denis Muller says we are watching before our eyes the decay of the American democracy as its tyrannical leader terrorises major media outlets who broadcast or publish political critiques. 

Plus the Australian ABC reporter who made global headlines just by asking a legitimate question of the US President, prompting a classic tantrum and flurry of threats. 

Also .. Lachlan Murdoch tipped to buy into Tik Tok grabbing a major global social media platform in which to spread his dangerous hard right messaging. At the same time a signature Murdoch show on Sky News - which repeatedly lectures the ABC on morality - broadcasts an Islam-hating bigot wearing bacon rashers on his shoulders he says will protect him from "terrorists."

And wake up Canberra press gallery! There are more important stories than fevered reporting on every second that Anthony Albanese did not meet the orange wrecking ball.

Register here for our live Q&A Event on 7th October, hosted by Friends of the ABC:

https://events.humanitix.com/truth-lies-and-media-meet-the-podcasters-talk

Thank you to our amazing supporters! You can help us here: https://buymeacoffee.com/truthliesandmedia

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

The Honour and the Cost of Court Reporting:

From the Age to AW to the ABC, from the Gangland Wars to Black Saturday .. In this Saturday special of “Truth Lies and Media” Nicole Chvastek and the award winning court reporter Phil Johnson take us behind the scenes of some of Australia’s most unforgettable news stories. 

He saw a notorious hitman in court just hours before he was killed and was struck like lightning with a palpable sense of foreboding. He spent years in court as a reporter for 3AW watching Australia’s underworld criminals fight the long arm of the law but also seeing the victims in their grief, anger and dignity.

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

Register here for our live Q&A Event on 7th October, hosted by Friends of the ABC:

https://events.humanitix.com/truth-lies-and-media-meet-the-podcasters-talk

The shooting death of Trump youth ally Charlie Kirk lights a bonfire of media coverage and debate - but why did the June double murder of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband barely rate a mention in comparison?

News of the shooting murder of Charlie Kirk swept around the world within minutes. The MAGA superstar was famous for arguing that gun deaths were an acceptable price to pay for gun freedoms - now he is dead at the hands of a sniper.

Plus .. brace yourself for Fox News coming to Australia .. the Murdoch outlet that perpetuated the rigged election lie and has just been forced to apologise after one of its on air stars advocated giving lethal injections to mentally ill homeless people.

And Stephen Colbert whose No. 1 rating "The Late Show" was axed by Paramount to appease Donald Trump has the last laugh with three standing ovations and an Emmy at American TVs night of nights.

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

Denis Muller speaks with journalist Charlotte Grieve, the driving force behind the investigation of a renowned orthopaedic surgeon, resulting in a remarkable defamation case win for The Age / Channel 9.

Thank you to our amazing supporters! You can help us here: https://buymeacoffee.com/truthliesandmedia

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

Is there anyone out there the LNP don't hate? Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, the Liberal senator who aspires to be PM, blames the media after she gives an interview sledging Indian immigrants, triggering a backlash within her own party.  It's straight from the Trump playbook - demonising migrants and the journalists who report you doing it.

Plus Murdoch's Sky News plays "as live" to air an uninterrupted unedited rant from neo Nazi Thomas Sewell .. live press conferences are usually reserved for reputable senior voices of authority, not white supremacists spreading hate.

Denis Muller says we are witnessing an unfolding new era of racism. 

And the hunt to discover who is bankrolling war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith's failed defamation fight as lawyers for Nine ask for a please explain from billionaire Gina Rinehart.

Thank you to our amazing supporters! You can help us here: https://buymeacoffee.com/truthliesandmedia

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

A Neo Nazi inserts himself into the news cycle with a bizarre and menacing rant at Jacinta Allan as she holds a press conference forcing it to be abandoned.

These are not ‘anti immigration” protesters - they are violent racists. So why do some media normalise and downplay their dangerous hate speak?

Plus whistleblower Richard Boyle had his life turned into hell by the ATO after he lifted the lid on their unethical debt collection practices - so they pursued him for seven years. Now a court has allowed him to walk free without a conviction.

And why does Bob Katter want to punch a Channel Nine journalist for telling the truth?

Thank you to our amazing supporters! You can help us here: https://buymeacoffee.com/truthliesandmedia

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

The shockwaves reverberate as two police officers are murdered in cold blood by a maniac with a gun and a grudge.

The grief hits Victoria Police the families of the slain officers like a sledge hammer .. and the accused killer is now on the run.  

How can journalists do justice to the outpouring of emotion and avoid intruding on those who are suffering while still ensuring the community is kept informed?

Denis Muller will unpack the pressure points around reporting profound tragedy.

And rape survivor Brittany Higgins ordered to pay her former boss Linda Reynolds $341,000 in damages and interest by the WA Supreme Court after a series of defamatory social media posts.. a huge win for the former Defence Minister. 

But why has West Australia along with the NT not enacted a critical public interest defence law which is in place everywhere else around Australia?

Thank you to our amazing supporters! You can help us here: https://buymeacoffee.com/truthliesandmedia

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

Fear not! This week's episode of Truth, Lies and Media will be available on Thursday instead of Wednesday, so that we can give you a full analysis of the WA Supreme Court defamation case unfolding right now.

See you tomorrow!

As always, Thank you to our amazing supporters! You can help us here: https://buymeacoffee.com/truthliesandmedia

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

We'd love to see you at our live Q&A on 7th October at the North Fitzroy Library hosted by Friends of the ABC:

https://events.humanitix.com/truth-lies-and-media-meet-the-podcasters-talk

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Dogwhistling up clickbait - A News Corp tabloid reproduces a flyer for an anti immigration national protest complete with racist slogans, dates and times .. as a young migrant chef tells us why she will be too afraid to travel to her workplace on that day.

Is a letter of complaint from a pro Israel lobby about a Palestinian author the reason the Bendigo Writers Festival ordered authors not to discuss "inflammatory" topics - and was then left in ruins when half of the invited authors refused to attend?

And we farewell gentleman film reviewer David Stratton some 'At The Movies' highlights and the moving written tribute from his friend and co-host Margaret Pomeranz.

Thank you to our amazing supporters! You can help us here: https://buymeacoffee.com/truthliesandmedia

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

A deadly airstrike kills the whole of Al Jazeeras reporting team in Gaza City .. Israel increasingly enraged as the world sees the carnage and opinion turns against them.

Five newsmen died .. their crime .. telling their peoples story of starvation and suffering.

Australia now says it will recognise a Palestinian state conditional on the removal of Hamas .. as the Liberals and their mates at News Corp unleash on the Prime Minister 

Plus The Age wins another mega defamation court battle.

And if print newspapers are facing imminent extinction why is Rupert Murdoch rolling out a new one in California and partying like it's 1965?

Thank you to our amazing supporters! You can help us here: https://buymeacoffee.com/truthliesandmedia

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

Murdoch's News Corp conflates a remarkably peaceful pro Palestine protest with hate and Hamas. Sky News called the historic Sydney Harbour Bridge rally a sign of "moral decline."

It didn't matter this was the voice of up to 300,000 people taking a stand against violence and starvation. It didn't matter there were no arrests and no violence, even when police had to turn that sea of humanity around and send it back to the CBD.  

Denis Muller says there is no limit to what News Corp will do to distort coverage of events and issues it is hostile to.

Plus a Victorian MP to sue the Herald Sun in what may become a test case of new privacy laws.

And 10 News Plus was touted as a "fresh" new way of doing news .. but is anybody watching the tanking show they bumped The Project for?

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Read the Barney Zwartz article on Israel and Palestine here (may require a subscription):

https://www.theage.com.au/world/middle-east/in-30-years-at-the-age-i-never-wrote-on-israel-palestine-now-i-must-20250801-p5mjla.html

Thank you to our amazing supporters! You can help us here: https://buymeacoffee.com/truthliesandmedia

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

Journalist Gary Tippet has seen a lot of tragedy but when he was assigned to cover the Port Arthur massacre and stopped at a beautiful old tree where two little girls and their mother were murdered something broke in him and he could not stop the tears.

How do journalists carry the trauma of the stories they report .. and how do they protect the survivors from secondary trauma when they approach them for an interview on what is often the worst day of their life?

This is a fascinating and revealing first hand insight into news gathering by one of the Australian media’s most experienced and respected Walkley Award winning journalists. 

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

A photo of a skeletal child cradled in its mothers arms finally brings home the horror of mass starvation in Gaza and the tide of media opinion turns against Israel.

Denis Muller says journalists are discarding an old taboo and using the word "genocide" to describe the mass starvation Israel denies is happening.

Plus the big global news organisations sign a joint statement warning the journalists and photographers telling this story of man made famine and brutality will themselves soon die from starvation if aid doesn't come quickly.  

And first there was Fox News .. now the United States looks like getting another Trump mouthpiece news network as presidential ally and the world's second richest man Larry Ellison buys Paramount, parent company of CBS. 

Thank you to our amazing supporters! You can help us here: https://buymeacoffee.com/truthliesandmedia

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