Australian Media Coverage on Palestine

Experts and world leaders are accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, while violence against Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem escalates. Many of us are watching these horrors play out in real time through social media, as Israel has prevented foreign journalists from entering Gaza - except through organised embeds with the Israeli army.  It is through Palestinian journalists on the ground in Gaza that the world is witnessing the carnage and horrors inflicted by Israel and backed by the United States. 

That Australian audiences, particularly younger audiences, are turning to social media to learn of the atrocities in the Middle East has many questioning the role of Australian media. The war has raised doubts in the ability of much of Australian media to accurately and fairly inform, without bias or agenda, on settler colonialism in Palestine. Australian media outlets have been accused of minimising Palestinian suffering, failing to fairly report credible allegations of war crimes and ethnic cleansing, and providing a platform for the Israeli government and its supporters to shape the narrative. There is a profound disconnect between what audiences see in much of Australian media coverage and what is unfolding on the ground, as seen through social media.

Is this war the defining moment where audiences break from Australian media? Is the Australian media losing the trust of Australians, particularly younger generations? Where does it go from here

Dr Amy McQuire is a Darumbal and South Sea Islander woman from Rockhampton in Central Queensland. Amy is a freelance writer and journalist, and completed her PhD at the University of Queensland into media representations of violence against Aboriginal women.

Dr Micaela Sahhar is an Australian-Palestinian writer and educator.  She holds a doctorate focusing on national narrative and media coverage during Israeli assaults on Palestine in the 21st century. She publishes creatively and academically. Her essays, poetry and commentary have appeared in Cordite, Overland and the Griffith Review among others. She is a Next Chapter Fellow (2021)
and travelled to Palestine recently on a Neilma Sidney Literary Travel Fund Grant (Round 7) to work on her debut manuscript.

Antoun Issa is a Australian-Lebanese journalist at Guardian Australia and a non-resident fellow at the Middle East Institute. He has lived and worked as a journalist in the Middle East, and is currently writing a book situated in the Lebanese civil war.

Moderated by Nayuka Gorrie is a Gunai/Kurnai, Gunditjmara, Wiradjuri and Yorta Yorta freelance and comedy television writer. Their writing centres on black, feminist, abolitionist and queer politics.

What: Panel Discussion on Critiquing Australia's Media Silence on Palestine

When: Friday, 15th December 1:00PM-2:15PM (AEST)

Where: On Zoom