The Daily Telegraph has faced criticism for giving Pauline Hanson's One Nation party prominent front-page coverage of its 'Fire the Liar' fundraising campaign, effectively providing free advertising. The front page on Wednesday featured the headline 'Fighting Liar with Fire: One Nation fires back at Labor with $29 campaign fee' alongside images of both Labor's and One Nation's ads. Inside, a full-page One Nation ad urged readers to 'Stop Labor. Fire the Liar. Donate Now.' The article noted that One Nation claims to have raised over $2.7 million through the campaign, but this figure remains unverified as the party does not disclose donations in real time. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese remarked that the coverage amounted to a free ad for One Nation.
AI Creates Fake Political Parties in AFR Graphic
The Australian Financial Review, part of Nine newspapers, published a graphic on the South Australian election that invented several non-existent political parties, including the 'Liberal Catholic Party' and the 'Family Guardian Association'. The graphic, which omitted the Labor party, was based on data analysis using Google's Gemini AI tool. The AFR later removed the graphic and added a correction, acknowledging that the mistakes should have been caught during editing. This incident follows a previous case where the Sydney Morning Herald removed an AI-generated opinion piece.
Logies Host Announcement Blunder
The Hollywood Reporter's Australian edition prematurely announced that Patrick Brammall would host the 2026 Logie Awards, only to be contradicted later that day by TV Week, which revealed Robert Irwin as the actual host. The Instagram post was quickly deleted. The Hollywood Reporter Australia magazine is set to launch on 22 June at a cost of $14.99 per issue.
Press Council Rules on Cathy Wilcox Cartoon
The Australian Press Council ruled that a cartoon by Cathy Wilcox published in the Age and Sydney Morning Herald on 7 January breached its standards of practice, as it was likely to cause substantial offence, distress, and prejudice to Jewish people. The cartoon depicted figures holding placards calling for a royal commission while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu beat a drum with 'BOOM BOOM' text. The council found it encoded the antisemitic trope of Jewish control over global events. The newspapers had previously apologised for the cartoon. The council noted that while cartoons are given latitude, that latitude is not unlimited, contrasting with past decisions on cartoons of Serena Williams and Bill Leak.
Brian Toohey's New Book Launch
Veteran investigative journalist Brian Toohey launched his new book '50 years Before the Mastheads' at a sold-out event in Sydney. The book collects articles from his career covering corruption, national security, and politics, including previously unpublished pieces on US involvement in the dismissal of the Whitlam government and alleged provision of prostitutes to Bob Hawke.
