x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

We Used to be Journos

We used to be journalists, but now we mostly just bitch about them. (Kidding. Kind of.) We also break down broken news.This weekly podcast brings you honest and original media analysis from two insiders who’ve broken plenty of news and been broken by it, too.Hosted by long-suffering journalists and even longer-suffering friends, Jan Fran and Antoinette Lattouf, We Used to Be Journos is your guide to the way the media works.Join us every Wednesday as we unpack the headlines you see, and the power you

news news commentary

All Episodes

1:02:05

Attacks on Francesca Albanese and Grace Tame, Liberal...

We Used to be Journos ·

2026/02/17

In this episode, we lay out the parallels between political attacks on a UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories and a former Australian of the Year, and how large chunks of the media swallowed both with minimal scrutiny.We also share insider context and discuss how “harmful” reporting by the Canberra Times forced First Nations commissioner Vanessa Turnbull Roberts to go public about her sexual assault.Plus, why Angus Taylor’s media blitz is a harbinger for what’s to come in

en

1:05:51

Coverage of Herzog visit and protests, radio’s Bad...

We Used to be Journos ·

2026/02/10

In this episode, we dissect the media’s coverage of Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Australia. We look at how two networks asked very different questions, analyse the warm, sympathetic coverage in the lead up and keep an eye on the outlets that dutifully repeated government lines even as footage showed police violence in plain sight.We also look at what was missing from most of the coverage. Hint: it was any mention of the genocide.Also, Australian commercial radio outs itself yet again as

en

49:34

Insider's look at the past two decades of Aussie media

We Used to be Journos ·

2026/02/03

In this episode, the current state of Australian media is examined through Jan Fran and Antoinette’s decades long journeys in the industry.They talk about how they broke into journalism, caught the tail end of television’s heyday, watched social media splinter audiences, and now brace for what AI is about to do to journalism and truth. They also maintain a decades-long grudge against their less-than-encouraging high school careers advisers.In the end they land somewhere cautiously optimistic:

en

59:41

Hate speech laws red flags, Australia Day poll...

We Used to be Journos ·

2026/01/27

In this episode, we look at the many red flags surrounding Labor’s new hate speech laws as well as the mainstream media’s strikingly uniform response to them.Jan provides an update on the sale of TikTok. Americans can stop worrying about China controlling their data and algorithms because a small group of pro-Trump billionaires has that covered now. Antoinette breaks down Australia Day polls and offers a toolkit for spotting agendas in the opaque polling world.There’s also a shout out to the women

en

56:15

Narrative war over Iran's protests + Trump’s press...

We Used to be Journos ·

2026/01/20

In this episode Jan and Antoinette look at the fight to control the narrative over protests in Iran where the death toll has exceeded 3000.With an internet block out, state media tightly controlled, foreign actors bragging about armed interference, and exiled figures presenting themselves as the solution, protestors and their plight largely disappear from the story - by design.Meanwhile, Trump’s press secretary snaps at another reporter - this time to dodge a basic question about the shooting of an

en

36:17

Randa Abdel-Fattah on the collapse of the Adelaide...

We Used to be Journos ·

2026/01/13

In this episode, Jan Fran speaks with the woman at the centre of the collapse of the Adelaide Writers Festival, Palestinian author and academic Randa Abdel-Fattah.The conversation is blunt and urgent. They talk about censorship, lobby pressure on cultural institutions, what it means to keep speaking as a Palestinian Australian as media outlets launder bad faith attacks, and the focus drifts anywhere but Gaza.TICKETS TO OUR LIVE SHOW CAN BE BOUGHT HERE.SUPPORT ETTE MEDIA BY BECOMING A SUBSCRIBER

en

33:30

Ask Us Anything: Our younger selves, future of media,...

We Used to be Journos ·

2026/01/06

Part two of our summer special brings another round of Etterati questions, and this batch is delightfully varied.Prehistoric animal favourites. Media predictions for 2035. Practical tips for the days when hope feels elusive.Tickets to our live shows in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane can be bought here.Support Ette Media by becoming a subscriber here.Follow The Antony Lowenstein Podcast here.If you want to see our mugs as we yap you can watch the episode in full here. Hosted on Acast. See

en

34:47

Ask Us Anything: On cracks in our friendship,...

We Used to be Journos ·

2025/12/30

Part one of our summer special is your Q&A therapy session disguised as a podcast. We answer all your burning questions. We talk about twenty years of friendship, juggling being fledgling media moguls with sanity, staying clear-eyed in the chaos and navigating holiday conversations with problematic fam.Tickets to our live shows in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane can be bought here.Support Ette Media by becoming a subscriber here.Follow The Antony Lowenstein Podcast here.If you want to

en

55:27

Antony Loewenstein unpacks the Bondi terror attack

We Used to be Journos ·

2025/12/23

Independent journalist Antony Loewenstein joins Jan Fran to discuss how he's processing the Bondi terror attacks both as a Jewish man and long-time advocate for Palestine. Antony and Jan move through the tension between allowing victims time to grieve and needing to challenge political agendas that seek to curb our civil liberties.Antony talks through what he believes is driving the rise in antisemitism, and why parts of the Jewish diaspora feel increasingly alienated from Israel. He also lays

en

54:33

How the Bondi terror attack was reported

We Used to be Journos ·

2025/12/16

In this episode, Jan and Antoinette focus on the first 24-hours of media coverage of the antisemitic terrorist attack in Bondi that left 15 people dead.They examine how the story unfolded, which voices were given prominence, the role of social media in circulating original and often horrifying footage, and how easily misinformation spreads and how certain narratives take hold.It is a careful, unsparing look at how news is constructed and politicised under pressure, and what is lost when speed

en

1:05:46

Press piles on Abbie Chatfield, SBS’s Eurovision dud...

We Used to be Journos ·

2025/12/09

As the social media ban kicks off, Jan and Antoinette find themselves disagreeing on its merits.Plus, we take a look at the rage-bait tabloid media machine currently targeting influencer Abbie Chatfield and the hypocrisy powering it all.And as boycott calls grow over Israel’s participation in Eurovision, SBS doubles down on a dud decision.We salute journalists who stay cool while being smacked by studio gear and airborne wildlife, and a poem in an unexpected place leaves us feeling unexpectedly

en

59:54

TikTok’s racism row, Trump’s new press hit list +...

We Used to be Journos ·

2025/12/02

In this episode Jan and Antoinette delve into accusations of racism at the TikTok awards and speak to some big content creators who say this isn’t the first time they’ve felt shunned by the industry.Also, Trump adds media outlets who dare critically report on potentially unlawful strikes in Venezuela to an official White House naughty list.Plus we mark the two year anniversary of an open letter, signed by 300+ Australian journalists, that called for fairer Gaza–Israel coverage. Has anything changed

en

52:02

Nuzzi Lizza sex-scandal explained, Tele’s ‘Undercover...

We Used to be Journos ·

2025/11/25

In this episode Jan and Antoinette dig into a family violence story that manages to break (almost) every reporting guideline.Antoinette explains the latest escalation in the Daily Telegraph’s ‘undercover Jew’ mess at Cairo Takeaway restaurant, while Jan canvasses the good, the bad and the weird views of the Sydney Morning Herald.Plus, the journalist sex-scandal featuring Robert F Kennedy that Jan (shamefully) can’t get enough of and Mariah Carey caught up in X’s MAGA location reveal.Grab your

en

1:00:36

EXCLUSIVE: fake mosque story exposed, ChatGPT leak in...

We Used to be Journos ·

2025/11/18

In this episode, Jan and Antoinette unpack how parts of the media managed to spin a fake letter into a real panic about a new mosque in Western Sydney. No less than three separate media outlets whipped up outrage over a story with some shaky foundations.We also name and shame the daily newspaper that accidentally printed a ChatGPT prompt in its own business story, and what that slip says about how deep AI already runs in newsrooms… including ours.Plus, Jan got shadowbanned on Instagram and had to

en

1:05:41

BBC’s ‘bias’ blow-up, John Laws’ lasting legacy,...

We Used to be Journos ·

2025/11/11

In this episode, Jan and Antoinette examine the BBC ‘bias’ scandal that saw its director general and head of news resign. They go through the complaint letter that kicked off the scandal and examine other accusations of bias that haven't gotten nearly as much attention.Plus, as two Leb chicks who grew up in Sydney’s western suburbs in the early 2000s - Jan and Antoinette have memories of John Laws that are very different to the gushing media coverage of his passing.Also, Antoinette salutes the AFR

en

56:16

Mamdani AI attack ads, Coalition’s net zero backflip,...

We Used to be Journos ·

2025/11/04

In this episode, Jan takes a look at the use of AI in New York’s mayoral race and finds Cuomo’s campaign ads against Zohran Mamdani don’t just bend the truth but snap it completely and add a good dose of racism. This can’t be the future of political advertising…or can it?Also, the Coalition reckons net zero is “too toxic” but Antoinette discovers it’s only toxic to billionaires with an agenda and a media empire.Plus, news of long running atrocities in Sudan find their way into Western headlines but

en

43:09

BONUS: Omar El Akkad x Lattouf on ways to resist...

We Used to be Journos ·

2025/10/30

Egyptian-Canadian journalist Omar El Akkad joins Antoinette Lattouf on stage at the Queenscliff Literary Festival for a searingly honest and intimate conversation.The author of ‘One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This’, confronts a brutal question: what does it mean to live in the US while its government bankrolls, supports and enables Palestinian ethnic cleansing? He speaks to his sense of personal complicity, silence and the media’s role in manufacturing consent.Yet even as despair

en

57:45

Ita’s reputation rehab tour, Melbourne’s machete...

We Used to be Journos ·

2025/10/28

As former ABC chair Ita Buttrose promotes her latest book Jan and Antoinette pull apart the plentiful puff pieces.Antoinette hunts for proof of Melbourne’s machete epidemic and finds it exists mainly in headlines.Plus who is watching free to air TV… no really who? Because we crunched some numbers and they don't add up.Also a double shout out to the Labor Party (yes, shocking): first for new AI laws that make it harder for big tech to take artists’ work for free, and second to the junior staffer

en

37:17

BONUS: Chris Hedges x Lattouf: Late Night Live, Press...

We Used to be Journos ·

2025/10/23

In this bonus episode, Pulitzer Prize–winning US journalist Chris Hedges joins Antoinette Lattouf to unpack his time in Australia so far, including some fraught interactions with sections of the Australian media.We also discuss what he flew all this way to talk about: how western journalists are betraying their colleagues in Gaza.Plus, Chris offers some honest advice for young people who still want to tell stories and speak truth to power. Support Ette Media by becoming a subscriber here.Buy our new

en

1:06:24

What ‘Ceasefire’? + Rudd’s manufactured media moment,...

We Used to be Journos ·

2025/10/21

In this episode, as Anthony Albanese meets Donald Trump at the White House we take a look at the manufactured moment that saw former PM Kevin Rudd hit the headlines.Plus, we unpack the media’s warped definitions of a “ceasefire” in Gaza as near-identical coverage around the world tows the Israeli line and ignores Palestinians.And, with the commentary creep in journalism leaving audiences confused we proffer an unlikely solution. Also in medialand women get punted, men get promoted.It’s A Yes From

en

37 results

Similar Podcasts

Expres Ráno

Expres FM

PBS News Hour - Full Show

PBS News

CD Voice

China Daily

Israel Today: Ongoing War Report

Noa Levi

Jeffrey Epstein: The Coverup Chronicles

Bobby Capucci