When a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has covered conflicts in Iraq, Bosnia and Palestine — seven years covering Gaza and fluent in Arabic is in Australia to deliver the Edward Said Memorial Lecture, obviously the Press Club of Australia would take the advantage of his presence to invite him to speak.
Chris Hedges accepted the invitation and was to speak on the “Betrayal of Palestinian Journalists” at the National Press Club on Monday 20 October but suddenly the invitation was ‘withdrawn’ with the excuse of ‘balancing out our program.’
The Press Club even claimed there had been no clear invitation, but when that was proven false, they claimed that it hadn’t been publicised — also false. Maybe the Club had taken too much flack from the pro-Israeli lobby after the truth telling by Ben Saul and Chris Sidoti on Palestine Recognition at the Press Club on 1st October.
But how could a Press Club with any integrity cancel a talk on the western media’s complicity in the genocide in Gaza.
Australia likes to present itself as a champion of free speech, but the mask has been slipping for a long time. What was exposed was not mere cowardice, but a pattern of propaganda and institutional complicity — a system in which the Murdoch media and the public broadcaster ABC drive misleading narratives while critical truths about Gaza are suppressed.
Instead of standing up for their Palestinian colleagues and factual reporting, the event was cancelled for “balance,” a euphemism masking the shrinking space for honest reporting in Australia.
Australia’s press freedom is in dramatic decline, with the nation plummeting twelve places in the latest global index. Much of this can be traced to the Murdoch empire’s grip on nearly 60% of newspaper circulation and control of Sky News, as well as its history of undermining democracy and fuelling xenophobic, pro-Israel, and anti-Palestinian propaganda across its outlets.
As former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has argued, Murdoch’s dominance and methods have “crippled democratic debate” and made independent journalism the exception, not the rule.
But equally shocking is the failure of the ABC — the country’s publicly funded broadcaster — to fulfil its mandate. Multiple media studies and internal staff protests have highlighted how ABC’s coverage of Gaza amplifies Israeli government talking points, underreports civilian casualties, and gives diplomatic cover to the ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing.
In recent months, ABC journalists themselves have demanded editorial reform, pointing to a climate of fear, self-censorship, and external lobbying that led to the silencing of dissent — even staff dismissed for expressing concern over Gaza via social media.
Hedges’ core critique is that many Western journalists choose access over truth. Palestinian journalists are being killed in record numbers, but their stories are discounted while Australian media conglomerates distribute misleading narratives, actively trying to shape public misunderstanding of Gaza.
This is not simply a failure but a betrayal — a weaponisation of partiality and propaganda that turns journalists into mouthpieces for power and Israeli hasbara.
Justifying censorship under the guise of “balance” is an abandonment of genuine impartiality and fact-based journalism. The Press Club’s actions — and the broader media climate — demonstrate that Australia’s so-called media arbiters are willing to silence criticism and amplify misinformation rather than defend truth and fact-based reporting.
Australia’s media does not merely ignore the truth, it manufactures deception and enables propaganda. We need a media and a Press Club not dependant on the so-called balancing of narratives, but on courageous confrontation with the facts.
The victims of Gaza’s genocide and their silenced journalists — deserve better.
Link to the speech
https://honisoit.com/2025/10/chris-hedges-stenographers-to-power/
From History. Gaza for the past two years has been closed off to western media. Only Hamas supporters allowed. During WWII there were men called Political Officers (Journalist’s) they would supply propaganda. When captured they were shot immediately. Gaza Journalists provided propaganda to the western media. Same rules apply Gaza Journalists shot on site for spreading propaganda. Hamas is doing the same thing now, Executing fellow Muslims. Strange that the religion of peace is executing Muslims, that’s Muslims executing Muslims. No doubt there is a reason, there is always a reason. Why were the women overweight if there was a Famine? And where is all the disease? There were also 50,000 child births over 18 months. Sounds like it was very tough for those Gazans. Australians are waking up to all the lies.
Great article and so true. Unfortunately the mainstream media here including the ABC is still hedging its commentary on Gaza and Israel with excuses, statistics with few human stories from the Palestinian side, and recently silence in relation to the ongoing slaughter during a ‘cease-fire’ parroting the inane excuse that Israeli bodies have not been returned. There is no mention that access to them, equipment to obtain them is incredibly limited, and there is definitely no mention of the tens of thousands of Palestinians who are buried under burial or in mass graves, or even worse, those returned having been subject to unbelievable torture.
Alhamdu lillah, there is always hope, and the newly elected New York Mayor may just signal that change is coming – for justice in the USA, for Muslims globally, and for the continued rise of Islam.