When Tragedy Is Weaponised: The Media And Bondi

After the mass shooting at Bondi, Australia became a global headline, and a case study in how tragedy is rapidly politicised.

Before facts were established, misinformation surged, racial vilification followed, and political narratives hardened. Jewish, Middle Eastern, Arabic and Muslim communities were unfairly targeted, while debates over gun laws, antisemitism and national security were pulled into the news cycle at speed.

In this episode of Fourth Estate, we interrogate how the Bondi shooting was covered, and how journalism struggled under pressure.

Joining Tina Quinn to unpack the coverage and issues at play is Antony Loewenstein, an independent journalist and author of My Israel Question and The Palestine Laboratory, as well as Crikey's Daanyal Saeed and The Australian Financial Review's Jennifer Hewett.

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