
Fourth Estate
Every week, we discuss how the media has covered the news and analyse issues affecting the industry - with some of the biggest names in journalism in Australia and around the world. Broadcast live on Sydney's 2SER 107.3FM, with the financial assistance of the Community Broadcasting Foundation.
Latest episodes

Nov 7, 2024 • 48min
America Elects First Felon President
In what was an incredibly decisive vote from the US electorate, following an incredibly divisive election, Donald J Trump will return to the White House in January, becoming the 47th President of the United States.Had she been elected, Vice President Kamala Harris would have made history as the country's first female President, but American voters decided on a different precedent.Joining Tina Quinn to analyse the media coverage and its impact on the result was Danielle Allen (formerly of The Washington Post), Nick Bryant (formerly of the BBC), Amelia Lester (Foreign Policy Magazine) and David Folkenflik (NPR). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 31, 2024 • 1h 24min
Remembering George Negus
George Negus cut an iconic figure in the Australian media industry. One of the original stars of 60 Minutes when it was first established in Australia, he redefined the medium of television journalism.His multi-decade career saw him go head to head with world leaders like Margaret Thatcher, Muammar Gaddafi and Australia's own Bob Hawke.He brought stories from all four corners of the globe home to Australians, in his knock-about, down to earth style that became known as quintessential Negus.Ray Martin and Jennifer Byrne both joined Tina Quinn in studio to remember their friend and colleague, who passed away aged 82, after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 25, 2024 • 38min
Reflections On A Referendum: A Year On From The Voice
A year on from last year's referendum, and the deep divisions laid bare during its bitter campaign remain. With minimal progress made on Indigenous affairs, the path ahead for Australia's First Nations communities looks increasingly bleak. Daniel James and Clare Armstrong join Tina Quinn to discuss the difficult conversations the media is still failing to navigate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 17, 2024 • 35min
Violent War, Passive Voice
A year on from the beginning of what has become the deadliest uprising of violence between Israel and Palestine that we've ever seen, this week we turn our eye on the language often used by the media when reporting on this conflict.Joining host, Tina Quinn to discuss is the ABC's Paul Barry, and Al Jazeera's, Meenakshi Ravi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 6, 2024 • 1h 32min
Profile: In Conversation With Jeff McMullen (Part 2)
The Watergate scandal was already unfolding when Jeff McMullen arrived in the United States in 1972, having just been appointed as the ABC's New York Correspondent.He would spend the next decade filing compelling stories for Four Corners on the turmoil surrounding nuclear waste, uranium mining and the plight of the Native Americans.During his years covering the Reagan White House, Jeff made the difficult decision to leave the ABC for the Nine Network's 60 Minutes, at a time when current affairs television was at its peak.In part two of his conversation with Tina Quinn, Jeff discusses these extraordinary decades and the purpose that still guides him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 6, 2024 • 1h 19min
Profile: In Conversation With Jeff McMullen (Part 1)
Within 12 months of joining the ABC in 1966, 18 year old Jeff McMullen took his very first posting as a Foreign Correspondent to Papua New Guinea.It was the beginning of a multi-decade career, which would see him cover the Watergate scandal in the United States, the coup in Chile, the famine in Eritrea and the genocide in Guatemala.As part of our ongoing series of profiles, Jeff joined Tina Quinn in studio talk about what began his attraction to far flung places, his love for storytelling and his desire to better understand humankind. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 29, 2024 • 57min
One From The Archives: Six Decades Of Four Corners
This week we again dip back into the Fourth Estate archives, to August of 2021, when Tina Quinn assembled journalists Jeff McMullen, Chris Masters and Morag Ramsay to commemorate the 60th birthday, Four Corners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 22, 2024 • 43min
Nine's Axe Swings, As Mass Exodus Begins
The first round of voluntary redundancies from Nine Entertainment have been announced, with 85 journalists at what was once the Fairfax papers, packing their bags.But could the supposed bloodletting lead to a worsening prognosis for Australia's largest media company?Journalists Jonathan Green, Kerry-Anne Walsh and Scott Mitchell join Tina Quinn to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 15, 2024 • 45min
Commercial Television: The Industry That #MeToo Forgot
Its been more bad news this week for the already embattled Seven Network, with Four Corners airing a searing expose into the commercial broadcaster's workplace culture.The picture painted was one of bullying, harassment and misogyny.Four Corners Investigative Reporter, Louise Milligan joined Tina Quinn and Virginia Haussegger, who herself navigated a multi-decade career in television news and current affairs to discuss the allegations uncovered. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 1, 2024 • 1h 26min
Profile: In Conversation With Margaret Throsby
When Margaret Throsby first came through the doors of the ABC in 1967, as the new “announcer” on staff, she was the only woman in a room full of men.As part of our ongoing series of profiles, the incomparable broadcaster joined Tina Quinn in studio to talk about the remarkable 56 year career that followed.The word legend is often generously bandied about, but its fitting for the famously velvet voiced presenter, who in 1978 would become the first woman to read the news for ABC Television, encouraging commercial networks to quickly follow suit, and who is thought to have conducted over 15,000 interviews during her decades long career. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices