June 18th 2026

An independent fourth estate

An independent fourth estate

Once upon a time

Journalists asked blistering questions of politicians and CEO’s – never allowing a single opportunity to pass without some form of journalistic interrogation.

No more.

The mainstream media have been sold to the very class that profits from the people who dictate policy. They want the rot to be left unchallenged. Because it enriches them.

So here we are. We have Australia’s equivalent of Trump/Farage figure, saying Australia must become monocultural, at the National Press Club, of all places (which is almost entirely sponsored by the very captains of industry and business that profit from hate and division), and not a single journalist asked the question – which culture are you speaking of, Pauline, that dictates the monocultural terms? Is it the white Australia culture? Is it the women back into the kitchen, breeding culture? Is it the one that elevates the power of 0.4% of the population while ignoring the indigenous Australians and their 60,000-year history?

Journalists let a rapist president get away with the most egregious corruption of any politician in history. And every second sentence is a lie. Unchallenged. They have a right to be afraid of retribution, but if every journalist asked the hard questions, they would prevail.

The only good news is the growth of alternative media, like Zeteo and The Nerve. And many journalists who have unplugged from mainstream and are carving out platforms of their own.

Meanwhile, the older demographic (I am a part of that, but rebel is my middle name) does not access the alternative media. With the exception of the Facebook algorithm, which will only feed their hate and mania.

The tragedy is that the monopolisation and capture of the mainstream media continues to this day. It profits Empire.

An independent fourth estate is crucial to a functioning democracy. But the elite have no appetite for a functioning democracy. They never had.

The current operating system is exactly as they desired it.

Published June 18th 2026. Photo taken June 18th 2023