On a Thursday morning, Australia's newspapers turned the American midterm results into a mirror for their own politics, each reading the same ballot through its own tribe's lens. Some saw a president weakened to a lame duck, others a warning for Anthony Albanese, and one commentator a sign that Western civilisation itself might be faltering. Beneath the headlines lies a familiar older question about how a distant election becomes a domestic argument, and who gets to tell that story.
Australian Media Splits Along Partisan Lines Over US Midterms, Leaving the ABC Isolated
Every part of the media found what it wanted in the US elections
Mark
The headlines all agreed Trump lost. So where did the papers actually split?
Mimi
On what it meant. The front pages shared the same result, but the El-Sayed coverage and the Albanese warnings show outlets pulling it toward their own arguments.
Luke
Worth separating the two. The Trump headlines are descriptive. The "alarm bells" line from Steve Price is a prediction, and nothing in the reporting shows it holds for Australia.
Mark
Markson's segment seems the starkest example.
Mimi
She called the result terrifying and repeated the Muslim Brotherhood claim, which the column says is false. His actual platform is universal healthcare, monopoly regulation and ending military aid to Israel.
Luke
And "extremist" is her label. The piece quotes it rather than establishing it.
Mark
What about the ABC being described as lonely?
Mimi
Ferguson broadcast from Washington at 3.30am local time. Ratings were strong, but the guests were mostly beamed in from London and Connecticut.
Luke
Strong ratings and value for money are different questions. The column says the jury is out, and we don't have the cost.
Mark
The News Innovation Fund story is odd.
Mimi
News24 framed it as a conservative snub, but Henderson's complaint concerned another fund, which excludes News Corp as foreign owned.
Luke
So the criticism was real but attached to the wrong grant. Whether the new fund excluded anyone on ideology isn't shown.
Mark
And Wilcox?
Mimi
She says several cartoons were pulled and blames the pro-Israel lobby. The Press Council found the cartoon breached standards.
Luke
Her lobby claim is her account only. The papers were approached and the column reports no reply.
Il Polso
- Front pages scream 'Capitol punishment,' 'Donald lame duck,' and 'MAGA mauling,' with the mandate described as shredded.
- News24's Sharri Markson calls the El-Sayed win the most terrifying result of the night and repeats a false Muslim Brotherhood link, drawing sharp criticism.
- The ABC sends Sarah Ferguson to Washington for live coverage, but the 3.30am slot and quiet Capitol Hill raise doubts about the cost.
- Labor's $31.5m News Innovation Fund grants spark a row over the absence of conservative outlets, while One Nation's ban on Guardian Australia and the ABC tightens the press standoff.
- Cathy Wilcox's departure from Nine and her claims about pro-Israel pressure leave the press debate unresolved, with the Press Club's Pickering event set for Thursday.
On a Thursday morning, Australia's newspapers turned the American midterm results into a mirror for their own politics, each reading the same ballot through its own tribe's lens. Some saw a president weakened to a lame duck, others a warning for Anthony Albanese, and one commentator a sign that Western civilisation itself might be faltering. Beneath the headlines lies a familiar older question about how a distant election becomes a domestic argument, and who gets to tell that story.
On Thursday morning, Australia's front pages gave almost their entire space to the US midterms, and the headlines were blunt. The Age called it "Capitol punishment," the Herald Sun "Donald lame duck," and the Australian Financial Review said the blue wave had "ripped his mandate to shreds." The Australian preferred alliteration, calling it a "Donald deflation" and a "MAGA mauling."
The sharpest commentary came around Michigan's Abdul El-Sayed, a former county health official who calls himself a capitalist and backs universal healthcare, but also wants to end US military aid to Israel and calls the Gaza war a genocide. On News24, Sharri Markson called his victory the most terrifying result of the night and repeated a false claim linking him to the Muslim Brotherhood, asking whether Western civilisation was crumbling.
Others turned the story homeward. Steve Price, filling in on News24, warned that every sitting Australian government should hear alarm bells.
The ABC committed heavily, sending Sarah Ferguson to Washington, though her live slot ran at 3.30am and the Capitol was quiet. Money was another battleground. Labor's $31.5m News Innovation Fund drew criticism that no conservative outlets made the list, a complaint traced to Sarah Henderson, who alleged a deliberate exclusion of News Corp from a different scheme, which is excluded because it is foreign owned.
One Nation's ban on Guardian Australia and the ABC continues, even as the Melbourne Press Club prepares to host Warren Pickering, with the press club insisting that a strong democracy needs media scrutiny. Cartoonist Cathy Wilcox, recently departed from Nine, says the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age have grown less courageous, and blames pro-Israel pressure for pulled cartoons, though she does not regret the one that drew an antisemitism finding.
And the industry lost Don Riddell, a former Advertiser editor remembered as even-tempered and a fearless advocate for his staff.
On Thursday morning, the front pages of Australia's newspapers were given over almost entirely to the US midterm results, and the headlines were blunt. The Age ran "Capitol punishment." The Herald Sun went with "Donald lame duck." The Daily Telegraph said a blue wave had left Trump a lame president, and the Australian Financial Review said the wave had "ripped his mandate to shreds." The Australian reached for alliteration, calling the outcome a "Donald deflation" and a "MAGA mauling" delivered by "Trump the trasher."
The same front page carried a different kind of story, about Michigan's Abdul El-Sayed, under the headline "Far out: far-left radical to be first Muslim senator." His win drew some of the sharpest commentary of the night. On News24, Sharri Markson opened her program by calling him a far-left extremist and his victory a "shocking result" and the "most crushing and terrifying" of the evening. She repeated a false claim that he has links to the Muslim Brotherhood, and asked what the result said about the strength of western civilisation, adding that it was hard not to worry it was crumbling, and capitalism with it.
El-Sayed is a former county health official who describes himself as a "capitalist who understands how capitalism works." His platform includes universal healthcare and regulating monopolies. He also wants to end US military aid to Israel and calls its war in Gaza a genocide.
Others read the repudiation of Trump as a warning for Anthony Albanese. Steve Price, filling in for Peta Credlin on News24, said the midterms should set off "alarm bells" for every sitting government in Australia.
The ABC, meanwhile, committed heavily. It flew 7.30 host Sarah Ferguson to Washington to broadcast live from Monday to Wednesday. Whether that was money well spent is an open question. Viewing figures on Wednesday were very strong, though Ferguson presented at 3.30am local time and Capitol Hill was quiet. The program had three interviews: Anthony Scaramucci and former ambassador Joe Hockey, both from London, and congressman Joe Courtney from Connecticut. Americas editor John Lyons appeared in person alongside Ferguson but was moved aside so he wasn't blocking the Capitol building.
Another row played out over money. On Wednesday, Labor announced the 54 recipients of its $31.5m News Innovation Fund, which backs innovation, sustainability and diverse public interest journalism for regional, First Nations and culturally and linguistically diverse Australians, including people with disabilities. Grants included $1.4m to Deaf Connect for Australia's first national Auslan-first digital news service, $3.3m to the Community Broadcasting Association and $2.2m to Country Press Australia. News24 reported the grants amid criticism that no conservative publications were on the list. That criticism seemed to trace back to shadow communications minister Sarah Henderson, who told Senate estimates last week there was a "deliberate decision" to bar News Corp from the Journalism Assistance Fund, a different scheme. News Corp is indeed excluded from that fund, because it is foreign owned.
On One Nation, the Melbourne Press Club and the Rural Press Club of Victoria will host Victorian leader Warren Pickering at Crown on Thursday to present his party's pitch and take questions from all media. Heidi Murphy of 9News Melbourne and the ABC's Erin Somerville will moderate. Guardian Australia and the ABC were removed from an earlier Pickering press conference at Crown as part of a One Nation ban on select outlets. Press club chief executive Patrick Donovan said it is vital in a strong democracy that the media hold politicians to account. Even The Australian's media reporter, Steve Jackson, has turned on One Nation strategist James Ashby after a falling-out with News24 host Andrew Clennell, calling him an "infantile party director."
Cartoonist Cathy Wilcox, a Walkley winner, gave her first interview since taking voluntary redundancy from Nine. She told Antoinette Lattouf of Ette Media that the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age are less courageous, honest and independent than they were. She said several cartoons had been pulled in the past year, which she blamed on the pro-Israel lobby. She does not regret "Grass Roots," published after the Bondi terror attack, which showed politicians and royal commission lobbyists marching to a drum played by Benjamin Netanyahu. The mastheads apologised in an editorial on 11 January, and in June the Australian Press Council found the cartoon breached its standards by invoking an antisemitic trope. Wilcox said she does not think that interpretation was fair. Nine's papers were approached for comment.
Former Advertiser editor-in-chief Don Riddell, who left the Adelaide paper in 1987 after clashing with a newly arrived Rupert Murdoch, died this week. Colleagues remembered him as even-tempered and a fearless advocate for his staff.
Citazioni salienti
I absolutely don't regret the cartoon because I absolutely also don't think that the interpretation of it was a fair one.— Cathy Wilcox, cartoonist
It is vital in a strong democracy that the media hold politicians to account.— Patrick Donovan, Melbourne Press Club chief executive
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Politics & Governance