United States President Donald Trump's tour of the Middle East this week is his first international trip since he started his second term. Conspicuously absent from his itinerary, however, was Washington’s closest ally in the region: Israel. In the US and Israeli media, the apparent snub has fuelled talk of a growing rift between Trump and his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Contributors:
Diana Buttu – Human rights lawyer and analyst
Dana Mills – Writer, +972 magazine and Local Call
Jeremy Scahill – Cofounder, Drop Site News

On our radar:

Tariq Nafi reports on the killing this week of one of Gaza’s best-known journalists - and why it represents a new low in Israel’s unparalleled war on the press.

Are India’s news channels helping or harming?

The tit-for-tat conflict between India and Pakistan lasted only a week before a ceasefire deal was reached, but it was long enough to provide an insight into the role the media might play in a longer war.

We speak with Indian journalist Hartosh Singh Bal about mainstream media under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government - from misinformation to hate speech - and the alternative news outlets trying to provide the antidote.

Featuring:
Hartosh Singh Bal – Executive editor, The Caravan magazine

A weekly programme that examines and dissects the world's media, how they operate and the stories they cover.

The Listening Post

Trump’s moment in the Middle East

This past week, Iranian protesters were labelled “terrorists” and “saboteurs” by the state. That rhetoric was accompanied by an internet blackout and a surge in violence, with the death toll still unclear. Simultaneously, tensions between the United States and Iran escalated, raising the stakes in what has become one of the most serious political upheavals in the country in years.

Contributors:
Tohid Asadi – Correspondent, Al Jazeera English
Narges Bajoghli – Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins University
Roxane Farmanfarmaian – Lecturer, University Of Cambridge
Farzan Sabet – Managing Researcher, Global Governance Centre

On our radar

In the US, the shooting - in public - of a woman two weeks ago by immigration officers has spiralled into a case of outright lying that is remarkable even by the standards of the Trump administration. Ryan Kohls reports on how official accounts, allied media and even AI-generated spokespeople were deployed to defend the shooting.

Cory Doctorow: The AI hype machine

Artificial intelligence is routinely framed as unstoppable - a technology the world must adapt to, not question. But as companies invest hundreds of billions and the hype accelerates, scrutiny has fallen away. Cory Doctorow on who controls the story around AI and why past tech “revolutions” offer a warning.

Featuring:
Cory Doctorow – Author and activist

Iran: The protests, the blackout and the narrative war

The horrific Bondi Beach attack in Australia was pulled into Israel’s global information war this past week.

As blame was directed towards pro-Palestine politics, media narratives blurred Jewish identity and Israeli state policy - raising urgent questions about who is put at risk when Israel’s anti-Palestinian messaging travels beyond its borders.

Contributors:
Naama Blatman – Executive member, Jewish Council of Australia
Ori Goldberg – Academic and political commentator
Antony Loewenstein – Author, The Palestine Laboratory
Ramia Sultan – Palestinian Australian lawyer

On our radar

The outspoken and irreverent Hong Kong media mogul - Jimmy Lai - was convicted this week of conspiring with foreign forces.

Tariq Nafi reports on how the Chinese Communist Party is tightening its grip on Hong Kong through its media.

The pervasiveness of Hindutva pop

In India, Hindu nationalism, or "Hindutva", has spread into a variety of media platforms. Meenakshi Ravi explores its musical subgenre, Hindutva pop, and speaks to one of its biggest names.

Featuring:
Kanhiya Mittal – Musician
Kunal Purohit – Author, The Secretive World of Hindutva Pop Stars
Samriddhi Sakunia – Journalist and current affairs Instagrammer

The spin and misinformation around Bondi was inevitable | The Listening Post

For more than a century, Warner Bros has been one of Hollywood’s biggest players, a legacy studio that helped define the Golden Age of cinema with iconic blockbuster movies. Now, it’s at the centre of a contentious, billion-dollar bidding war between Netflix, the world's leading streaming platform, and Paramount Skydance, owned by the powerful Ellison family, which has close ties to President Trump.

Whichever way this goes, the outcome isn’t looking great.

Contributors:
Matt Craig - Reporter, Forbes
Daheli Hall - Writer and director
Lee Hepner - Antitrust lawyer
Dominic Patten - Executive editor, Deadline

On our radar

This week, Australia became the first country in the world to impose a social media ban for children less than the age of 16. The Australian government says it is taking on Big Tech and safeguarding children, but some young people were able to quickly bypass the new rules. Ryan Kohls reports.

The Imran Khan rumour mill

Despite being in jail for more than two years, Imran Khan continues to occupy airtime in Pakistan. After the army restricted access to Khan, rumours of his death ricocheted across social media.  Pressure from his supporters and family forced the military to lift the restrictions and grant Khan’s sisters access to speak to him. Meenakshi Ravi reports on the showdown between Imran Khan and powerful Field Marshal Asim Munir, and what it reveals about power, politics and narrative control in Pakistan.

Featuring: 
Amber Rahim Shamsi - Pakistan Editor, Nukta
Moeed Pirzada - Political YouTuber
Mohammed Hanif - Author and journalist

Trump’s moment in the Middle East

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