Peter Greste
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Professor of Journalism @MediaCommsMQ, author, journalist and speaker. After prison in Egypt, I advocate #MediaFreedom. RTs are just that.
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Articles by Peter Greste
Trump’s decision to ban journalists from the White House – and One Nation’s actions – shows why Australia urgently needs a media freedom bill
‘We shouldn’t wait until journalists deemed unfriendly are being kicked out of Parliament House or worse before we think about writing their role into legislation,’ Peter Greste writes. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP No politician loves journalists. The relationship between media and governments has always been fractious, combative, resentful and at times downright hostile. But that is how it is meant to be. Governments wield power; media monitor and report on it.
Pauline Hanson has knocked another brick out of our creaky political system. It's not good for anybody
Peter Greste Democracy's lifeblood is information. But like any bloodstream, the more gunk that flows through it, the less healthy the system. For public debate to work, we all need reliable information grounded in facts and ethics, and the way we've done that for almost two centuries is through good journalism. The system isn't always perfect – and sometimes it can look downright unedifying – but it has generally helped deliver one of the world's most stable and successful political systems.
Pauline Hanson has knocked another brick out of our creaky political system. It’s not good for anybody
In an instant, Pauline Hanson has wiped out the neutral position that journalists so jealously guard, Peter Greste writes. Photograph: Hollie Adams/Reuters Democracy’s lifeblood is information. But like any bloodstream, the more gunk that flows through it, the less healthy the system. For public debate to work, we all need reliable information grounded in facts and ethics, and the way we’ve done that for almost two centuries is through good journalism.
Confronting artificial intelligence with democratic intelligence
OPINION Photo: AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts On Wednesday Anthony Albanese sent a clear message to AI developers: we see what you’re doing, we know the value of our assets, and we’re not giving them away.
The KPMG scandal: We have seen this show before
The scandal that has swamped KPMG in the past month has many moving parts, but it can all be summarised in one earthy Australian expression – “same s–t, different bucket”. We have seen this show many times before, including in 2022 when it was revealed that PWC worked with the federal government on new business tax plans and then sold secret information about those plans to major corporations to help them avoid paying the new taxes.
Don’t look here, look over there: The dangerous game that unites our politicians
So much of our politics is a distraction. And deliberately so. Fake fights over nuclear – no one in mainstream politics actually believes nuclear would ever happen, but both Labor and the Coalition are happy to fight over it, because it gives both a point of difference in an increasingly political monoculture.
It’s the ABC’s job to be accurate and fair, not to chase the dangerous fallacy of ‘balance’ Original
One of the oldest tropes in journalism is that it should be balanced; that journalists have a responsibility to present all sides of a given issue with equal weight. This view also holds that appearing to be critical of one side and sympathetic to another amounts to “bias”. That notion of balance sounds ideal. After all, journalists should be neutral observers who favour nobody, so if anybody feels as though their side is not presented with equal measure, the journalist has somehow failed.
It’s the ABC’s job to be accurate and fair, not to chase the dangerous fallacy of ‘balance’
© 2026 Tolerance.ca ® Inc. All reproduction rights reserved. All information reproduced on the Web pages of www.tolerance.ca (including articles, images, photographs, and logos) is protected by intellectual property rights owned by Tolerance.ca ® Inc. or, in certain cases, by its author. Any reproduction of the information for use other than personal use is prohibited.
Animal activists’ court battle and its implications for press freedom
Minutes after midnight one day in early January 2024, three people crept into an abattoir in Eurobin, midway between Myrtleford and Bright in regional Victoria. The trio, associated with animal rights group Farm Transparency Project, installed covert video recorders to capture footage of goats being slaughtered for export. Obviously enough, they did so without the knowledge or permission of the abattoir owners, the Game Meats Company (GMC).
If we silence voices we don't agree with, we're doing the work of extremists for them
If there has been a bright red thread running through my career, it's the importance of freedom of speech. It underpinned my life as a journalist and correspondent, became central to the campaign to get me out of prison in Egypt and, perhaps paradoxically, it is why I have reluctantly withdrawn from this year's Adelaide writers' week.
Israel must allow independent investigations of Palestinian journalist killings
The New York-based media freedom organisation, the Committee to Protect Journalists, is scrupulous with its words. So, when the organisation described the killing of six Palestinian journalists in an Israeli air strike as “murder”, the word was a carefully considered choice. The CPJ defines “murder” as the “deliberate killing of journalists for their work”. Why were the journalists targeted?
Israel Must Allow Independent Investigations into Palestinian Journalist Killings
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Israel Must Allow Independent Investigations Of Palestinian Journalist Killings - And Let International Media Into Gaza
The New York-based media freedom organisation, the Committee to Protect Journalists, is scrupulous with its words. So, when the organisation described the killing of six Palestinian journalists in an Israeli air strike as “murder”, the word was a carefully considered choice. The CPJ defines “murder” as the “deliberate killing of journalists for their work”. Why were the journalists targeted?
Israel must allow independent investigations of Palestinian journalist killings - and let international media into Gaza
The New York-based media freedom organisation, the Committee to Protect Journalists, is scrupulous with its words. So, when the organisation described the killing of six Palestinian journalists in an Israeli air strike as “murder”, the word was a carefully considered choice. The CPJ defines “murder” as the “deliberate killing of journalists for their work”. Why were the journalists targeted? Israeli authorities said they were… Read complete article © The Conversation -
Israel must allow independent investigations of Palestinian journalist killings - and let international media into Gaza
The New York-based media freedom organisation, the Committee to Protect Journalists, is scrupulous with its words. So, when the organisation described the killing of six Palestinian journalists in an Israeli air strike as “murder”, the word was a carefully considered choice. The CPJ defines “murder” as the “deliberate killing of journalists for their work”. Why were the journalists targeted?
Viewpoint: Attacks on reporters reveal press freedom threat in Trump's America
The video of a Los Angeles police officer shooting a rubber bullet at Channel Nine reporter Lauren Tomasi is as shocking as it is revealing. In her live broadcast, Tomasi is standing to the side of a rank of police in riot gear. She describes the way they have begun firing rubber bullets to disperse protesters angry with US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants.
In Trump’s America, the shooting of a journalist is not a one-off. Press freedom itself is under attack
The video of a Los Angeles police officer shooting a rubber bullet at Channel Nine reporter Lauren Tomasi is as shocking as it is revealing. In her live broadcast, Tomasi is standing to the side of a rank of police in riot gear. She describes the way they have begun firing rubber bullets to disperse protesters angry with US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants.
Shooting journalists in Trump's America
The video of a Los Angeles police officer shooting a rubber bullet at Channel Nine reporter Lauren Tomasi is as shocking as it is revealing. In her live broadcast, Tomasi is standing to the side of a rank of police in riot gear. She describes the way they have begun firing rubber bullets to disperse protesters angry with US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants.
In Trump’s America, the shooting of a journalist is not a one-off. Press freedom itself is under attack
The video of a Los Angeles police officer shooting a rubber bullet at Channel Nine reporter Lauren Tomasi is as shocking as it is revealing. In her live broadcast, Tomasi is standing to the side of a rank of police in riot gear. She describes the way they have begun firing rubber bullets to disperse protesters angry with US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants.
In Trump’s America, the shooting of a journalist is not a one-off. Press freedom itself is under attack
© 2025 Tolerance.ca ® Inc. All reproduction rights reserved. All information reproduced on the Web pages of www.tolerance.ca (including articles, images, photographs, and logos) is protected by intellectual property rights owned by Tolerance.ca ® Inc. or, in certain cases, by its author. Any reproduction of the information for use other than personal use is prohibited.
Israel now ranks among the worlds leading jailers of journalists. We dont know why theyre behind bars
Israel has emerged as one of the worlds leading jailers of journalists, according to anewly released census compiled by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. Each year, the committee releases a snapshot of the number of journalists behind bars as of December 1 2023 was the second highest on record with 320 in detention around the world. In a small way, that is encouraging news. The figure is down from a high of 363 the previous year.
A hunger strike to force the release of my friend Alaa Abd el-Fattah – it’s the ultimate weapon of the powerless
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A hunger strike to force the release of my friend Alaa Abd el-Fattah – it’s the ultimate weapon of the powerless
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The government agrees Australia’s secrecy laws need to change. Now comes the hard part - taking action
By Peter Greste Earlier this year, the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor (INSLM), Jake Blight, compared the sheer volume of Australia’s secrecy laws to works of literature. “You’d be looking at about 3,000-plus pages. That’s about the same as the complete works of William Shakespeare, War and Peace, and the three volumes of the Lord of the Rings – added together,” he told the ABC. Of course, secrecy laws are necessary in an increasingly dangerous world.
The government agrees Australia’s secrecy laws need to change. Now comes the hard part - taking action
By Peter Greste, Professor of Journalism and Communications, Macquarie University Earlier this year, the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor (INSLM), Jake Blight, compared the sheer volume of Australia’s secrecy laws to works of literature. “You’d be looking at about 3,000-plus pages. That’s about the same as the complete works of William Shakespeare, War and Peace, and the three volumes of the Lord of the Rings – added together,” he told the ABC.
The government agrees Australia’s secrecy laws need to change. Now comes the hard part - taking action
Earlier this year, the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor (INSLM), Jake Blight, compared the sheer volume of Australia’s secrecy laws to works of literature. “You’d be looking at about 3,000-plus pages. That’s about the same as the complete works of William Shakespeare, War and Peace, and the three volumes of the Lord of the Rings – added together,” he told the ABC. Of course, secrecy laws are necessary in an increasingly dangerous world.
The government agrees Australia’s secrecy laws need to change. Now comes the hard part - taking action
Earlier this year, the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor (INSLM), Jake Blight, compared[1] the sheer volume of Australia’s secrecy laws to works of literature. “You’d be looking at about 3,000-plus pages. That’s about the same as the complete works of William Shakespeare, War and Peace, and the three volumes of the Lord of the Rings – added together,” he told the ABC. Of course, secrecy laws are necessary in an increasingly dangerous world.
Turkish-Egyptian doctor faces deportation from Morocco to Egypt
A Turkish-Egyptian dual citizen who is facing a life sentence in Egypt for his political activity was detained upon arrival in Morocco and is set to be deported. Dr Abdelbaset Abdallah Mohamed al-Imam, 62, was detained and interrogated by Moroccan security officials after landing in Casablanca airport on 3 November, his family told Middle East Eye. After receiving an initial message from him which read "pray for me", Imam's family lost contact with him for 14 hours.
Egypt 'forcibly disappeared' five family members six months ago
Five members of the same family have been forcibly disappeared for six months by Egyptian security forces, rights groups say. According to the Egyptian Network for Human Rights (ENHR) and the Stop Enforced Disappearances campaign, Nasser Abdel Moneim Abdel Naseem and four of his family members, including his wife and daughter, have been missing since being arbitrarily detained in Cairo and Alexandria in May. The groups have demanded that the authorities reveal their whereabouts.
Egyptian security forces arrest economist Abdel Khaleq Farouk
Egyptian security forces have detained prominent economist and journalist Abdel Khaleq Farouk, the Egyptian Network for Human Rights said. Farouk, 67, was arrested on Sunday evening and taken to an unknown location. According to a statement by his wife, the economist was denied his medication, and his family were not informed of the reasons for his arrest. His electronic devices and other personal belongings were also confiscated by the authorities.
UK: Civil servant who resigned formerly assessed arms sales legality at Foreign Office
Mark Smith said he had been the lead author of the central assessment governing the legality of UK arms sales to the Middle East British Foreign Secretary David Lammy (AFP) 18 August 2024 22:37 BST ago The British civil servant who resigned over concerns that the government is complicit in Israeli war crimes in Gaza has said he was formerly the lead author of the central assessment governing the legality of UK arms sales in the Foreign Office's Middle East and North Africa Directorate.
Pro-Palestine student groups across the UK form network after encampments
A coalition of 15 student organisations across the UK has launched a new network aimed at challenging the complicity of universities in Israel's war on Gaza. The Student Federation for a Liberated Palestine (SFLP), launched on Friday, consists of pro-Palestinian societies and groups from universities nationwide, many of which organised student encampments in April and May.
Alaa Abd el-Fattah: UK government must act to free citizen jailed in Egypt
Human rights, the rule of law, freedom of speech, democracy, and the protection of British citizens abroad are all principles that the UK government has firmly, noisily - and rightly - advocated for. Why, then, is Alaa Abd el-Fattah - a British citizen - still rotting in an Egyptian cell? Abd el-Fattah is perhaps Egypt's most famous political prisoner.
The US-Russia prisoner swap shows how journalists risk being bargaining chips
By Peter Greste The photo of returning prisoners in an American plane, all grinning from ear to ear, says it all: the joy, the relief and the success of an incredibly complicated mission. The freeing of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Radio Free Europe journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, former US Marine Paul Whelan and a host of others is the biggest prisoner exchange since the end of the Cold War.
"Destroy The Regime, Save The Nation": A Call To Rebuild The Russian Opposition
The Russian opposition is in a serious crisis - organizational and semantic, a crisis of identity and a crisis of humanity. I would show statistics proving this, but there are none. I have only personal impressions and oral testimonies from hundreds of pro-democracy and anti-war activists and ordinary Russians with whom I have interacted and observed on a daily basis during the last two-plus years since the invasion of Ukraine..
U.S.-Russia Prisoner Swap: Why The "Journalist Premium" Carries A Geopolitical Price
Geopolitics Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter Evan Gershkovich, charged with espionage appears for a hearing at the Sverdlovsk Regional Court in June 2024. Geopolitics Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter Evan Gershkovich, charged with espionage appears for a hearing at the Sverdlovsk Regional Court in June 2024. You've reached your limit of free articles. To read the full story, start your free trial today. Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.
The US-Russia prisoner swap shows how journalists risk being used as geopolitical bargaining chips
The photo of returning prisoners in an American plane, all grinning from ear to ear, says it all: the joy, the relief and the success of an incredibly complicated mission. The freeing of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Radio Free Europe journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, former US Marine Paul Whelan and a host of others is the biggest prisoner exchange since the end of the Cold War.
The US-Russia prisoner swap shows how journalists risk being used as geopolitical bargaining chips
Written by Peter Greste, Professor of Journalism and Communications, Macquarie University The photo of returning prisoners in an American plane, all grinning from ear to ear, says it all: the joy, the relief and the success of an incredibly complicated mission. The freeing of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Radio Free Europe journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, former US Marine Paul Whelan and a host of others is the biggest prisoner exchange[1] since the end of the Cold War.
The US-Russia prisoner swap shows how journalists risk being used as geopolitical bargaining chips
© 2024 Tolerance.ca ® Inc. All reproduction rights reserved. All information reproduced on the Web pages of www.tolerance.ca (including articles, images, photographs, and logos) is protected by intellectual property rights owned by Tolerance.ca ® Inc. or, in certain cases, by its author. Any reproduction of the information for use other than personal use is prohibited.
MEDIA: ASSANGE’S VICTORY, BUT WITH A CAVEAT
Julian Assange is out of prison, after agreeing to plead guilty to violating the US Espionage Act. [At the time of this writing,] he is expected to be freed after appearing in a US courtroom on the Northern Mariana Islands. It is worth pausing for a moment to consider all that Assange has been through, and to pop a bottle of champagne to celebrate his release.
Assange is out of jail, but chilling effect on press freedom remains
Julian Assange is out of prison, after agreeing to plead guilty to violating the US Espionage Act. He is expected to be freed after appearing in a US courtroom on the Northern Mariana Islands on Wednesday. It is worth pausing for a moment to consider all that Assange has been through, and to pop a bottle of champagne to celebrate his release. He spent 1901 days in a small cell in Britain’s notorious Belmarsh Prison and, to WikiLeaks, was “isolated 23 hours a day”.
My Own Prison Ordeal Gave Me a Taste of What Assange May Be Feeling
Julian Assange is out of prison, after agreeing to plead guilty to violating the US Espionage Act. He is expected to be freed after appearing in a US courtroom on the Northern Mariana Islands this week. It is worth pausing for a moment to consider all that Assange has been through, and to pop a bottle of champagne to celebrate his release. He spent 1,901 days in a small cell in Britain’s notorious Belmarsh Prison and, to WikiLeaks, was “isolated 23 hours a day”.
The Persecution Of Julian Assange Leaves Lasting Damage To Press Freedom
It is worth pausing for a moment to consider all that Assange has been through, and to pop a bottle of champagne to celebrate his release. He spent 1,901 days in a small cell in Britain’s notorious Belmarsh Prison and, to WikiLeaks, was “isolated 23 hours a day”. I know – from first-hand experience – what imprisonment feels like. Make no mistake.
Peter Greste on the latest blow against whistleblowers
7am is a daily news podcast brought to you by Schwartz Media and The Saturday Paper. How to listen? Website Macquarie University professor of journalism and whistleblower advocate Peter Greste on why the government talks big on open democracy, but hasn’t acted to fix the system. There’s been another strike against whistleblowing. Richard Boyle was a tax office employee when he raised concerns internally about a scheme to garnish overdue taxes directly from people’s bank accounts.
David McBride goes to prison - and Australian democracy takes a hit
Governments and their agencies wield awesome power. At times, it is quite literally the power over life and death. That is why in any functioning democracy, we have robust checks and balances designed to make sure power is exercised responsibly and with restraint. So, what message does a sentence of more than five years in prison for someone who exposed credible allegations of war crimes by Australian soldiers send?
David McBride goes to prison - and Australian democracy takes a hit
Governments and their agencies wield awesome power. At times, it is quite literally the power over life and death. That is why in any functioning democracy, we have robust checks and balances designed to make sure power is exercised responsibly and with restraint. So, what message does a sentence of more than five years in prison for someone who exposed credible allegations of war crimes by Australian soldiers send?
Killing journalists cannot kill the truth
The dead include two Israeli journalists killed in Hamas’s initial attack on October 7 last year, and three Lebanese killed in an Israeli artillery strike in south Lebanon. But the vast majority – more than 90 – are Palestinians killed in Gaza itself. Some of those were the inevitable ‘collateral damage’ of a conflict that the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says has already claimed more than 34,000 lives, caught in crossfire because they were working close to active fighting.
Gaza is the worst of it, but across the world, journalism is under unprecedented assault.
As I write, the grim count of journalists killed in Gaza since last October has reached 97. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) puts the number slightly higher at 108. In the first 50 days of the conflict, journalists were being killed at a rate of roughly one per day, making Gaza indisputably the most dangerous conflict for journalists since the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) began keeping records in 1992. By the time you read this, the toll is likely to have climbed even higher.
Israel’s threat to ban Al Jazeera exposes its illiberalism
Earlier this week, the Israeli Knesset approved a bill — 70 in favour, 10 against — to ban foreign media in Israel if they pose a threat to the country’s security. The law did not single out any specific news organisation, so it could in theory include the likes of the BBC and CNN. But almost immediately, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear who the intended target was with a message on X, declaring, “The terrorist channel Al Jazeera will no longer broadcast from Israel.
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