The Listening Post

Brexit or Bremain? Covering the EU referendum

As Britain’s EU future hangs in the balance, are the media helping or hindering voters? And, Australia’s refugee policy.

On The Listening Post this week: As Britain’s EU future hangs in the balance, are the media helping or hindering voters? Plus, the challenges of covering the dark side of Australia’s refugee policy.

Brexit or Bremain? Covering the EU referendum story

As Britain prepares for a referendum on June 23 to decide on whether it should leave or remain in the European Union (EU), voters are facing an information – and opinion – overload from the country’s partisan press.

Talking us through the story are: Andrew Pierce, reporter at Daily Mail; Zoe Williams, columnist at The Guardian UK; Anand Menon, professor of Politics and Foreign Affairs at King’s College, London; Ian Burrell, Media Editor, The Drum.

On our radar

Buzzfeed pulls out of a $1.3m ad deal with the Republican National Committee over the Republican candidate Donald Trump.

ICIJ, the organisation behind some of the biggest financial stories, including the Panama Papers, is cutting jobs as it faces a financial crunch.

The coverage of a bomb blast in Istanbul by the Turkish press has exposed a growing rift between Turkey and Germany.

Offshore and off limits: Reporting Australia’s refugee policy

Australia’s offshore ‘processing centres’ for asylum seekers on the islands of Manus and Nauru are shrouded in secrecy and are completely off-limits to the media. That doesn’t mean news doesn’t trickle out, but the penalties for the whistleblowers feeding stories to journalists are stiff.

Talking us through the story are: Mark Davis, investigative reporter; Paul Farrell, reporter for The Guardian Australia; Paul Murphy, CEO Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance; Madeline Gleeson, refugee lawyer and author of Offshore: behind the wire on Manus and Nauru.