“Exposing the Spin: Holding Media Accountable for Fair and Accurate Reporting”
- The Mercury corrected the photograph. What about the story?Women Speak Tasmania initiated the petition at the centre of the controversy. Yet the Mercury reported on the campaign without contacting the organisation — a recurring omission that raises questions about how women’s rights advocacy is represented. On 13 October… Read more: The Mercury corrected the photograph. What about the story?
- What the ABC Left Out of Its Binder StoryThe ABC has reported on new Australian research examining whether wearing a breast binder affects exercise performance. The subject is important. So is the physical safety of a practice involving prolonged compression of the chest. But the way the ABC… Read more: What the ABC Left Out of Its Binder Story
- ABC Reporting on ‘Anti-Trans’ Content: When Framing Goes Beyond the EvidenceThe ABC has reported on a University of Melbourne study claiming a link between exposure to “anti-trans” content and mental health harms among transgender people. The subject is important. But so is the standard of evidence, particularly when a national… Read more: ABC Reporting on ‘Anti-Trans’ Content: When Framing Goes Beyond the Evidence
- How Tasmania’s Major Newspaper Frames Women’s RightsOn 20 May 2026, Tasmania’s major newspaper published an article that raises serious concerns about fair and accurate reporting on one of the most contested public issues in the state. Journalist David Killick opened his article in The Mercury with… Read more: How Tasmania’s Major Newspaper Frames Women’s Rights
- ABC Hobart Breakfast: One-Sided Interview on Anti-Discrimination Law ReformRecently, the important public debate about reforming Tasmania’s Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 to add biological sex as a protected attribute reached Tasmania Parliament and then mainstream media. Women Speak Tasmania has been campaigning for this change to better protect single-sex spaces,… Read more: ABC Hobart Breakfast: One-Sided Interview on Anti-Discrimination Law Reform
- ABC Northern Tasmania’s Rec Hub Interview: Was the Debate Really Explored?On 28 April, ABC Northern Tasmania Breakfast aired a segment on the new all-gender toilets and change facilities at Launceston’s Northern Recreation Hub in Mowbray. The issue was introduced as controversial, with listeners’ concerns about privacy, safety, hygiene, and female-only… Read more: ABC Northern Tasmania’s Rec Hub Interview: Was the Debate Really Explored?
- Editorial Activism and the Loss of Public TrustLocal newspapers once played a vital role in Tasmanian communities. They were not simply businesses or platforms for headlines — they were forums where ordinary people could debate local issues, raise concerns, respond to public decisions, and feel connected to… Read more: Editorial Activism and the Loss of Public Trust
- Women Speak Tasmania’s Experience with Media Framing in Our Discrimination CaseAt Women Speak Tasmania, we are committed to advocating for the sex-based rights, safety, and dignity of women and girls, while also emphasizing the importance of child safeguarding and parental involvement in critical matters affecting young people. Our work often… Read more: Women Speak Tasmania’s Experience with Media Framing in Our Discrimination Case
- Another Case of Bias? Ryk Goddard, Rodney Croome, and the Silencing of Medical VoicesOn 20 June 2025, ABC Radio Hobart’s Breakfast host Ryk Goddard once again left listeners questioning the impartiality of our national broadcaster. The issue at hand was the Australian Doctors Federation’s Open Letter, co-signed by more than 100 health professionals,… Read more: Another Case of Bias? Ryk Goddard, Rodney Croome, and the Silencing of Medical Voices
- The Advocate Again Misrepresents Women Speak TasmaniaWomen Speak Tasmania (WST) is once again the target of biased coverage in The Advocate, this time in relation to our rescheduled forum at the Devonport RSL. The April 11 article, titled “Controversial group sets sight on another venue in… Read more: The Advocate Again Misrepresents Women Speak Tasmania
- The Advocate’s Bias Against Women Speak TasmaniaWhen Women Speak Tasmania’s planned North West forums were cancelled by Devonport Library and The Hive, we expected local media to report fairly. Instead, The Advocate chose to frame us through a biased lens — echoing activist talking points and… Read more: The Advocate’s Bias Against Women Speak Tasmania
- When Women’s Voices Are Silenced in the Name of “Inclusion”On 16 June 2024, ABC Radio Hobart’s Breakfast with Ryk Goddard featured an interview with Equality Tasmania’s Rodney Croome about Launceston City Council’s decision to develop an LGBTQAI+ inclusion plan. The conversation quickly turned to a deeper and more troubling… Read more: When Women’s Voices Are Silenced in the Name of “Inclusion”
- ABC Hobart’s Leon Compton Crosses the Line: An Interview with Louise ElliotOn 21 February 2024, Independent Candidate for Clark and Hobart City Councillor Louise Elliot appeared on ABC Radio Hobart’s Mornings program, hosted by Leon Compton. What should have been an opportunity for voters to hear about Elliot’s vision and election… Read more: ABC Hobart’s Leon Compton Crosses the Line: An Interview with Louise Elliot
- When Journalists Silence Debate: Leon Compton Saying NO Debate on the DrumOn 9 June 2023, ABC journalist Leon Compton appeared on The Drum and made an extraordinary admission. He questioned whether dissenting views should be aired at all: “As a journalist it’s sometimes hard because you want to air a balance… Read more: When Journalists Silence Debate: Leon Compton Saying NO Debate on the Drum
- The Media’s Campaign Against Media Freedom and Free Speech in Tasmania – Let Women SpeakThis speech, delivered by Isla MacGregor at the Let Women Speak rally on the Parliament House lawns in Hobart in March 2023, outlines her concerns about media coverage, public institutions, and gender-identity policy debates in Tasmania. She argues that journalists… Read more: The Media’s Campaign Against Media Freedom and Free Speech in Tasmania – Let Women Speak
- When Journalism Becomes Advocacy: Ryk Goddard’s Bias on ABC HobartPublic trust in journalism depends on balance, fairness, and a willingness to present all sides of the story. Unfortunately, ABC Hobart’s Breakfast presenter Ryk Goddard has repeatedly failed to meet these standards, particularly on sensitive issues such as women’s rights,… Read more: When Journalism Becomes Advocacy: Ryk Goddard’s Bias on ABC Hobart
- Media Accountability: When the ABC Sidelines Critical Voices in the Gender Identity DebateIn our ongoing efforts to ensure meaningful and evidence-based public discourse, and to express our disappointment with the inadequate and unsatisfactory response we received from ABC Hobart Manager, Marcus Cheek, Isla MacGregor recently wrote to Fiona Cameron—ABC Tasmania’s Ombudsman—expressing deep… Read more: Media Accountability: When the ABC Sidelines Critical Voices in the Gender Identity Debate
- Media Failure: ABC’s Oversight on Tavistock Closure & the Gender DebateIn August 2022, ABC’s Media Watch, hosted by Paul Barry, took the extraordinary step of criticising its own broadcaster for failing to report on the closure of the Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service—the UK’s central clinic serving transgender youth. Despite… Read more: Media Failure: ABC’s Oversight on Tavistock Closure & the Gender Debate
- The Mercury’s One-Sided Report on Gender Identity ForumWomen Speak Tasmania’s official complaint noted that the article misrepresented the forum’s organisers—it was incorrectly portrayed as an “anti-trans” event. It was also organised by the Coalition for Biological Reality, not Women Speak Tasmania. The public forum was titled: “Gender… Read more: The Mercury’s One-Sided Report on Gender Identity Forum
- ABC Hobart Mornings on Tasmania’s Self-ID Launch Day: A Critique of Media FramingOn 5 September 2019, the day Tasmania’s self-identification laws came into effect, ABC Radio Hobart’s Mornings program featured an interview between host Leon Compton and Roen Meijers, one of the first four people to amend their birth certificate. The discussion… Read more: ABC Hobart Mornings on Tasmania’s Self-ID Launch Day: A Critique of Media Framing
- The Debate Over Gender Optional Birth CertificatesSBS The Feed recently examined Tasmania’s recently enacted self-identification laws and the debate surrounding them. Women Speak Tasmania participated in the discussion to raise concerns about the impact of these reforms on women’s rights, sex-based protections and single-sex spaces. On… Read more: The Debate Over Gender Optional Birth Certificates