5 | The Making of One Nation: master the media

2026-04-29

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The media made Pauline Hanson and One Nation, but now the party holds all the power.It’s a perfect storm for democracy: a shrinking and cowering traditional media, the toxic algorithms of the unmoderated social media cess pit and the warped reality of generative AI.But why is the party that once led the charge in the new internet age seemingly so restrained in weaponising AI?In the fifth instalment of The Making of One Nation, we speak to Kurt Sengul, a political scientist at Macquarie University who has r...

The media made Pauline Hanson and One Nation, but now the party holds all the power.

It’s a perfect storm for democracy: a shrinking and cowering traditional media, the toxic algorithms of the unmoderated social media cess pit and the warped reality of generative AI.

But why is the party that once led the charge in the new internet age seemingly so restrained in weaponising AI?

In the fifth instalment of The Making of One Nation, we speak to Kurt Sengul, a political scientist at Macquarie University who has researched the nexus between the media and the rise of far-right populism.

This episode was written and hosted by Ashlynne McGhee and produced and edited by Isabella Podwinski. Sound design by Michelle Macklem. Misha Ketchel is the editor of The Conversation Australia.

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