Piracy & propaganda: Israel ILLEGALLY intercepts the Global Sumud Flotilla
We recorded this episode in the knowledge that Israel's planned illegal interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla was imminent. Overnight, the abduction of its passengers begun, and at time of upload, it is still ongoing.
Israeli military vessels attacked the humanitarian boats with water canons, before boarding vessels and capturing passengers. Captives are expected to be taken to Ketziot prison in the Negev desert.
This was a forcible prevention of the flotilla's lawful aim to carry aid to Gaza as it endures a manmade famine and genocide. Under maritime law, it was an act of piracy. It was also enabled by international news media.
Here's how.
The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)
The music is by @soundofsamfire
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Tackling media misogyny: Cheer Up Luv and This Ends Now
Whether it's the Reform Party weaponising women's safety, Donald Trump diminishing domestic abuse, or worrying stats about girls' safety in schools, you don't have to look far to see that discrimination against women still exists - and is often aided by lazy, misleading, or misinformed reporting.
What can we do about this?
This week, Media Storm showcases the people and platforms working to end gender-based violence, buy calling out and correcting misogyny in the media.
First up: an in-depth interview with Eliza Hatch. She’s the founder of Cheer Up Luv, the UK-based platform dedicated to ending gender-based violence, discrimination and bias through education, art and storytelling. Helena and Eliza chat about working in the VAWG sector, bringing men into the conversation, and the crucial point headlines are missing when they talk about young men "falling behind" women in education and academia.
And after the break: hear about This Ends Now's new campaign, Take It As Read, which will help us all to challenge misogynistic and victim blaming language around male violence against women and girls.
Interested in this topic? Listen to Media Storm's episodes on domestic abuse reporting, rape justice, and why 'violence against women' is a man's problem.
The episode is hosted and produced by Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)
The music is by @soundofsamfire
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News Watch: The UK's radicalised right, Charlie Kirk trans conspiracy, Gaza war is a genocide
It's time for another News Watch, helping you get your head around the headlines.
This week we start by looking at Trump’s new Caribbean front in the ‘war on terror’, and rising authoritarian usage of “anti-terror” laws in the West.
Helena reflects on the unreported stories from a weekend of nationalist protests in the UK: people of colour trapped inside their houses. 100,000 people joined the march, which was led by far-right Tommy Robinson and riddled with racist violence. We consider the root causes of rapidly rising radicalism in the UK, and the lessons that populist press and politicians are all-too-slow to learn.
To listen to our episode 'Radical thinking: How to fight the far-right', click here.
Next - Charlie Kirk was an American right-wing political activist who campaigned against gun controls, before he was shot and killed in yet another political assassination in the US. His shooting gave rise to many conspiracy theories, but the one peddled across mainstream media was that the suspect was motivated by “transgender ideology”. Here’s everything wrong with that.
Finally, we turn to Gaza, where genocide has just been declared by a UN commission. The expert panel examined actions and statements made publicly by Israeli leaders and soldiers, and concluded that genocidal intent is “the only reasonable inference”. So why haven’t most Western media reached the same conclusion?
The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)
The music is by @soundofsamfire
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Reporting from the Global Sumud Flotilla: A people’s movement
This week, co-host Mathilda brings you a report from Tunisia, just before she sets sail on the Global Sumud Flotilla.
Ordinary people have made extraordinary sacrifices to make the journey toward Gaza, and establish a humanitarian corridor to get much needed aid into Palestine. Some people have left young children behind, others have risked their livelihoods to make the journey possible. But they stand firm in the belief that humanity and solidarity are their most important values.
Media Storm brings you the voices missing from the mainstream: activists from the Global South, and ordinary civilians who believe there is nothing more important than solidarity with Gaza right now. We also hear from Greta Thunberg, and grandson of Nelson Mandela, Mandla Mandela.
The episode is hosted by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and edited by Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)
The music is by @soundofsamfire
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News Watch: Reform’s migrant lies, Global Sumud Flotilla sets sail, and is Rylan racist?
Media Storm is back! And it's time for another News Watch, helping you get your head around the headlines.
This week saw the 10 year anniversary of the death of Alan Kurdi, the four-year-old refugee child who died attempting to flee the Syrian war along with his family. A photo of his tiny body washed up on the beach came to symbolise the global refugee crisis as a tragedy of humanity. But 10 years later, have we lost our compassion again?
As the Reform party dominates political discourse, its players stir up anti-migrant sentiment, and the press helps to pump up misinformation, the far-right are weaponising feminism and women’s safety, to further their anti-immigration agenda… again. We say: not in our name.
And beloved TV presenter Rylan rehashes far-right talking points on daytime television - we look at the most common immigration myths and why they're spreading so easily in the media.
And as Mathilda prepares to set sail covering the actions of the Global Sumud Flotilla, we go behind the scenes of the biggest civilian fleet yet fighting to get humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)
The music is by @soundofsamfire
Follow us on Instagram, Bluesky, and TikTok
Support us on Patreon!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The multi award-winning investigative and current affairs podcast: this is news that starts with the people who are normally asked last.
Media Storm is an essential guide to today’s chaotic clickbait climate. Every week, journalists Mathilda Mallinson and Helena Wadia storm through the headlines, and seeking out the voices of the most important (and most overlooked) people in the story: the ones living it.
From ‘illegal immigrants’ to sex workers, strikers to prisoners, indigenous groups to trans people, many communities caught in the eye of the media storm are denied a fair voice in the coverage around them. Media Storm restores ‘right of reply’ to underrepresented minorities and equips listeners to take the mainstream media with a pinch of salt.
It's your weekly current affairs round-up - but not as you know it. Featuring cross-platform comparisons, shrewd bullsh*t-radars, and finding the facts behind the fear-mongering, Media Storm is guaranteed to leave you with plenty to talk about.
Become a supporter: patreon.com/MediaStormPodcast
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