David Heslin

Weaponising words: How propaganda shapes Gaza narratives An article in The Nightly highlights the dangerous power of language in framing Gaza, showing how media narratives can shift blame, obscure atrocities and influence public sentiment.

An article in The Nightly highlights the dangerous power of language in framing Gaza, showing how media narratives can shift blame, obscure atrocities and influence public sentiment.

Weaponising words: How propaganda shapes Gaza narratives
~ David Heslin

independentaustralia.net/politics/pol...

Also, recipient of an (all-expenses-paid?) junket to Israel a few years back. archive.is/oehVv

Says a lot about the state of our corporate media industry that people like this can rise to the top.

Gazans celebrate a public execution like a sporting match AARON PATRICK: The ceasefire in Gaza has left Hamas free to hunt down and murder its opponents.

Aaron Patrick wasn't on my radar before, but his latest contribution to the discourse is this piece of propaganda blaming recent executions carried out by Hamas on Western protesters. It's one of the more disgusting things I've ever read, from the headline on down: thenightly.com.au/world/middle...

Hard to pick out the worst passage in this, but this paragraph massaging a well-documented pattern of assassinations into a mere allegation by a ”New York-based” nonprofit, balanced by the IDF’s unverified claim that they were “Hamas sympathisers“ (as if that makes it ok), is particularly vile.

Gazans celebrate a public execution like a sporting match AARON PATRICK: The ceasefire in Gaza has left Hamas free to hunt down and murder its opponents.

I can’t believe propagandists like this senior writer from the Australian Financial Review and @thenightly.bsky.social are seriously trying to pull a “you got what you wanted, happy now?” about violence in a territory that is still under siege and occupation.
thenightly.com.au/world/middle...

Yeah it’s not exactly a secret (and suffice to say that Skarsgård, born in 1951, is not reporting firsthand)

The critical-thinking skills are developed during the process of researching and developing an argument. I’m not sure how else people think that’s supposed to happen – do we just trust that teens will only ever hear about positive ideas and independently conclude that they’re right?

Yeah but I think the process is far more important than the destination. It’s not like the “winner” of this debate decides the issue in observers’ (or participants’) minds; ideally, they’ve heard both sides and can come to their own view.

What’s the alternative to this, in principle? Suppression?

Sadly, this seems to be a common view nowadays, and I think a key reason the right keeps gaining power. One of the best defences against Trump and politicians like him is teaching critical-thinking skills. If that intellectual training doesn’t happen at high school level, then we’ve already lost.

"I should have seen this coming," writes a man who is fundamentally incapable of seeing anything coming

On a more personal "WTF Albo" note, buying a new $4.3 mil home at a time when his government isn't doing anything meaningful to help the actual housing crisis reflects on his character. I also felt he bungled the Voice referendum from the outset and had no idea what to do once the polling shifted.

oh and the Stage 3 tax cuts ofc!

Explainer: Labor's brutal Deportation and Surveillance Bill | Human Rights Law Centre The Human Rights Law Centre’s explainer on the Albanese Government’s brutal laws to deport and punish refugees and people seeking asylum after the High Court of Australia ruled that ankle bracelets an...

I don't, but here are a few things to add to the list:

• www.hrlc.org.au/reports-news...
• www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
• www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
• pushing through their watered-down housing bill that did nothing to fix the problem

Rolling Down That Hill: Robert Bresson’s Four Nights of a Dreamer – Senses of Cinema

Here’s a new Cteq annotation I’ve written on Robert Bresson’s Four Nights of a Dreamer for @sensesofcinema.bsky.social

My top ten films of 2024, for the @sensesofcinema.bsky.social World Poll. You can read everyone's entries here starting from here: www.sensesofcinema.com/2025/world-p...

Can we get verified blue checkmarks added to this site so I don't look like a fucking loser nobody whenever i post please. Thank you.

Well at least he did one good thing

My plan (as a proud long-time Twitter h8r from the before times) is to wait until everyone has jumped off there and then lead the resistance out of the ashes

I remain undecided as to whether I really want to be here tbh. Still convinced Elon Musk did us all a huge favour by ruining Twitter.

I kept forgetting to sign up! We are not so different, you and I …

So excited to be given the chance to start afresh on a social media platform where I haven’t left behind a litany of embarrassing and career-jeopardising posts. Have a good feeling everything’s going to be different this time around!