Antoinette Lattouf on power, race, and refusing to stay silent

Journalist, author, and human rights advocate Antoinette Lattouf has spent decades pushing for change in Australia’s media landscape, and at great personal cost. In this first-ever episode of Uncommon Ground, she joins Talal for a raw and revealing conversation about growing up in a Christian Lebanese family in Western Sydney, and why she’s never been afraid to speak out even when it meant taking on some of the most powerful institutions in the country.

Antoinette recounts her journey from SBS and the ABC to co-founding Media Diversity Australia, challenging the performative allyship in newsrooms, and being wrongly terminated by the ABC over a post supporting Palestinian human rights. What followed was a public legal showdown that exposed internal bias and sparked a national reckoning about racism, censorship, and the limits of free speech.

The episode also explores Antoinette’s sense of identity, the assumptions others project onto her, and how she balances public advocacy with private life. She opens up about receiving violent threats, the mental toll of activism, and the moments that made her want to walk away. But ultimately, it’s her unwavering belief in truth, justice, and decency that has kept her standing.

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Episode Running Order
• Antoinette’s earliest memories and family history in Western Sydney (01:24)
• Growing up between cultures and confronting sectarian trauma (04:27)
• Challenging assumptions about identity and faith (09:47)
• The road to journalism and breaking barriers in Australian media (12:33)
• Founding Media Diversity Australia and exposing newsroom inequality (22:15)
• Getting fired by the ABC and fighting back in court (28:47)
• The fallout, media smear campaigns, and standing her ground (31:22)
• Coping with threats and navigating hate online (46:17)
• Reflections on power, allyship, and lasting change (51:02)
• What she’d tell her younger self and why she’d do it all again (54:16)

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