For the final Fifth Estate of 2018 – and in the wake of the Victorian election and its recriminations – we look back at the year in Australian politics with series host Sally Warhaft and seasoned political observers George Megalogenis and Gabrielle Chan.

Our panellists unpack and reflect on the issues that have monopolised domestic headlines – from yet another leadership spill to the banking royal commission and the senate’s controversial ‘It’s OK to be white’ vote. They examine the major events that have attracted international attention, too: the suggested relocation of the Australian embassy in Israel, live animal export bans and damning reports of Resignation Syndrome in children on Nauru.

Of course, the year isn’t over just yet. Mark Latham has joined One Nation, the ScoMo Express has been out campaigning, and the NSW Labor party is grappling with a sexual harassment scandal ahead of the 2019 election. Join us as we examine the wild ride that was – is – 2018 in Australia … and ponder what may lie ahead in an election year.

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How is journalism changing when it comes to reporting on crimes against women? Why do some crimes, and some victims, get more press than others? And how does media coverage affect police investigations and the pursuit of justice in specific criminal cases?

For this Fifth Estate conversation, Sally Warhaft is joined by former Victoria Police chief commissioner Christine Nixon and veteran crime journalist Andrew Rule to discuss prejudice and perception in media and police work.

How does public scrutiny help and hinder the police? How are media standards, and public standards, changing? What works, and what doesn’t, in solving and preventing, these kinds of crimes?

Sally Warhaft and David Neiwert — Photo: Sophie Quick

At Melbourne Writers Festival, journalist, author and acknowledged expert in American right-wing extremism David Neiwert speaks with Sally Warhaft about journalism, media and politics in the context of the alt-right in Trump’s America.

Sally Warhaft and Katharine Murphy at The Fifth Estate

‘Conflict is not a new commodity in news,’ Katharine Murphy has written. ‘ … But media disruption has intensified the conflict cycle, compressing it into smaller, louder, intraday bursts, and those constant interruptions have a material impact on political decision-making, both here and around the world.’

As the Guardian Australia’s political editor, and a veteran of the press gallery in Canberra, Murphy has viewed the decline of traditional media, and its impact on political processes, from a ringside seat. In her On Disruption essay, Murphy maps the ways in which media disruption has affected Australian politics and policy – for better and for worse. In the 20 or so years since the advent of online news, which radical changes do we already take for granted? And in a knee-jerk media environment, how can we develop sound, long-term policies that protect the interests of future generations?

At the Wheeler Centre, Murphy joins host Sally Warhaft as they discuss how politicians, journalists and citizens are learning to navigate the changing new media world order.