Lamestream
Lamestream is an independent Australian media outlet — podcast, YouTube show, and newsletter — launched in April 2025 by journalists Osman Faruqi and Scott Mitchell. It positions itself against the outlets it takes its name from ("lamestream" as a pejorative for legacy media), reporting on the state of Australian journalism itself rather than on politics directly.
Like Constitutional Clarion, it is a small, personality-led operation rather than a formal institution — included here on the same basis: DOD's interest is in the accountability work being done, not the size of the entity doing it. A functioning Fourth Estate is itself a democratic accountability mechanism, and outlets that report on whether that mechanism is working belong in the same landscape as outlets that report on constitutional or electoral mechanisms.
What it covers
Per its own launch press release, the show was pitched around questions like "What does collapsing trust in legacy media mean for Australian society? Why has the ABC abandoned everyone under 60?" and the global rise of Trumpism and the far-right as it plays out in Australian media coverage.
- Inequality and the global rise of the far right — the channel's most-viewed video, "Gary Stevenson on Australian house prices, the rise of the far-right and why the media don't get it" (28 Sep 2025, 10,645 views; transcript supplied by a DOD contributor), interviews UK economist and YouTuber Gary Stevenson (Gary's Economics) on how growing wealth inequality — not immigration or culture-war framing alone — is the engine behind far-right electoral gains across the West, why house-price growth (Stevenson cites Australia's ~493% rise since 2000, against ~250% in the UK) transfers housing from the young to those who already own it, and why centrist and left-leaning parties and legacy outlets ceded the online media space to the far right rather than contesting it
- Ownership consolidation and political interference in Australian newsrooms
- Whether the ABC and commercial media are serving younger audiences
- Whether independent journalists and influencers can substitute for declining legacy journalism capacity
- Investigative reporting on Australian public figures and institutions — e.g. its Epstein Files exclusive on Jeffrey Epstein's advisory role to the Mongolian president, which also named former Australian PM Kevin Rudd as a fellow board member (Rudd denies meeting Epstein)
Links
- Website: lamestream.com.au
- YouTube: Lamestream
Sources
- Award-winning journalists Osman Faruqi and Scott Mitchell launch new podcast — podnews.net press release
- Why Did Epstein Want to be on the Mongolia Board? Greed, Weapons and Israel — lamestream.com.au
- "Gary Stevenson on Australian house prices, the rise of the far-right and why the media don't get it" — Lamestream, 28 Sep 2025 (transcript supplied by a DOD contributor)