Academic and former ABC journalist and presenter Stan Grant has decried mainstream Australian media as 'part of the problem' in the spread of disinformation.
Speaking at CONVERGE, the annual conference of First Nations Media Australia, the Wiradjuri man called out some of the accepted principles of his former profession.
"We should not hide behind the lies of objectivity and neutrality," he told attendees in Canberra.
He also criticised the treatment of Indigenous journalists during the referendum, who he said were hounded for truth-telling.
"We were accused of being divisive and our claims were trivialised."
Grant contrasted this with the reception to the claim that colonisation had benefited Aboriginal people, which he said had been welcomed.
Formerly the host of the ABC's Q&A program, , following the firestorm over his comments during the King's coronation.
over his references to the negative effects of colonisation, and a lack of support from ABC management, as the motivation behind his departure.
After a decades-long career as a journalist, the events shook his faith in his chosen profession.
"The media took truth and yindyamarra and turned it into hate," he said.
"It remains a hostile environment [for those who want to tell the truth] ... it has put poison in the bloodstream of society."
'Almost in a post-truth era': Burney
The Minister for Indigenous Affairs Linda Burney also addressed the Canberra conference, which runs until Thursday.
Like Grant, she had criticisms to make of the media in the wake of the referendum's rejection.
"I think the media needs to look at themselves and look at how this issue was dealt with," she said.
"We are almost in a post-truth era and that is so crucial for media."
She also said there was a need for more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander journalists in the press gallery in Canberra.
"This is about lives, about change for our people, not just something interesting every second day for people [to watch]."
