ABC Radio Melbourne’s breakfast host Red Symons shocked listeners by announcing live on air on Friday that he had been dumped from the job after 15 years. “News break,” Symons said. “This will be my last year doing this program on the ABC. Why am I going? They haven’t said and I haven’t asked. Other things have been offered here, but I think it’s better to make a clean break.”
It’s been a rocky year for the former Skyhooks band member. In June he was criticised for asking “what’s the deal with Asians?” in a combative, awkward interview with a fellow ABC broadcaster, Beverly Wang. Then he took two months off to recover from a brain injury after a fall. “I’ve spent five years in a band, and 10 in television and 15 on the radio,” he said. “Clearly whatever is next will keep me occupied for 20 years. I like to work. It gives life will and purpose.”
The ABC’s Melbourne local radio manager, Warwick Tiernan, said Symons, who starred in the hit variety show Hey Hey It’s Saturday on Nine, would be “hugely missed both on-air by his legion of fans and off-air by all his ABC colleagues”.
Here Ta Da, gone tomorrow
The Play School presenter, singer and actor Justine Clarke broke preschooler hearts across the country last month when she disappeared from TV screens without explanation. Clarke’s new ABC show, Ta Da!, was heavily promoted and scheduled to run at 5.50pm from Monday to Friday from 6 November on ABC Kids. But after just a few episodes it was pulled. Ta Da! took preschool children behind the scenes in the world of a theatre where Justine and her stage manager friend, Dash the dog, are getting ready to perform. The ABC told parents on Facebook and Twitter it was a “technical issue”. Weekly Beast asked ABC publicity what happened and they said the same thing: it was a “technical issue”. The iview links were taken down, social media and ABC website information disappeared. Considering this was a major commission for ABC Kids and it was funded by Screen Australia, we kept trying to find out what “technical” was code for.
The Justine Clarke Show is back! New episodes start next Monday 5.50pm 🎶🎭🎸 #JustineClarkeShow @_justineclarke_ pic.twitter.com/uO1wRBLITe
— ABC KIDS (@abckids) November 27, 2017
Eventually we found a Melbourne kids band with the name Ta Da! and figured it was a licensing problem. Did someone at Aunty forget to check the trademark? The ABC is not confirming but we think that’s what happened. The good news is the show is back on Monday. The ABC said: “The Justine Clarke Show has returned to ABC Kids with a brand new name. The program will return on Monday 4 Dec at 5.50pm. We appreciate your patience while we resolved this matter. We had some issues with the name which only became apparent after the show went to air.” Pro tip: check someone else hasn’t got your name before spending all the money on branding and promotion.
Board takes heat on Hottest 100
The communications minister, Mitch Fifield, was none too pleased with the ABC’s Triple J for its decision to rebrand the Hottest 100 as the Hottest 100 Weekend and stage it over the fourth weekend in January in 2018 and 2019, meaning it won’t fall on Australia Day. Almost 65,000 people voted in the station’s nationwide survey about whether it was appropriate to hold the countdown on a day that marks the beginning of British invasion and colonisation. Fifield has asked the ABC board to reverse the decision. But we don’t rate his chances. Weekly Beast understands the decision was not taken lightly and was referred by Triple J to the very top of the organisation, where it was considered by the board. It wasn’t a unanimous decision, but it was given the stamp of approval.
Fever pitch
The Conversation has dropped its roster of columnists after six years, telling the academics that they are the “most gifted writers and public communicators in the university sector” but they now have to pitch ideas to an editor to get published. “As previously advised, this morning columns on the Conversation Australia were archived,” the editor, Misha Ketchell, told them this week. “This means that people will still be able to read your columns, but future contributions will need to pitched to an editor and published as ‘analysis’ articles rather than using the old column format … We could not have grown to be such a success without you, and I hope you have also benefited from our editing and republishing network.” One columnist told Weekly Beast that the move gives management greater control over the content because now they can knock ideas back if they don’t feel they fit their agenda. Under the previous arrangement columnists could write what they liked. Ketchell told Weekly Beast the change was to remove the “complications that arise from treating some writers differently to others” as he explained the move in a blog post.
Foxtel’s Markle sparkles
Meghan Markle may have cancelled her role in the US legal drama Suits, in which she has played the lawyer Rachel Zane for seven seasons, but thanks to the upcoming royal wedding her TV show has never been more in demand. Foxtel’s Universal Channel is having a Suits marathon on 9 December. You can watch Markle’s final episodes when the new season premieres in January, express from the US. USA Network and Universal Cable Productions said in a joint statement: “Meghan has been a member of our family for seven years and it has been a joy to work with her. We want to thank her for her undeniable passion and dedication to Suits, and we wish her the very best.” The new Foxtel promo for Suits – “You’re royally invited to Suits” – has been re-edited with wedding music and features Zane accepting a marriage proposal and trying on her wedding dress.
Out for the count
Fairfax staff were trying to work out what their chief executive, Greg Hywood, was dressed as at their Christmas party at Sydney Town Hall with the theme of Vintage Circus. Hywood (2016 salary: up to $7.2m) insisted he was the ring master but most picked him as Dracula.
Oz’s Walkley woes
The Walkley awards were hit by controversy this year when the board decided to drop the international reporting category among other wider changes, including dropping the interview category. The winners of the Gold Walkley on Wednesday night may make some of the critics feel better: the top award went to international reporting. The Age journalist Michael Bachelard and the photographer Kate Geraghty won for their coverage of the devastation wrought by Islamic State on the city of Mosul. But another outcome of the new streamlined awards may not be so welcome. The Australian newspaper, usually a strong contender at the Walkleys, missed out on taking home even a single gong this year.
Brillo mad
The BBC television presenter and Spectator chairman, Andrew Neil, has come out strongly in support of the Australian commentator Rowan Dean, who edits the Australian edition of the rightwing magazine.
Blocked for spreading not just fake news but downright lies. Spectator Australia just finished its most profitable year ever. Expansion plans for 2018. Bye, liar. https://t.co/6ASsxg27FG
— Andrew Neil (@afneil) November 24, 2017
After we reported last week that the magazine may be in trouble because it was hit with a $572,674 out-of-court payment to a Toowoomba family who sued for defamation, a UK blogger called Tim Fenton wrote a piece titled “Brillo’s Aussie Horror Show” quoting Weekly Beast. Neil, who was once nicknamed Brillo by Private Eye, used Twitter to denounce Fenton for “spreading not just fake news but downright lies. Spectator Australia just finished its most profitable year ever,” Neil said, backing Dean, who is also a Sky News presenter and a mate of Mark Latham. The former Sunday Times editor also congratulated Dean on his new novel Corkscrewed and on the magazine’s apparent success. “Onwards together to 2018 – big plans for our 10th anniversary. Hope to join you Down Under for the celebrations!”
Burke murk
It’s been a week of shocking revelations about the former Nine presenter Don Burke, in which the best and the worst of the media has been on display. A Current Affair’s host, Tracy Grimshaw, reminded us what a pro she is, interrogating the man who once brought millions of dollars into the network for his popular show Burke’s Backyard. The joint Fairfax/ABC investigation led by Fairfax’s Tracey Spicer and Kate McClymont, and Lorna Knowles from the ABC national reporting team, convinced several women to go on camera to talk about their ordeals. As questions were asked about why nothing was written decades ago it emerged that both Fairfax and News Corp were on to the Burke story but were unable to scale all the legal hurdles. In 2004 the late Australian writer Elisabeth Wynhausen published a profile of Burke as did the Sydney Morning Herald’s Richard Glover in 1991. You had to read between the lines to get the picture.
Nine’s former bosses David Leckie, Sam Chisholm and Peter Meakin all admitted this week they knew Burke was a liability, leaving many surprised nothing was done by management to stop him. The current Nine chief executive, Hugh Marks, has been left to mop up the mess and has written to staff to offer them a free and confidential employee assistance program and a new hotline to call “to report instances of past behaviour they would like addressed”. Marks says it is important the Nine “maintain a culture that has zero tolerance of inappropriate workplace behaviour. Everyone is entitled to come to work at Nine confident that our workplace is safe and that inappropriate behaviour will be dealt with effectively.” Marks added: “As much as we might like to, sometimes we unfortunately cannot rewrite history. But we can and will take steps to ensure that former employees, perhaps with old grievances, are supported.”
