The Australian is very proud of its “bold reporting, the pursuit of truth and provoking debate” and has launched a new brand campaign across TV, radio and print.
With the tagline “For the informed Australian”, the campaign was created by agency Archibald/Williams. The Australian’s editor-in-chief, Paul Whittaker, said: “In this era of abundant content, it is more important than ever for a news brand such as the Australian to be bold and fearless in the pursuit of truth as well as promoting debate about the issues that matter most to Australians.” And one of the things that matter most to readers of the Oz appears to be smashed avocado on toast.
The campaign highlights Bernard Salt’s infamous column in the Weekend Australian in which he said young people were forfeiting the chance to own a home by eating expensive breakfasts.
“I have seen young people order smashed avocado with crumbled feta on five-grain toasted bread at $22 a pop and more,” social demographer Salt wrote back in October. “I can afford to eat this for lunch because I am middle-aged and have raised my family. But how can young people afford to eat like this? Shouldn’t they be economising by eating at home? How often are they eating out? Twenty-two dollars several times a week could go towards a deposit on a house.”
All eyes on Sky
Lachlan Murdoch’s right-hand woman, Siobhan McKenna, has left the Ten board to join News Corp Australia as head of broadcast. McKenna helped Lachlan to steer his privately owned Nova Entertainment when he left the family firm and it’s now a thriving media business with popular stations including SmoothFM. Now that he is back in the fold, McKenna has joined News to oversee the company’s growing Australian broadcast business – Fox Sports, Sky News and Foxtel.
News Corp executive chairman Michael Miller said McKenna has joined the boards of Fox Sports, Foxtel and Sky News as a director. “She has deep experience across multiple media categories and is a sought after business leader and company director across varied industries.”
Perhaps McKenna can do something about Sky News’ lacklustre ratings, with some shows like Credlin Keneally failing to make it into the top 250 multi channel daily programs and others like The Bolt Report and Paul Murray Live ranking 206 and 170.
Resolving a cliffhanger
It was 45 years ago this week that the groundbreaking soapie Number 96 hit our TV screens and the event was hailed as “the night Australian TV lost its virginity”.
Despite the passing decades and the disappearance of many of the original tapes of the show, the passion for the racy soapie, shown on 0-10, Ten’s predecessor, remains strong. On Wednesday night a new book, Number 96: Australian TV’s Most Notorious Address was launched in Sydney with members of the original cast and crew in attendance including Roger Ward, Michael Ferguson, Sheila Kennelly and Karen Petersen.
Host Andrew Mercado, a television historian, read out a letter from Number 96’s blonde sex symbol Abigail (Bev Houghton), who was unable to attend. “I don’t believe anyone involved in the production was prepared for the unprecedented attention the production received at the time,” Abigail said. “It was a turbulent time on and off the set.”
The storyline was nothing if not bold and featured gay characters, rape, transgender issues, drugs, backyard abortions and lots of nudity. Written by Nigel Giles, the book examines the social phenomenon it created and contains interviews with writers, cast members and crew.
“Number 96 was the show everybody watched (or wanted to watch), not only for the sensational storylines but because the block of flats was populated by a diverse bunch of characters that viewers took to their hearts,” Giles told Weekly Beast. “The limited opportunities to rewatch the series since it ended in 1977, together with its lasting reputation, means it conjures up a very strong sense of nostalgia in fans and a curiosity in those who want to know what they were missing out on.”
Back to the drawing board
Bill Leak’s public memorial is to be held on Friday afternoon at Sydney’s Town Hall. But, by the time friends, including the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, rise to eulogise the cartoonist, dozens of articles would have been published about Leak and his work. One of those writers who was commissioned to write about the fallout from the death of Leak, who died of a suspected heart attack last Friday, was Amy McQuire. McQuire says the Sydney Morning Herald contacted her and commissioned a piece after seeing her tweet about the protest by Aboriginal woman Latoya Rule on Q&A on Monday night. But the SMH declined to run her piece, which was eventually run in New Matilda instead.
Really disgusted at ABC Breakfast laughing at the protest on Q&A last night - protest lead by young woman whose brother died in custody
— Amy McQuire (@amymcquire) March 13, 2017
The New Matilda piece began: “You’re not supposed to speak ill of the dead. But then you’re also not supposed to demonise a people on the basis of their race. Amy McQuire weighs in on the passing of cartoonist Bill Leak. And a note to readers, this article was originally commissioned by the Sydney Morning Herald, and then rejected on the basis it was ‘old news’.”
We asked the SMH to comment on why it was deemed old news. “Amy McQuire was commissioned to write a piece on the story behind the Q&A protest on Monday night,” a spokesman told Weekly Beast. “She was asked to focus on Latoya Rule and her brother’s tragic death, a story our readers had not heard, and not to focus on Bill Leak.
“Ms McQuire filed a piece that focused on media coverage of Bill Leak’s death, an academic’s view on the entrenched racism within images of Aborigines in Australia’s history and the author’s views of Leak, his work and its impact on Aboriginal Australians.
“Only in the closing paragraphs do we hear the story behind the Q&A protester – the original commission – and the lack of centrality of that story was the reason the Herald passed on the piece. The Herald makes no criticism of the author or her views, which are expressed reasonably, but it was not the piece that was commissioned.”
Grin and Baird it
Author and ABC The Drum host Julia Baird has cleared up confusion about the state of her health in a post on Facebook. Baird’s brother, Mike Baird, revealed in January she was once again battling illness when he mentioned she was back in hospital at a press conference in which he resigned as premier of New South Wales.
“For those who have wondered about my health, I thought I would write a short note to clarify any confusion,” Baird wrote. “There has been some alarm and misreporting in the past few weeks but I am OK. To clear up: I have been in Melbourne having some follow-up treatment and chemo for a rare abdominal cancer (not ovarian cancer, as keeps being misreported). It was expected I would need to have this at some point and I am very glad to have it over with. I have been recovering at home and will be back at work shortly. For all those who wrote cards and letters and sent messages and flowers and lovely things – it has meant a lot and I have appreciated it enormously. I am also grateful for the exceptional care I received at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
“My prognosis is good and I am keen to get back to life. Onwards!”
Farewell to chairman
After five years as ABC chairman, James Spigelman leaves at the end of the month, when the government will announce his replacement. The former chief justice and lieutenant governor of NSW and principal private secretary to prime minister Gough Whitlam was farewelled at a party held at the ABC’s Ultimo headquarters this week, with tributes led by Malcolm Turnbull. Calling himself a lifelong friend, Turnbull spoke of being best man at Spigelman’s Paris wedding to his wife Alice. Former managing director Mark Scott came back to say goodbye along with his successor Michelle Guthrie, and Paul Keating and Bob Carr sent video messages.
