The ABC is bracing itself for another round of negative headlines – and this time they won’t be about Q&A.
Months before the announcement of the Q&A audit, the ABC board quietly commissioned an editorial review of the broadcaster’s coverage of the Coalition’s higher education reform bill. Undertaken by veteran newspaper man Steve Harris, a former editor-in-chief and publisher of the Age and editor-in-chief of Rupert Murdoch’s Herald and Weekly Times Group, the report is fairly critical of some of the reporting of the failed legislation, sources say.
Despite the negative report cards they generate, the ABC is committed to undertaking two external reviews of its content each year. The Q&A review by Ray Martin is the sixth such project. The most recently released review was of the 2014 budget coverage. It was undertaken by newspaper journalist Colleen Ryan who found that the interview with treasurer Joe Hockey by 7.30’s temporary host Sarah Ferguson on budget night was too “aggressive”. Internal critics of the reviews say a person with a print background who doesn’t understand broadcast journalism is not the right person to choose. Martin, and his fellow reviewer Shaun Brown, a former SBS managing director, both have strong broadcast pedigrees.
Col Allan focuses on the gutter
The Australian editor of the New York Post, Col Allan, has devoted his front page to slamming a mentally-ill homeless man for urinating on the streets of New York. On Saturday, Sunday and Monday his paper ran a dozen photographs of the man in various stages of undress and detailed stories about his behaviour. The paper accused city officials of failing to keep vagrants off the streets.
Some 16 reporters have had their bylines attached to the coverage and photographers have followed the man’s every move. “Wrapped in rags and a Mets blanket the hobo wandered into traffic at around 10.30am and relieved himself as cabs, cars and buses whizzed by between West 83rd and 84th streets on the upper west side,” said the first report, which carried the headline “20 years of cleaning up NYC pissed away”. On Sunday the paper was back: “He defecated into a Chinese newspaper at Broadway and 84th Street, then curled up one block north and went to sleep.” And on Monday: “A disgusting derelict who’s turning the upper west side into an open-air toilet was back at it Sunday – just hours after two hospitals deemed him fit to wander the city’s streets.”
A report in Gawker quoted an unnamed source from the Post saying some reporters were “openly disgusted” by the “epic bum piece”, while others were just doing what they were told. “Believe it or not, more reporters than the ones you listed actually worked on this and were not given bylines,” one said.
Nicknamed Col Pot, Allan built his reputation in Australia as the aggressive editor in chief of Sydney’s Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph. A faithful lieutenant of Rupert Murdoch, Allan was posted to the Big Apple to edit the Post in 2001. Ironically, of all the stories about Allan, the one that has stuck is how he used the sink in his office in Holt Street, Surry Hills, as a place to urinate. Even during editorial meetings. Crikey’s founder, Stephen Mayne, wrote about Allan’s toilet habits in a famous piece in 2000.
Allan’s influence in Australia remains and he spent three months working at Holt Street in the lead-up to the last federal election. “Col could not be bothered walking across the newsroom and therefore would urinate in the sink in his office,” Mayne wrote. “Lachlan Murdoch would come to conference about once every two months as well but would always arrive halfway through. Col never relieved himself in front of Lachlan but there was one occasion where Col had literally just sat back down when Lachlan walked in. Close shave that.”
Book may beckon for former Crikey editor
Another former Crikey editor is Sophie Black, who announced on Wednesday she was quitting Private Media at the end of the month. Black, editor-in-chief of the publishing company that owns Crikey, says that after 10 years she is stepping down to do something different, possibly to write a book. Private Media’s chief executive, Jason Kibsgaard, said in a statement: “As an integral part of our leadership team she has contributed to the ongoing strategies of each publication as well as serving as a public voice and advocate for Private Media within the industry and the wider media. Of course, Sophie has a special place in Crikey’s heart. She came on board in the very early years to eventually become an outstanding editor who built a fantastic team to lay a very strong legacy for the publication.”
Struggle Street leads to Compass spot
On Sunday at 6.30pm on ABC TV the Compass program features the story of Jon and Lisa Owen, modern-day missionaries living in Bidwill in Sydney’s west. Jon Owen was one of the first community leaders to speak out about the SBS documentary Struggle Street because he is close to several of the show’s participants. He also wrote eloquently about Struggle Street residents and how they may pay a high price for trusting the film-makers.
Huffington Post adds to pre-launch ranks
The Australian edition of Huffington Post is staffed-up and close to launching. After appointing former News Corp staffer Tory Maguire as editor-in-chief, the joint venture with Fairfax Media has been on a hiring spree, picking up former ABC and SBS political reporter Karen Barlow as politics editor. The international digital venture then hired Emily Blatchford (IF Magazine) as the associate lifestyle editor and Tom Compagnoni (AAP) as video editor. A former online news editor for the Australian, Nicolette Logue, has been appointed Huffpost Australia’s news editor, and Emily Verdouw (Mamamia TV) has been appointed associate video editor.
With Maguire finishing her maternity leave and stepping up next week, an August launch seems likely. Owned by AOL Inc, Huffington Post is one of the most successful digital platforms in the world and the Australian edition will be the latest to launch after Britain, Canada, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, the Maghreb, Germany, Brazil, South Korea, Greece and India.
