Business of Media
Why judge refused 10’s plea to take Lehrmann trial offline
For a media company to request a suppression order really takes some chutzpah. Thankfully, Justice Michael Lee has shot down the 10 Network’s bid to take the Lehrmann defamation trial offline, reports Nine Publishing’s Michael Pelly.
The reasons 10 put forward for shutting down a broadcast of the trial on the Federal Court’s YouTube channel were flimsy, self-serving and offensive to the principle of a free press.
For example, 10 argued it was in Bruce Lehrmann’s interest that there be no broadcast. Lee suggested such concern was “misdirected”.
Bruce Lehrmann backflips on alcohol evidence in defamation trial
Bruce Lehrmann has backtracked on crucial evidence given to police and relied upon in his criminal trial regarding the keeping of alcohol in ministerial offices, one of several inconsistencies over which he was grilled during his first cross-examination since being accused of raping Brittany Higgins in Parliament House, reports The Australian’s Ellie Dudley.
The Federal Court on Thursday, during the second day of Lehrmann’s defamation trial against Network 10 and Lisa Wilkinson, heard that Higgins emailed Lehrmann two days after he allegedly raped her on the couch of minister Linda Reynolds’s office, saying she needed to “phone a friend” and requesting he help her with a minor work task.
It also heard Mr Lehrmann deny attempting to kiss Higgins or ever telling his parliamentary colleagues he thought she was “attractive.”
News Brands
Crikey owner Private Media slashes workforce by 15pc
Private Media, the publisher of Crikey and other titles, has cut its workforce by 15 per cent as it reels from a slow advertising market, reports Nine Publishing’s
Sam Buckingham-Jones.
In an all-staff call on Thursday afternoon, Private Media chief executive Will Hayward said the company would be forced to cut three journalists and five non-editorial roles. Private Media publishes four websites: Crikey, SmartCompany, The Mandarin and Inc. Australia.
Other revenue, including from events, had not made up the shortfall. A restructure of sorts is planned, he is understood to have said.
ABC footage ‘betrayal’ leads to activist arrests
Climate activists accused the ABC of betraying them after Four Corners footage handed to police by the national broadcaster led to the arrest of three more protesters, reports The Australian’s Paul Garvey.
The ABC is understood to have given police more than 20 hours of previously unseen footage shot as part of a recent Four Corners report about Disrupt Burrup Hub’s actions against oil and gas producer Woodside Energy.
The broadcaster was widely criticised after a Four Corners film crew accompanied Disrupt Burrup Hub activists to a planned protest at the Perth home of Woodside chief executive Meg O’Neill.
Radio
Radio Veteran Neil Mitchell ‘wouldn’t listen to Kyle in a fit’
Veteran Melbourne radio broadcaster Neil Mitchell has confessed he has no intention of ever tuning into The Kyle and Jackie O Show when it comes to Melbourne next year, reports News Corp’s Joshua Haigh.
Beloved radio broadcaster Mitchell shared his thoughts about the move on his 3AW show Mornings with Neil Mitchell on Thursday, and had some choice words for Sandilands.
Mitchell shared that while he thinks Sandilands is an “effective” broadcaster, he wouldn’t choose to listen to the radio shock jock “in a fit”.
Kyle Sandilands returns fire on Steve Price, calling The Project star a “gronk”
Controversial shock jock Kyle Sandilands isn’t holding back ahead of his Melbourne assault, report News Corp’s Nui Te Koha and Jackie Epstein.
Responding to Steve Price calling him a “grubby buffoon” and his prediction that a Victorian audience won’t connect with his style, Sandilands said he couldn’t care less.
“You’re all demented,’’ he said on his Sydney KIIS FM breakfast show on Thursday.
“Who cares if Melbourne doesn’t like us? We still get paid.”
Triple M Breakfast’s Laura ‘Loz’ O’Callaghan on what makes her tick, radio career and breakthrough year
For someone who describes herself as “ferociously average”, Laura “Loz” O’Callaghan has had an extraordinary year, reports News Corp’s Lisa Woolford.
She’s one-third of Adelaide’s top-rating Triple M breakfast radio team, after the surprise announcement this time last year that the perceived rather blokey FM station had poached her from Fresh 92.7 to join veterans Mark “Roo” Ricciuto and Chris “Ditts” Dittmar.
The trio has become the shock success of this fierce ratings battle, kicking it out of the park and claiming the mantle of Adelaide’s No. 1 brekkie show in the penultimate survey of the year, beating previous kings FIVEaa’s David Penberthy and Will Goodings by six points in the all-important timeslot.
See Also: Laura O’Callaghan: From Fresh FM to Adelaide’s top Breakfast show
‘Lone conservative’ Tom Switzer quits ABC
Radio National’s Tom Switzer is the latest ABC star to quit the national broadcaster, reports The Australian’s Jenna Clarke.
Switzer announced his departure from the ABC after nine years and will finish up his weekly radio program and podcast, Between The Lines, at the end of the year.
The esteemed editor and academic said his decision to step down was so he can concentrate on his other role as executive director of the Centre for Independent Studies.
Television
JFK, Daleks and six decades of Doctor Who
The day Doctor Who premiered on British television (November 23, 1963) is curiously knitted to the fabric of modern history. It was the day after the assassination of US president John F. Kennedy and the debut episode, An Unearthly Child, was delayed so the BBC could air a newsreel on the presidential assassination that had arrived via airplane from the US, reports Nine Publishing’s Michael Idato.
While it is tempting to use that connection to explain the inexplicable cultural immortality of Doctor Who, the show’s returning executive producer and writer Russell T. Davies believes everything pivots on another date – a month later – when the episode The Dead Planet aired, introducing audiences to the terrifying bathroom plunger-armed Daleks.