{"id":5131,"date":"2013-06-18T10:49:25","date_gmt":"2013-06-18T00:49:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nofibs.com.au\/?p=5131"},"modified":"2022-05-02T00:33:36","modified_gmt":"2022-05-01T14:33:36","slug":"mediawatch-honest-broker-for-silent-censored-piers-abc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/mediawatch-honest-broker-for-silent-censored-piers-abc\/","title":{"rendered":"#Mediawatch honest broker for silent, censored Piers’ ABC"},"content":{"rendered":"

The art of deflecting blame<\/h3>\n\n
\n

David Koch: And is Tim Gay?<\/q><\/p>\n

Howard Sattler: He must be gay, he\u2019s a hair dresser…<\/p>\n

David Koch: Julia Gillard quizzed about her partner\u2019s sexuality…<\/p>\n

\u2014 Channel Seven, Sunrise, 14th June, 2013<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s how Kochie promo\u2019d it on Seven\u2019s Sunrise: \u201cIs Tim Gay?\u201d Not, \u201cShock jock madness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Welcome to Media Watch, I\u2019m Jonathan Holmes, and I can\u2019t remember a nastier, grubbier week in the nation\u2019s politics. Howard Sattler, the star of the West, has now been sacked by Fairfax Media\u2019s 6PR in Perth.<\/p>\n

Howard Sattler: But you hear it, he must be gay, he\u2019s a hairdresser.<\/q><\/p>\n

Julia Gillard: Oh, isn\u2019t that..<\/p>\n

Howard Sattler: But you heard it. It\u2019s not me saying it, it\u2019s what people…<\/p>\n

\u2014 Channel Seven, Sunrise, 14th June, 2013<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But of course it was Howard Sattler saying it. David Koch couldn\u2019t see what the fuss was about…<\/p>\n

David Koch: Let me play devil\u2019s advocate here…
\nWhat\u2019s the difference between asking the Prime Minister that, and say Thorpie?<\/q><\/p>\n

\u2014 Channel Seven, Sunrise, 14th June, 2013<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Remind me, if I want an advocate, not to hire Kochie. In the dark of the night, over on Sydney\u2019s 2GB, the extraordinary Brian Wilshire groped his way through his normal conspiratorial fog to shine a light for us:<\/p>\n

Brian Wilshire: Ask embarrassing questions of the Prime Minister, the questions that aren\u2019t really relevant, except for something that the media won\u2019t tell you. If you\u2019re a butterfly collector…
\nwhatever it might be that you might want to keep secret from the public, if you\u2019re in the public eye, that\u2019s something the public should know, because once they know about it, nobody can blackmail you about it.<\/q><\/p>\n

\u2014 2GB, Overnights with Brian Wilshire, 14th June, 2013<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Butterfly collecting? Blackmail? Completely batty.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Alan Jones keeps ranting…<\/p>\n

Alan Jones: This is a misanthrope, this woman. This is a woman who plainly hates Rudd, hates Abbott, and hates men…
\n(Anyone visiting the country would believe this was a person who is seriously in need of emotional and psychological help.)<\/q><\/p>\n

\u2014 2GB, The Alan Jones Breakfast Show, 13th June, 2013<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One thing you can be sure of: nobody will get the sack from Macquarie Radio for being rude to the Prime Minister \u2013 this Prime Minister, anyway.<\/p>\n

And some curious decisions were taken at ABC News yesterday.<\/p>\n

The Howard Sattler episode was discussed on Sunday morning’s Insiders program. News Ltd columnist Piers Akerman condemned Sattler’s behaviour as…<\/p>\n

Piers Akerman: …probably the most stupid thing that I\u2019ve ever heard on public broadcast…public broadcasting…<\/q><\/p>\n

\u2014 ABC1, The Insiders, 16th June, 2013<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But he then told the Guardian Australia\u2019s Lenore Taylor:<\/p>\n

Piers Akerman: A lot of people in the Canberra gallery have been saying the same thing, Lenore.<\/q><\/p>\n

Lenore Taylor: I\u2019m, no.<\/p>\n

Piers Akerman: You\u2019ve never heard that?<\/p>\n

Lenore Taylor: No.<\/p>\n

Piers Akerman: Oh, OK<\/p>\n

\u2014 ABC1, The Insiders, 16th June, 2013<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

News Ltd\u2019s Malcolm Farr had never heard anyone saying such things either. And Barrie Cassidy was scathing…<\/p>\n

Barrie Cassidy: You\u2019ve just done precisely what Howard Sattler did and just passed on rumours and that\u2019s just as pathetic, quite frankly.<\/q><\/p>\n

Piers Akerman: I don\u2019t think it is.<\/p>\n

Barrie Cassidy: I think it is. All right, let\u2019s talk about the leadership now.<\/p>\n

Piers Akerman: I don\u2019t think I did pass on rumours.<\/p>\n

Barrie Cassidy: Yes you did, you just did!<\/p>\n

\u2014 ABC1, The Insiders, 16th June, 2013<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And they went on arguing for another 15 seconds or so.<\/p>\n

Soon after the program ended, the entire exchange was posted by the ABC\u2019s online news team on its You Tube account. After all, it was the most controversial thing on the program that day.<\/p>\n

But then, within ten minutes, the clip was taken down again. Twitter wondered why…<\/p>\n

Jacktheinsider: Suspect it\u2019s a copyright issue, posting before iView<\/q><\/p>\n

Julie Posetti: Maybe, but my money\u2019s on legal concerns<\/p>\n

\u2014 Twitter, 16th June, 2013<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Well, it wasn\u2019t a copyright issue – the ABC can\u2019t breach its own copyright. And it wasn\u2019t a legal issue, because in due course the entire program was relayed on News Radio and iView.<\/p>\n

It looks to us like a censorship issue.<\/p>\n

After all, while the Sydney Morning Herald ran a news story about the incident on its website…<\/p>\n

News Ltd columnist ignites sexuality outrage…<\/q><\/p>\n

\u2014 Sydney Morning Herald Online, 16th June, 2013<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

…there was no mention of it that we could find on ABC online. ABC News\u00a0tells Media Watch<\/a><\/p>\n

that was a matter for the editorial team on the day as is always the case. They were free to report it at all times.<\/q><\/p>\n

\u2014 Alan Sunderland, Head of Policy and Staff Development, ABC News and Current Affairs, 17th June, 2013<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But it says that You Tube is another matter. The clips posted there are promotions<\/p>\n

\u2026to draw attention to program contents<\/q><\/p>\n

\u2014 Alan Sunderland, Head of Policy and Staff Development, ABC News and Current Affairs, 17th June, 2013<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Insiders team asked for the clip to be taken down.<\/p>\n

\u2026because they didn’t feel it was appropriate\u2026 to be promoting that content.<\/q><\/p>\n

\u2014 Alan Sunderland, Head of Policy and Staff Development, ABC News and Current Affairs, 17th June, 2013<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Well we’ve looked at the ABC’s You Tube channel. It doesn’t look like a promo site to us. It looks like news.<\/p>\n

As for Piers Akerman, he came up with a sort of apology at the end of Insiders…<\/p>\n

Piers Akerman: if the Prime Minister is watching, as she usually does, I hope she hasn\u2019t taken any offence at anything I\u2019ve said this morning.<\/q><\/p>\n

\u2014 ABC1, The Insiders, 16th June, 2013<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But\u00a0in this morning\u2019s column<\/a>\u00a0in the Tele Akerman is back to his normal aggressive self …<\/p>\n

The chattering classes whipped themselves into a lather yesterday afternoon claiming I raised questions about First Bloke Tim Mathieson\u2019s sexuality on the ABC Insiders program in the morning.<\/q><\/p>\n

\u2014 Daily Telegraph, 17th June, 2013<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Piers, this notion that you\u2019re not a member of the chattering classes is weird. That\u2019s how you make your living. Chattering. Chattering. Chattering. And then, in this case, denying what you\u2019ve said…<\/p>\n

I have never questioned Mathieson\u2019s sexuality. I don\u2019t deal in tawdry topics.<\/q><\/p>\n

\u2014 Daily Telegraph, 17th June, 2013<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That sounds to me just like Howard Sattler:<\/p>\n

Howard Sattler: No, that’s not me saying it. It’s a myth.<\/q><\/p>\n

Julia Gillard: Well that’s absurd.<\/p>\n

\u2014 6PR, Drive with Howard Sattler, 13th June, 2013<\/cite><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

Thank you, thank you, Mr Holmes. You have shamed the ABC on its Piers silence, and thereby saved it. http:\/\/t.co\/nwaiWtxk6n<\/a> #mediawatch<\/a><\/p>\n

— margo kingston (@margokingston1) June 17, 2013<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n