Barack Obama’s views on world affairs, including Chinese President Xi Jingping, his successor Donald Trump and Russia’s war on Ukraine, were widely reported in Australian newspapers by Rupert Murdoch this week.
Even Barack and Michelle’s decision to climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge without a harness made headlines in the Daily Telegraph and the Australian.
But when Obama targeted the Murdoch empire for creating polarization in Western society and making people “angry and upset,” his editors gave the comments a wide berth.
Daily Mail Australia reported: “Barack Obama deals a brutal blow to Rupert Murdoch – he slams Fox and Sky News Australia: ‘making people feel angry and upset'”, but no one at News could see a story.
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While The Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Guardian and international media reported on the president’s dig, readers of the Murdoch imprint were left in the dark.
“There’s a guy that you might know, first name Rupert, who’s been responsible for a lot of things,” Obama said at his event in Sydney.
“He’s perfected a broader trend… it’s a wild west now and a media fracturing. In America it’s Fox News, here it’s Sky.”
It’s not that they didn’t notice, well the Daily Telegraph did, sending its chief reporter to ask Malcolm Turnbull if he was at fault for Obama’s comments.
Turnbull told Weekly Beast the Tele asked him if he had ever spoken to Obama about News Corp and Sky News and if he was the source of the criticism. The former prime minister thought that was absurd.
Meanwhile, Sky found plenty to criticize Obama for, including using a private jet and not selling out a seat. Both Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch own private jets, but that was not mentioned.
“Top commercial fares don’t seem good enough for them, so it’s the private jet caper,” said Sky’s Chris Kenny.
Peter Gleeson lives on at Courier-Mail
Courier-Mail columnist Peter Gleeson may have left News Corp after several cases of plagiarism were uncovered, but he’s still very much alive on the Queensland tabloid’s website, luring potential subscribers to sign up.
The Courier-Mail announced his fate in November, a humiliating end to a 34-year career at News Corp, which included editing the Sunday edition of the Courier-Mail.
But these days, when readers click on an article behind a paywall, they’re taken to a page that has nothing more than a smiling photo of Gleeson above the words “We’re still the most trusted news source.”
Has anyone forgotten to remove it or is it still running subscriptions? We reached out to News Corp for an explanation.
Andrew Bolt slams Mark Latham for ‘disgusting’ tweet
Mark Latham was snubbed not only by Pauline Hanson but also by Andrew Bolt after posting a widely condemned homophobic tweet.
Bolt said he canceled the One Nation politician’s appearance on Sky News on Thursday, saying the tweet was “so disgusting, so homophobic and so obnoxious in a pornographic way that I can’t even point out what he said “.
The Herald Sun columnist said he doubted Latham could ever come back from this latest of many offenses over the years. “He’s going to be an outcast, and not just here on Sky,” Bolt said. “I wonder how he will be able to function as a political leader when he is despised by so many for his abuse.”
“Mark, get treatment,” Bolt said. “You are such a smart man with so much to offer, but you seem to have a death wish.”
“You crack and say things that are so cruel and vicious and now homophobic that you’re the one who gets hurt the most.”
Kyle Sandilands breaks the code of decency
The media watchdog announced this week that radio station KIIS FM had to hire a second censor and offer sensitivity training to Kyle Sandilands after the shock jock described watching the Tokyo Paralympics as “terrible”.
Australia’s Communications and Media Authority (Acma) found that the September 2021 broadcasts of the Kyle & Jackie O show breached the provisions of the Commercial Radio Code of Good Practice.
But the new measures to curb the tongue of the $5 million ratings juggernaut are already looking futile. The morning after the announcement, Sandilands called KIIS FM’s commitment to the regulator “bullshit” and said he wasn’t aware of the breach of the code until he read about it in the newspaper that morning.
“Yes, I am in [the headlines]. Some bullshit in there about something I didn’t even know about,” he said. “I still don’t know anything about it. One day I will find out.”
Sandilands went on to joke about his new “sensitive era” after the Acma report, saying “I can’t be serious”.
Lisa Millar writes more Pattern Dogs
ABC News Breakfast host Lisa Millar is taking a five-week vacation to write a book to accompany the hit ABC TV show Muster Dogs, which she narrated.
HarperCollins approached Millar about writing a book to accompany the second series, which she will also narrate when it releases in 2024. Millar told Weekly Beast she will try to explain the phenomenon that Muster Dogs became and also the difficulties of filming during the pandemic, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the puppies and the people involved. The second series’ secrecy is tight, but Millar had permission to reveal that border collies – and not seaweed – will star.
Brian Walsh funeral to draw big names
The world of television, media and politics will converge on Sydney’s St Mary’s Cathedral for the funeral of Foxtel executive Brian Walsh on Monday, followed by a celebration of his life and career in the Entertainment Quarter in Moore Park.
To celebrate his legacy, the Brian Walsh Scholarship for New Acting Talent was established at the National Institute of Dramatic Art for aspiring actors.
Along with his sisters Maureen, Jeanette and Bernadette Walsh, mourners include Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch, who were close to the entertainment supremo, who died earlier this month aged 67. Australian celebrities whose careers have been closely linked to Walsh, including Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe, may attend if they’re in town, sources said.
Party confusion on the Gold Coast
We leave you with this awesome Gold Coast Bulletin front page featuring an artwork called ‘Pool Party’ which sadly translated into something else when the kids were superimposed.
