In this edition of Media McKnight:
- Has the mainstream media picked the wrong side over the arrest of Ben Roberts-Smith?
- The show set to replace Australian Survivor
- No, the ABC has NOT turned its back on diversity
- Why changes to the Logies are good for everyone
- Karl Stefanovic gets a salute… and a slap
- The control room audio from the BBC you have to hear to believe!
You can watch the video version of Media McKnight in the player below:
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THE MEDIA v BEN ROBERTS-SMITH
There’s been a LOT of commentary surrounding the arrest of Ben Roberts-Smith, who’s been charged with five counts of the war crime of murder.
Critics are upset a camera crew was tipped off to be at the airport to shoot the arrest.
What many fail to understand, though, is that the camera operator was from the Office Of The Special Investigator and the AFP.
The footage was not shot by a TV news outlet.
It’s not uncommon for the police to shoot arrests and drug busts and then distribute to the media.
Still, many in the media have been left stunned by the backlash to their reporting of the Ben Roberts-Smith case.
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And I include myself in that.
I believe justice has no price and no-one should be above the law – but I’ve never served and therefore don’t fully understand the issue, it seems.
Military ranks are rallying in support of ben Roberts-Smith, including Special Forces Combat Veteran, Heston Russell.
Heston explained the situation with me on McKnight Tonight in his very first interview after the arrest of Roberts-Smith.
“What’s outrageous, Rob, is that any media organisation in Australia can label a veteran a war criminal, and it’s the burden is on the veteran to take them to court in civil defamation proceedings,”
“We don’t appreciate the unique circumstances of war and the respect to our veterans are requiring things to be brought to a threshold, which they have now of being liable to criminal conviction, criminal standards of proof, and journalists sitting back and saying it’s okay to just sling mud unless they can sue us on a defamation case. Where the outrage is coming from is that war is not black and white, and Afghanistan in particular is not black and white”.
I found talking to Heston fascinating and he certainly challenged my views. In fact, he’s given me pause for thought on what I believed was a black and white issue.
The video interview on YouTube has had 57k views at the time of writing, with over 1k comments.
And that’s where things get interesting.
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Below are some comments just starting at the top with no censorship, no picking and choosing, and no agenda.
But they are reflective of most of the comments posted on this video.
“It’s disgraceful, the way BRS is being treated” – @abigailfoster2467
“Well said Heston, Australia gov and media doesn’t give a f*ck about our veterans” – @staffy-900
“Must question the arrest timing so close to Anzac day” – @deancooke513
My take in response to these comments is that the media needs to be careful. The assumed narrative taken by the media isn’t sitting well with a lot of the Australian public.
That doesn’t mean news shouldn’t report the news. It means the media has to be careful about not being too cosy with the police. It’s not seen as a good thing.
SURVIVOR OUT, NINJA WARRIOR IN
Is Australian Survivor about to have its torch snuffed out, to be replaced by a former ratings-winner obstacle show?
As revealed exclusively by TV Blackbox a decision has been made to scrap a planned two-season back-to-back shoot.
Instead, only one season will be shot.
According to Kyle Laidlaw, the decision to scrap the second planned season was because of ratings and audience reception to new host David Genat.
Genat took over as host of the franchise after the sudden axing of Jonathan La Paglia.
While leaks to the media at the time suggested the move was about La Paglia’s high salary – which is partially true – Media McKnight can reveal his axing mainly came down to a clash with Endemol Shine Executive Amelia Fisk.
The two had been at loggerheads for some time and I’m reliably informed she had been trying to get rid of La Paglia for some time.
Last year she finally convinced the executives at Channel 10 by turning it into a cost saving.
Fisk got her way but the show has suffered as a result.
Not only was there a massive – and unexpected – backlash, ratings have dived, even though streaming numbers have risen.
Now it looks like Channel 10 is on the hunt for a replacement show and I believe I know what it is.
Get ready for the return of Australian Ninja Warrior!
While this information isn’t 100% confirmed, let’s just say all signs are pointing to its return, including the resumption of its social media pages.
A month ago, full episodes started being uploaded to its YouTube page.
Now, while that might be because of the rights expiring at Channel 9, nothing had been posted for four years before that.
Same over at Instagram.
The page had been silent since July 12, 2022, then all of a sudden, clips started appearing on April 1, and there’s been a steady stream ever since.
All that activity taking place since we found out a season of Survivor has been dropped – it all seems pretty suspicious to me.
And it turns out I’m not the only one thinking that.
Kyle has some solid information about this story, saying he understands “an agreement is expected to be signed in the coming weeks, bringing the format to a new home on 10”.
When Network 10 was approached for comment by TV Blackbox about the scrapping of the second season, a spokesperson rejected the claims.
But, that’s to be expected from them.
Ninja Warrior is a lot cheaper to film than Australian Survivor. There’s no overseas travel, so that dramatically cuts the budget.
Bringing back Ninja Warrior would make sense for 10.
It’s a known format, it was very popular at one point, and it could be the turnaround 10 needs.
It won’t save the network, but it’s certainly a good start.
OUTRAGE AS EASY AS ABC
This week, the ABC announced it was dropping some partnerships with diversity groups.
As first reported by The Guardian, an internal email revealed plans to end its controversial memberships with ACON Health’s Pride in Diversity program, the Australian Disability Network, and the Diversity Council of Australia.
That’s led to many (misinformed) people believing the ABC was dropping its own diversity and inclusion programs.
It’s not.
But that hasn’t stopped plenty of videos appearing on social media claiming they have.
You can see an example of one that has a title stating ‘The ABC Ditches Diversity’ in the video player above.
Despite claims a right-wing campaign to stop diversity and inclusion at the ABC, those folks outraged by this move need to pay attention to a segment that ran on Media Watch back in 2022.
Then host Paul Barry explained how the ABC was paying thousands of dollars a year to be in partnership with these groups, which then led them to provide editorial tips, which is problematic to say the least.
The ABC is not turning its back on diversity and inclusion programmes. It’s simply not paying for the privilege to be lectured to by lobby groups.
There’s a very big difference.
AND THE GOLD LOGIE GOES TO…
To Logies news now and there’s been a really positive change in the way celebrities are nominated for the Gold Logie.
TV Tonight reports it won’t just be the broadcasters who will be able to determine the nominees for the Gold Logie.
The change now allows TV Week to be able to put forward names for both the Gold Logie and Hall of Fame categories this year.
This is a really positive change. I haven’t liked the way the broadcasters have so much control over who’s nominated for a gold Logie.
I believe the public should have more of a say in the Gold Logie nominees like they did in years gone by.
At least having TV WEEK be able to add their own nominations is a step forward.
I am a judge in the Logie Awards in various news categories, and I take the role very seriously. I sit and watch every story so that I can give accurate scores to the nominees in each category.
But a free tip for those entering the ‘best presenter’ category. You do not need to make a 60-minute video and don’t include other presenters. Just focus on yourself and keep it to five minutes. If you can’t show your skills in five minutes then you’re probably not worthy of winning the category.
A 60-minute reel is a waste of everyone’s time.
A SLAP… AND A SALUTE
Now it’s time for a new segment – a salute and a slap.
This week, it’s TODAY show host Karl Stefanovic getting a much-deserved salute, but also a slap.
Karl Stefanovic hosts his own podcast video show
Let’s start with the positive.
The Karl Stefanovic Show has changed podcasting in Australia.
Using his star power, the Gold Logie Winner has shown what can be achieved by connecting with the audience.
Unshackled by network expectations, Karl is living his truth and fans are responding in kind.
He’s obviously put a bit of money into this – it looks fantastic and the interviews are compelling.
I genuinely can’t wait to see what he does next as part of this adventure.
Now to the slap.
And for that, we need to look at an interview he did with Richard Marles recently on the TODAY Show.
It was a compelling, tense interview, but there was one moment where Karl took it too far.
Karl had been grilling the treasurer about the fuel crisis. Just before he moved to the next topic about Donald Trump, he threw in an offhanded one-liner:
“I’ll tell you what, if a country’s doing day to day during a crisis, you know, you’ve got dramas look, Donald Trump, has bagged you again overnight,”.
A frustrated Marles tried to interject, but Karl was having none of it.
“I’ve got to move. Donald, Donald Trump has bagged you again overnight, can we get to that, please?”
That was Karl’s way of telling the control room to play a clip of Donald Trump, but Marles continued to protest in the background, saying:
“It’s fine for you to have the last say there, Karl”
While the clip of Trump played, the audio of the two men was left up and the argument continued.
It was very messy and unnecessary.
Karl realised he needed to let Marles have his say and begrudgingly allowed him to do so.
(Karl was right in that he really only wanted to repeat himself).
It was a fantastic interview up until that point, spoiled by a quick verbal punch from Karl.
That’s why I salute his podcast efforts, but I have to give him a slap for that interview.
CONTROL ROOM SECRETS
Sometimes something pops up on your social media feed that is just too good not to share.
Anyone who’s ever worked in a control room knows there is a whole other show happening behind the scenes, especially when it comes to communicating on the run, live, with no chances for second takes.
There’s no way I can justify this in the written word, so I want you to go and watch the video version of Media McKnight to truly enjoy this one.
It’s a video from the 1977 BBC production of Eurovision. The Director can be heard yelling and screaming all the way through a performance with plenty of swearing.
All the while things look normal on the screen to all the viewers watching at home.
I’ve experienced plenty of those moments myself!
Media McKnight streams on YouTube every Tuesday night at 8pm with early access for paid members.
The article is published every Wednesday morning on the TV Blackbox website.
Send me your tips: [email protected]
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