It’s only week one of the election campaign but Peter Dutton has made it abundantly clear how he feels about the ABC’s funding and its journalists. Pressed repeatedly by 2GB broadcaster Ben Fordham to name his favourite ABC journalist, Dutton came up with no one.
“My favourite ABC journalist, I might have to go back a fair way, Ben, to identify that,” he told the Nine-owned Sydney radio station.
“But I think there are some who, frankly, are just partisan players, and people see that on their TV screens every night. And again, the ABC is using taxpayers’ money.”
This barb came the day after the opposition leader hinted he may cut the ABC’s funding, and he repeated his line to Fordham.
“Nobody at the ABC gets $1 of pay without it being funded by Australian taxpayers. And as I’ve said before, if we find waste in the ABC, then we won’t support that, and I think Australian households and businesses would expect nothing less.”
The ABC is almost certainly facing yet another efficiency review if the Coalition is elected, and chair, Kim Williams, said at the Melbourne Press Club it was “game on”. It will be another review to add to the many. We counted 14 ABC efficiency reviews between 2003 and 2018 alone.
The ABC Alumni chair, Jonathan Holmes, told Weekly Beast it’s standard play by conservative governments to have an efficiency review of the ABC. “And almost always they’ve come to the conclusion that in programming terms, the ABC is really an efficient organisation,” he said.
Not a great look
Following the success of Netflix drama Adolescence, the Australian Women’s Weekly has republished an earlier feature on toxic masculinity, men’s rights activists and the radicalisation of young men.
The article included a profile of self-proclaimed misogynist and alleged rapist Andrew Tate. Tate and his brother Tristan were arrested in late 2022 amid accusations of sex trafficking. The brothers have denied all wrongdoing.
“If you’re wondering why this man’s words are being printed in the pages of the Weekly, it’s because Tate and the ‘manosphere’ he’s a part of have become impossible to ignore,” the Weekly said.
We thought it was to showcase Tate’s style, as his red silk robe, chunky silver watch and boxer shorts in three glamorous photographs were so fetching the magazine accompanied them with a “Shop This Image” advertising feature. With just one click readers could buy similar items from local retailers to emulate Tate’s fashion sense.
We asked the editor of the Australian Women’s Weekly, Sophie Tedmanson, if she thought this was appropriate and we didn’t hear back.
Kostakidis goes to court
It’s been 17 years since former SBS newsreader Mary Kostakidis filed for breach of contract in the federal court, later reaching an amicable out-of-court settlement with the broadcaster.
Kostakidis will soon be back in the federal court after the head of the Zionist Federation of Australia, Alon Cassuto, filed a statement of claim on Monday under the Racial Discrimination Act after mediation in the Human Rights Commission failed.
Last year Cassuto accused Kostakidis of breaching racial discrimination laws in two social media posts on X. Kostakidis has been a vocal critic of the Israeli government over the Gaza war.
She rejected the central accusation, which was related to two posts sharing a speech by the secretary general of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, in which he used the phrase “from the river to the sea the land of Palestine is for the Palestinian people – and the Palestinian people only”.
The chief executive of the Zionist federation, Alon Cassuto, said it was “irresponsible and dangerous” for Kostakidis to repeat “calls by a terrorist for Jews to be ethnically cleansed”.
Kostakidis said the complaint was “completely misconstruing” her posts sharing the speech.
“Of course, I wasn’t promoting it. I was informing people. That’s what I’m supposed to do,” she previously told Guardian Australia. “As a journalist, it’s my responsibility to show people what one side is saying. Is it not in our interests to know that?”
Kostakidis has characterised his lawsuit as an attempt “to silence people like myself”.
No date has been set down for the case to be heard by Justice Stephen McDonald in Melbourne.
Costello’s next bout
Just weeks after A Current Affair reporter Seb Costello resigned from Nine after 13 years with the network, the enterprising son of the company’s former chair and former federal treasurer Peter Costello is back with not one but two ventures. The first is a podcast, with a fellow Nine reporter who recently left the fold, Allan Raskall. Raskall & Costello is coming soon, the pair announced on Instagram via a video of Raskall driving a vintage car.
On LinkedIn Costello announced his other plan.
“For almost two decades on TV & radio, I’ve fought for everyday Aussies facing up against big, careless institutions,” he wrote. “This time I’m fighting for myself.”
Costello said he is in training with former boxing champion Sam Soliman for a competitive boxing fight in August. It can’t be that much of a stretch from the foot-in-door journalism of ACA to the boxing ring.
Sky News’s feelings hurt
When the ABC announced it had secured “the first free-to-air leaders’ debate” on 16 April with Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton, Sky News was triggered. The channel demanded the ABC amend its media release, claiming it was Sky that had the first free-to-air leaders’ debate.
“The ABC’s public relations team has falsely claimed the national broadcaster has secured the ‘first free-to-air’ debate of the 2025 Federal Election, when in fact Sky News Australia will beat them by a week,” a Sky News story on Thursday read.
Now as far as we know, Sky News is not available free on broadcast television, except for a deal with regional broadcasters to screen in several markets across Victoria, southern NSW, Queensland and northern NSW.
Sky’s debate, on 8 April, will be broadcast on Foxtel and streamed on skynews.com.au, but both platforms require a subscription.
“It will also be live and free for audiences nationally on LG Channels and Samsung TV Plus through Sky News Australia’s FAST channels,” Sky said. That’s great but it’s still not on free-to-air television, which means Seven, Nine, Ten, SBS or ABC.
“Sky News Australia has notified the ABC of the mistake and requested the press release be amended,” it thundered.
The ABC did not comply.
Unforgiving print
With digital, you’re never wrong for long, but when a mistake makes it into print it’s there for all to see. Last week the Canberra Times published a journalist’s notes in the body of the story.
“Thanks mate, here tis again. three less pars,” the incongruous line said after the first paragraph of a report about the sentencing of Kristian White for the manslaughter of Clare Nowland.
What friends are for
Clive Palmer is well known for storming out of interviews when they don’t go his way. But the Trumpet of Patriots leader is so enamoured of a friendly interview he did with Paul Murray on Sky News Australia, he is using it as an election ad on YouTube. And it’s seven minutes long. Palmer has forked out between $45,000 and $50,000 for the ad/interview to be shown on YouTube 1.25m times.
Shocking remarks
A fishing fan was watching Step Outside with Paul Burt on 7Mate when she heard a shocking exchange during the cooking segment.
In episode two of the show, the following remarks were made by a guest: “Beat the egg like you beat the missus … that’s what I do. Tie her to a tree and beat her with fencing wire.”
The viewer made a formal complaint to Free TV, asking for an apology and a donation to a domestic violence service.
“Seven was appalled and shocked by the comments made by a guest in Step Outside with Paul Burt,” the Seven Television group managing director, Angus Ross, said in a statement to Weekly Beast.
“They were abhorrent and totally unacceptable. The show has been removed from 7Mate and 7Plus with immediate effect. Seven unreservedly apologises to viewers.”
Judds split … or do they?
Sky News Australia is no stranger to classic clickbait tactics on social media. “Rebecca Judd has announced her shock split” a post on X said alongside a photograph of Judd with her AFL player husband, Chris.
But the story was about the AFL Wag parting ways with her longtime manager, Lucy Mills, and not her husband.
