Just days after Charlie Teo was found guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct, Seven’s Spotlight program says the neurosurgeon is “the only doctor” some patients trust.
Spotlight claims in a promo for a Sunday night story that Teo’s “desperate Aussie patients” are “being forced overseas because the surgeon they want is banished from Australian hospitals”.
“People are dying without my services,” Teo tells Seven’s Michael Usher in a story filmed in operating theatres in Spain, India and Thailand.
Teo, of course, has been the subject of many a current affairs show, including the ABC’s Australian Story 20 years ago, which built up a picture of the doctor as a miracle worker.
That was until Sydney Morning Herald reporter Kate McClymont’s year-long investigation in 2019 revealed the “devastating impact on families of ultimately futile procedures” and sparked a review by the Medical Professional Standards Committee.
At the time, Teo said: “It’s disappointing that the publisher has chosen to report inaccurately and in such a sensational and biased manner.”
It was Spotlight that won scoop of the year at the Kennedy awards for an interview with Anthony Koletti, the husband of Melissa Caddick, without disclosing to them that he was paid $150,000 to speak to Usher.
The network defended its win: “The story complied with all conditions of entry.”
Media consultant Tim Allerton, who represents both Teo and Seven chairman Kerry Stokes, says Teo was not paid for the story.
Nine’s 60 Minutes is airing McClymont’s Teo story again on Sunday night.
Bluey soothes ABC’s blues
The ABC might be in turmoil due to a major restructure and the loss of 120 jobs but there is one constant that still brings joy: the success of kids’ TV show Bluey.
This week the show is celebrating its highest-ever audience after the new 10-part series averaged 11 million viewers per episode.
Since April, Bluey has had the highest total audience achieved by any series to air in Australia, including Married at First Sight (2.58m), Lego Masters (2.2m) and State Of Origin (2.6m in 2022) on Nine.
The way ratings are measured is fraught, and Aunty has added up all the views across ABC broadcast channels and ABC iView, but we will take its claim at face value and say well done.
There is more good news for Australian kids’ TV with First Nations content from the Australian Children’s Television Foundation catalogue to air in 29 states across the US after being acquired by First Nations Experience (FNX), a channel devoted to Native American and world Indigenous content.
The live-action series Barrumbi Kids and preschool animation Little J and Big Cuz will air in the US for the first time.
Jewish News performs Yemini disappearing act
Readers of the Australian Jewish News told Weekly Beast they were surprised to see a podcast with rightwing provocateur Avi Yemini promoted on the community newspaper’s website this week.
Yemini has a criminal conviction for throwing a chopping board at his ex-wife and is a presenter on the far-right political commentary website Rebel News.
As the paper has reported that Yemini “does not have any kind of official endorsement from Australia’s Jewish community”, readers were surprised to see a large photograph of him and what was effectively a full-page promotion for his book on the site.
Podcaster Maurice Klein spoke with Yemini, who is Jewish, about his book A Rebel From the Start. The article described the book as a “brutally honest account of Avi’s journey filled with struggles, triumphs and everything in between”. Yemini is a “popular personality, loving father and husband” and in the podcast itself Klein says “I absolutely love his work” on the “excellent” Rebel News.
The AJN hosts podcasts by members of the Jewish community but does not make the podcasts itself .The Yemeni episode was highlighted accidentally and was removed when it was spotted by an editor, Weekly Beast understands.
Ten still in the doghouse
After our story last week that animal welfare groups have complained to Channel Ten about its upcoming show Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly Australia, we heard from the RSPCA which wanted to add its voice to concern about the training methods on the show, which is based on a UK format.
The Pet Professional Guild Australia (PPGA) told us the program promotes “archaic methods” to control behaviour in troubled pets and viewers may get the wrong idea from watching the show. The PPGA has revealed Ten responded to its concern by offering the guild a credit on the show, an offer which was rejected.
“At the end of our episodes, we would really love to have some text that reads ‘if you want to seek advice for your dog, contact Pet Professional Guild Australia for more information’ or something like that so that if any of our viewers need help with their dog, they know who to contact,” an email from Ten seen by Weekly Beast says. “Would it be possible if we could get permission to do that?”
The RSPCA said they read our story and have asked Ten “to correct the record” and change the quote they gave Guardian Australia which “implies that we were somehow OK with it when the opposite is true”. Ten had said: “We liaised extensively with the RSPCA – stories were submitted prior to filming, and we appraised them of our plans for behind-the-scenes support.”
The senior communications officer for RSPCA Australia, Tim Hurd, said the society was opposed to the use and promotion of aversive dog-training techniques.
“We’re also concerned with the language used in relation to this show, which places blame inappropriately on dogs who display certain behaviours and reinforces negative perceptions that these are ‘bad’ dogs. We contacted Network Ten in January to express these concerns and subsequently met with them to discuss this.
“We encourage all dog owners to use reward-based training, where the dog is set up to succeed and then rewarded for performing the good behaviour.”
Ten declined to comment.
Coronation ratings not so sky-high
Sky News Australia was boasting about its ratings for King Charles’ coronation recently and it gave us an insight into why News Corp was so critical of the ABC’s coronation coverage and its decision to include Stan Grant on a pre-ceremony panel.
“The coronation of King Charles delivered Sky News’ highest rating day so far in 2023,” the Murdoch outfit told advertisers, delivering an average audience of 91,000 from 4pm.
Impressive? Not if you look at the ABC’s figures for the same event. The King’s procession averaged 1,182,000 viewers on the ABC, putting it ahead of Seven’s 1,096,000 and Nine’s 738,000, according to OzTAM which measures viewing through broadcast TV and streaming devices.
It’s only a matter of days until Sky News Australia launches a dedicated new channel promising to “canvass all angles” of the Indigenous voice to parliament, but its After Dark stars are making their views on the voice known.
“There are a multitude of good reasons to reject the race-based referendum,” Sky presenter Rita Panahi wrote in the Herald Sun. “Just in the past week we’ve seen more reasons to vote No to the racial division and privilege the Yes camp wants enshrined in the Constitution.”
