Media Diary: Lisa Wilkinson makes a comeback … sort of
Lisa Wilkinson hasn’t been seen on Network Ten’s screens since she tossed in the towel on The Project, but she’s locked in to make an appearance at media networking love-in next month.
Lisa Wilkinson hasn’t been seen on Network Ten’s screens since she tossed in the towel on The Project back at the end of 2022, but she’s making a comeback. Sort of.
She will give a speech at the Cannes in Cairns event next month which includes four days of festivities at the media networking love-in.
When Diary contacted the event organisers to find out more information about Lisa’s appearance, and what she would be talking about, a spokeswoman gave little away.
All we know is that Wilkinson will be revealing what makes her tick, what she attributes her successes to, and why personal growth never stops.
Apart from court testimony and a pre-written speech she read out the front of Sydney’s Federal Court after former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann lost his defamation action against Wilkinson and Ten, she hasn’t done any interviews in more than a year.
But the 64-year-old is packing her suitcases and heading up to Far North Queensland in June in what will be her second lucrative speaking gig in Cairns this year.
Curiously, the Cannes in Cairns program flyer makes no mention of Wilkinson’s employer and gives away no details away of her 30-minute segment, simply stating: “Session announced soon.”
So will she discuss the elephant in the room?
When will Lisa be back on Ten’s screens, if ever?
A fair question, and one that Ten has repeatedly dodged answering.
When Diary asked a spokeswoman on Sunday if Wilkinson would be making a TV comeback on the network any time soon, the Ten rep replied: “Confirming Lisa remains an employee of Network 10.”
Wilkinson is contracted to the network until the end of the year but she hasn’t been seen on the channel in 18 months when she sensationally quit The Project and called out the “targeted toxicity” of certain quarters of the media, who scrutinised her decision to deliver a speech at the 2022 Logies that was subsequently blamed for delaying the high-profile rape trial involving former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins and Bruce Lehrmann.
Tingle lectures journos on how to do their jobs properly
The ABC’s 7.30 chief political correspondent Laura Tingle took to the stage at the Melbourne Writers Festival on the weekend to give fellow journalists some pro bono advice on how to do their jobs properly.
Delivering the annual John Button Oration at RMIT University’s Capitol theatre, her 40-minute lecture – titled ‘‘off-course discourse’’ – included a lament that “public broadcasters are under attack around the world”, and apparently useless journos are partly to blame.
“It feels like the incidence of governments being framed up for questions that are simply unanswerable, in the name of political or media sport, seems to be growing,” she said.
Hmmm. That sounds suspiciously like an experienced journo rolling out the old “back in my day” speech. Always a winner with the kids, that one!
Presumably, her blanket slapdown wasn’t referring to any journos at the national broadcaster, as that would be super-awkward in the newsroom given that she is the staff-elected board member at the ABC.
Tingle’s take-down of her industry comrades referenced an appearance by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the National Press Club this year.
“In January at the National Press Club the Prime Minister was asked 12 or 13 times about whether he thought voters would penalise him for breaking his promise on the Stage 3 tax cuts, rather than question in any length about whether tax cuts would affect the community, the budget or the economy,” she told the writers festival crowd on Saturday.
But hang on, Laura, didn’t you moderate that particular debate? And what question did you put to Albo on that occasion?
No need to Google it. We already have. Tingle put to Albo at his NPC appearance: “Every other prime minister who has broken a major promise has gone on to lose their job … why will Anthony Albanese be different?”
If that question doesn’t fall into the category of “political or media sport”, Diary will eat its pork-pie press hat.
Anyway, let’s not get too uppity. Throwing a puff-ball to a pollie isn’t the greatest journalistic crime.
What really caught our attention during Tingle’s weekend sermon to a packed house was her suggestion that the ABC was groaning under the weight of its own charter.
“Government is not the only large and slow-moving institution that is left vulnerable by the speed of the internet age,” Tingle told audience members, who had forked out $35 each to listen to the reporter’s wisdom.
“Any institution that is obliged by its very public charter to be all things to all people will face that fate, and that particularly applies to the ABC and other public broadcasters.”
Of course, no one is suggesting that producing a quality public broadcasting service is as easy as, well, ABC. It’s extremely challenging, and when it’s done well, it’s a triumph.
But is it the case that the main reason why the ABC is struggling to fulfil its charter is not the “speed of the internet age”, but the fact that the media organisation knowingly departed from its core purpose – to inform, educate and entertain – long ago?
A gradual slide in the quality of the ABC’s news broadcasts, as highlighted by Media Watch host Paul Barry’s criticism of Aunty’s coverage of the fatal attacks at Bondi Junction last month, suggests that Tingle is directing her frustrations in the wrong direction.
Tingle assured the festival attendees that the ABC is a “good public investment” and a safe space for where Australians can get all their news and information, but doubled down on commercial free-to-air broadcasters and newspaper outlets.
“The prospect that has increasingly cropped up in conversations in recent weeks is that in a few years there may be no commercial free-to-air broadcasters in Australia. Newspapers may become even greater shadows of themselves.
“That spectre should help focus all of us at the ABC on the task at hand, that our contribution is to be a place where people can come back to to get facts and an informed analysis and background to events after they’ve been cast adrift on the wilder sea of misinformation on social media, or mass media with fixed agendas and news.”
Fixed agendas?
Who could forget Tingle’s very own (mis) use of social media back in 2020 when in a late-night, since-deleted tweet, she accused former Prime Minister Scott Morrison of being “smug” and guilty of “government ideological bastardry” following the announcement of budget cuts at the ABC.
But it’s nice to know Tingle keeps herself busy by reading the national broadsheet.
During her address, Tingle rattled off three headlines on The Australian’s website relating to the Israel-Hamas war, and accused News Corp of pursuing “relentless and all embracing” campaigns.
She then conspiratorially claimed that some News Corp journalists are in “search of stories in which to troll the ABC”.
Really?
Applying the “troll” label to media outlets that apply legitimate scrutiny to an organisation that receives more than $1bn of government funding every year is lazy and disingenuous.
Instead of worrying about being “under attack”, the ABC should focus on getting its own house in order.
Because it’s in disarray.
Rag-tag operation
Radio ratings are in free fall at ABC Sydney and the network’s brains trust is working overtime to stem the flow of listeners, who are continuing to drift away.
But the almighty task of turning things around appears to have fallen squarely to breakfast host Craig Reucassel, who is publicly spruiking an idea that is probably better suited to student radio.
Wait for it …
This week, ABC Sydney will be playing “the biggest game of tag ever”.
A playground-inspired game involving eager participants chasing each other, and attempting to tag them and make them “it” until they tag someone else, is, somehow, going to bring disgruntled ABC listeners back into the fold. Or not.
Reucassel, who has struggled in the ratings race since he took over the coveted timeslot from James Valentine in January, has been busy talking up the game on his program, trying to rustle up listeners to play from Monday and to send in their videos of the “best tag” as part of the competition.
The breakfast show’s audience is also being urged to consider “wearing a disguise” or “going the distance” to be in the running for a “special prize”.
So, who does the ABC think will participate? Retirees in the suburbs, or perhaps a busy parent, in between dropping off their kids at school?
Reucassel even suggested listeners get together with some chums “who know each other” (but must have “consented”) to be a part of the game, and come up with the “most epic tag”.
But be warned, “you can’t tag a spouse or partner” and you must ensure you tag actions are not “too dangerous”.
And who wins?
Reucassel explained last week: “Whoever is still ‘it’ at 7.30am on Friday the 17th loses; the winner will be the one who does the most epic tag.”
So where did the idea come from? Turns out it’s not an original concept.
“We were inspired by talking to Lou from Longreach, where the town plays a month-long game of tag,” Reucassel said last week.
Indeed, Reucassel even got Lou on the blower for a hard-hitting interview about the game.
“Is it true that you drove 27km out of town at 11pm at night, walked 5km from the highway and climbed through a window to tag somebody?”
Lou responded: “Yes.”
Lou even confessed that she travelled to near Toowoomba, 1100km away from her home, to tag somebody.
The mind boggles. It boggles so hard.
“Let us know you’re playing, we’re going to give a price for the most epic tag, you know, depending on what you are wearing, how clever you are, how did you sneak up on someone,” Reucassel’s on-air spiel went.
“It cannot be dangerous. Obviously it’s got to be sensible.” Maybe listener Lou didn’t get the memo.
But one ABC insider, who did not want to be named for fear of being branded “anti-tag”, told Diary the whole thing was “confusing” and was nothing more than a “cheap promotion”.
“What’s the prize? What’s the purpose?” the perplexed insider said.
“We have really lost our way. Poor Craig. This will not help him on any level. ABC radio has lost its way.”
Radio head
As the old adage goes, someone has a good face for radio if they are not too easy on the eye.
But at Nine’s Melbourne station 3AW, there’s no such thing as a radio head. The future is multimedia heads.
Station manager Stephen Beers sent around a message to staff last week informing them that all radio hosts must make an effort with their appearance, because the studio cameras are getting a refurb.
Titled ‘studio camera and lighting upgrade’, the Beers email said: “We are in the process of upgrading the studio lighting and cameras for a better ‘look’ on our video streaming.”
Beers told staffers that the powers that be are working around the clock to fix the appearance of the studios, which includes taking action to “block external light to the cameras” so 3AW hosts look their best.
Now we won’t go pointing any fingers about who needs to scrub up, but needless to say, no one wants to be seen with bed hair and a three-day growth.
Whether it be the breakfast host duo of Ross Stevenson and Russel Howcroft, or mornings with Tom Elliott (and his favourite Hawaiian shirt), there will no longer be any hiding behind the microphone.
Nothing is sacred anymore.
When the war is over
Diary reported last week on the in-house blue at The Sydney Morning Herald between sports columnists Peter FitzSimons and Andrew Webster, who have very different views on the concussion debate that has gripped rugby league and other sporting codes in recent times.
A brief summary of the conflict is as follows: Webster writes a nuanced column about concern over calls for rule changes that may or may not limit the possibility of concussions; FitzSimons uses his next column to ridicule Webster; Webster returns serve by labelling FitzSimons a condescending know-it-all; and then FitzSimons attempted to make nice in his Saturday column by quoting something “very funny” in a piece by Webster the previous day.
So, by Diary’s reckoning, it’s 30-30 on Webster’s serve, but will the back-and-forth continue?
Probably not. We’ve heard that certain senior figures at the SMH have decided it’s a little bit unbecoming. Indeed, it’s understood that Luke McIlveen, the executive editor of Nine’s metro mastheads, personally approved FitzSimons’ column last week.
Nick Tabakoff is on leave
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