Media Diary: ABC star quits with teary sign off
Long serving ABC host Mary Gearin has quit the public broadcaster.
She announced her decision on social media last week and presented her final bulletin over the weekend with a teary sign off, promising to keep in touch with her viewers and offer them more “mum jokes”.
“After 30 years on and off at the ABC, I‘m calling time. Like many people, I’ve been looking at life in a new way since the pandemic,” Gearin said.
“It‘s time for me to explore other adventures, but I leave knowing ABC’s future lies safe in the hand of its critical-thinking workers, never compromising their values. From being a wide-eyed, permed-up cadet in 1991, to becoming the ABC’s first female TV news sports presenter.”
Gearin has had an illustrious career at Channel 2, with roles on 730 and, for the past five years she has been the regular presenter of Melbourne’s 7pm news bulletin.
She also served as Europe correspondent and was the network’s first national sports correspondent.
On Saturday night she signed off while fighting back tears.
“I‘m leaving to find new adventures,” before having to compose herself.
“I’m not retiring, but it is time for something new. I’d like to thank all the amazing colleagues I’ve worked with, but also you, the audience with on TV, radio online. I’ve loved meeting you, connecting with you and telling your stories. It’s been an honour and a privilege to be part of your lights. And I do hope to find another way to do that,” Gearin said.
She is now actively looking for work via her social media platforms.
I'm considering various opportunities, but if you're in need of a journalist- communicator- presenter- strategist- analyst with a focus on community connection and public accountability, decades of contacts and insights, with a side order of puns, hit me up!
— MaryGearin (@MaryGearin) September 27, 2023
MadTV starring footy stars
The morning after a grand final win is tough. Even tougher for AFL and NRL stars who have spent the night celebrating their wins.
The AFL grand final on Saturday was a historic 16th premiership win for the Collingwood Magpies and the celebrations matched the hype.
On Sunday the Pies players fulfilled numerous media obligations before fronting more than 15,000 fans.
Like the game, some performed better than others.
The famed Daicos brothers – Josh and Nick, who are the sons of AFL legend Peter Daicos – capped off stellar seasons after being named in the All Australian squad and then becoming premiership players.
Nick, 20, was in the midst of an interview on The Sunday Footy Show with Nine’s sports presenter Alicia Muling before the chat was crashed by Josh, 24.
Josh, carrying the Premiership Cup, demanded Nick hurry up in order to make another photo call, disregarding Muling before Nick stepped in.
“Bro, I’m f. king on air,” Nick said.
"Bro, f---ing... I'm on air!" 😂
— Footy on Nine (@FootyonNine) October 1, 2023
When Josh Daicos interrupted Nick's interview 😆#9AFLSFS#AFLGF | Channel 9 📺 pic.twitter.com/AnNX5Ucu00
Meanwhile on Monday as the Penrith Panthers continued their “threepeat” celebrations, coach Ivan Cleary – father of NRL’s newest “immortal” Nathan Cleary – fronted breakfast TV to discuss his team and son’s match winning antics.
“I actually said to him yesterday, if I’d married someone else he would have been a pretty s … player,” Cleary Sr said about Nathan’s performance.
He's the man of the moment and he's soaking his third NRL Premiership all in! ðŸ¾ðŸ†
— 9News Australia (@9NewsAUS) October 1, 2023
Supercoach Ivan Cleary isn't looking too bad after a massive night of celebrations.
HIGHLIGHTS: https://t.co/1q5zbxYaBN
📺 #NRLGF | Exclusive on Channel 9 & 9Now#9News#NRLpic.twitter.com/j0zFgCVesh
Meanwhile on Monday, Nathan broke ranks with most players from the NRL and AFL and publicly declared his position on the voice.
“No voice. No choice. Come on Australia, vote yes,” Nathan said.
Everyone needs good neighbours, except on Nine
Nine’s The Block seems to be going from ratings and advertising sweetheart to bitter ex in the space of one season.
Fans of the show are not only switching off, they’re complaining about it too.
Not content with the content, keyboard warriors are whining about the bullying and gaslighting being broadcast in private fan-run Facebook groups and lodging complaints with the media umpire.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority received 28 reports regarding The Block in the space of a week.
“The majority of the inquiries related to allegations of bullying, harassment and promotion of anti-social behaviour between contestants,” an ACMA spokeswoman told Diary.
Nine now has 60 days to respond.
Admittedly, your diarist would rather watch paint dry than watch Scott Cam judge people paint; however, the hullabaloo appears to be around an episode involving contestants Kristy Beams and Leah Milton, who have been accused of “bullying” their co-stars and sabotaging their projects.
Looks like Married At First Sight has come early … and wielding power tools.
Sydney’s 2GB to lose its ‘beating heart’ in Tele coup
Ben Fordham’s most faithful lieutenant is breaking up with him.
James Willis is leaving Sydney’s 2GB for a new gig with The Daily Telegraph.
Telegraph editor Ben English is pretty pleased with himself, having lured someone he calls “the heart and soul of 2GB” to work on a top-secret venture he promises to share with Diary readers soon.
It’s quite the coup.
Willis has been with Nine’s radio network for more than a decade, starting out as a sports reporter, and was appointed executive producer of Ben Fordham Live in January last year.
The proof of Willis’s success shows in the ratings survey results Fordham and his team have achieved.
In the last book, while dropping 3.5 points, Ben Fordham Live was the number one breakfast show, and perhaps most importantly was also winning in the new “streaming” stakes that were reported for the first time this year.
The sixth ratings results for the year will be released on Thursday.
Brownlow boom
The Brownlow Medal has given us years of sartorial splendour and shock value – with bejewelled G-strings and more bare sternums than a cardiac ward.
The AFL’s fairest-and-best award night is also now one of Australia’s most significant cultural events and makes the NRL’s Dally M look like Kath & Kim cosplay.
The arrivals hall of this “strictly black tie” awards night in Melbourne has done more for local fashion, designers and the broader creative economy than official fashion weeks, spring races and runway shows.
Those few squares of plush pile have spawned metres of newsprint, millions of “likes”, comments and shares on social media, as well as launched and sustained careers and brands.
The TV ratings from the 2023 event prove it. Seven – the AFL’s host broadcaster – won last Monday night’s ratings with a primary share of 31.6 per cent and a network share of 41.2 per cent.
More than 905,000 people tuned in to watch the 2023 AFL Brownlow Medal.
About 516,000 of those eyeballs came from the code’s heartland of Melbourne. Seven now dedicates a special hour of prime time especially for the glitz, glam and guffaws of the red carpet, which last week had more than 585,000 people tuning in across the five capitals.
As well as ratings, the arrivals are a major revenue opportunity for Seven.
This year Colgate-Palmolive sponsored the show with a special, well executed “glam bot” slow-mo camera set up. We’ve come a long way since the ill-advised “lazy Susan” from a few years ago that served up WAGs like they were buffet dishes and sent them inside with vertigo.
The Brownlow red carpet has single-handedly launched the careers of soon-to-be star of The Amazing Race: Australia, Rebecca Judd, and local dress designers such as J’Aton Couture, Paolo Sebastian, Jason Grech, Cappellazzo Couture and Oglialoro Couture. It has also cemented Lana Wilkinson as Australia’s most prolific and emulated stylist.
Ms Wilkinson created some behind-the-scenes videos of her work on Monday for the first time. The three-minute vignettes clocked up more than 488,000 views across Instagram and her new TikTok account in less than 24 hours.
Not bad for a niche sporting event that has now morphed into a sartorial behemoth.
Stacked against her
With a new dawn in Victoria after new Premier Jacinta Allan was sworn in – after outgoing boss Daniel Andrews swore at the Labor caucus – some media outlets around Melbourne were also hoping for a reset in the relationship with Spring Street.
After an embarrassing blip at Nine’s breakfast TV show Today, which referred to “Jacinta Ardern”, things seemed to be going swimmingly.
Ms Allan appeared on ABC Mornings with Raf Epstein, as diary revealed last week, then with Tom Elliott on 3AW Drive, ending that tête-à-tête by promising to speak with Elliott on air again when he takes over from Neil Mitchell on Mornings in 2024.
However, Mitchell, famously in Andrews’ deep freezer, is apparently not in Ms Allan’s good books either. He texted “several times” and had his producers make some calls, but still she did not materialise for a chat.
Far be it from this radio neophyte to tell a broadcasting legend how to do his job, but maybe referring to the new queen of the Socialist Left as a “branch stacker” wasn’t the best turn of phrase when trying to turn over a new leaf.
“I meant to describe her background as a ‘shelf stacker in supermarkets’,” Mitchell told Diary.
“It came out as ‘branch stacker’. It took 34 years for me to provide my best Freudian slip.”
PM copies Kenny
Viewers of Chris Kenny Tonight on Sky News and readers of Kenny’s columns know where he stands on the voice debate; however, it was still a shock to hear Anthony Albanese go “the full Kenny” when urging Australians to vote yes on October 14.
Those of us who have been in the peanut gallery of federal parliament this year have become accustomed to the government quoting Kenny’s TV scripts during question time, and he’s now apparently taking Kenny’s policy advice, published in The Weekend Australian.
A few weeks ago Kenny cheekily penned a speech for Mr Albanese, saying he was free to use it. “I would invite the Coalition to be involved in a committee process to design that (voice) legislation, which would be based largely on the work they commissioned in government under professors (Marcia) Langton and Tom Calma. It is my view that a parliamentary committee dominated by Labor and Coalition members would provide oversight and engagement with a voice once it is operational, so that we entrench the best opportunity for bipartisan approaches,” Kenny wrote on September 16.
On September 24 the PM announced: “Today I announce and confirm that if Australians vote yes in three weeks’ time that I will propose a broad joint parliamentary committee with co-chairs from Labor and the Coalition to oversee the development of legislation for the voice advisory group.”
“Good on him for picking up my sensible idea,” Kenny told Diary.
If Australians vote Yes on October 14, we'll move forward by bringing all sides of politics together to develop the Voice legislation. pic.twitter.com/adt1thG6wx
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) September 24, 2023
Pollies’ punchlines
A time-honoured tradition of AFL grand final day is the North Melbourne breakfast.
One of the highlights of the star-studded event is the roasting. Not of the tomatoes served alongside the eggs Benedict, but of the VIP attendees.
This year, both Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton tried their hand at a little humour.
While there was only one winner on the day, with Collingwood defeating the Brisbane Lions, the Opposition Leader won the early race of who could deliver the best lines that stung and struck the majority of funny bones.
Mr Dutton’s speech followed the Prime Minister’s and had the head table, including Collingwood president Jeff Browne, AFL Commission and Qantas chairman Richard Goyder, Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp and the AFL’s top brass of incoming chief executive Andrew Dillon and new executive general manager of football Laura Kane, chuckling into their cappuccinos.
“It’s been a pretty tough year for the Kangaroos. And I think there’s no doubt though that you’re on the up. There’s also no pressure of course … after you’ve received an AFL assistance package that makes Albo and Alan Joyce’s deal for Qantas over Qatar look like a rounding error,” Mr Dutton said to loud applause.
He also poked fun at Gillon McLachlan’s year-long handover to Mr Dillon, calling it “the world’s longest victory lap”.
“I mean, Gill’s example is one that you can look at, but I much prefer the Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin model of retirement. Going out on top without uttering a public word to a journalist. Prime Minister, there’s probably a message in there for you at some stage,” Mr Dutton said.
Mr Albanese also highlighted Mr McLachlan’s long farewell. “I am delighted to be here at the 57th North Melbourne Grand Final Breakfast and Gill McLachlan’s 93rd official farewell,” he said.
But his zinger about Mr Dutton was the only line that got a giggle.
“It is good to see Peter Dutton here as well. Pete, I remember a few years ago you said the streets of Melbourne were so dangerous that people were afraid of going out to dinner. Well, if the Pies win today you might finally be right about that,” he said.
Seven gremlins back
It was a big weekend for Melbourne news desks, covering the historic four-point victory by Collingwood against the Lions on Saturday afternoon.
For Seven’s 6pm news bulletin, led by Rebecca Maddern, the gremlins appeared to make a comeback just when the channel least needed it. It was only two weeks ago that Diary reported Maddern and co-host Mike Amor were caught off guard, when there was a random cross to reporter Nick McCallum wrongly slotted in at the opening of the news bulletin. On Sunday night, Maddern was sitting at the newsdesk with sports reader Abbey Gelmi and threw to her colleague to report on the Magpies’ victory, when things, went a little pear shaped.
Gelmi started speaking but her microphone faded out making it almost impossible to hear her. Random footage appeared and then Maddern let viewers know there were issues with Gelmi’s microphone.
Thankfully, it was fixed up for those keen enough to stream the news bulletin on 7Plus.
Faine unmuted
Did Jon Faine feign his resignation from the media? It looks that way. The former ABC Mornings host and regular columnist in Melbourne’s The Age resigned his post from Nine newspapers after accepting a seat on the board of Museums Victoria.
“Although it is a voluntary position, accepting an appointment from any government presents both the perception and the possibility of a conflict of interest,” Faine wrote in his final column.
“Serving at the pleasure of a minister on a government board is inconsistent with being an independent scrutineer of that same government. It is not ethically possible to do both. Surrendering a platform in mainstream media is a perilous step for someone who for so long has been used to amplifying their opinions and wallowing in their self-importance. I expect the application of the ‘mute’ button will be therapeutic.”
Faine gallantly held out for almost two months. Now the vocal member of the Yes campaign is back with a new platform in The Guardian.
His most recent opinion pieces, published last week, focused on former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews under the headline: “Classic Dan: right to the end, Andrews stays one step ahead of his rivals”, and one fact-checking Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’srise to federal politics.
The Guardian did not disclose his role with the Museums Board.
“He has written a few columns for us. There is no formal or ongoing arrangement,” a Guardian spokeswoman told Diary. Faine was approached for comment.
Got a tip? Reach out to @jennamclarke
Nick Tabakoff is currently on leave.
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