Leigh Sales says she is giving “a lot of deep thought” to changing her policy on how she treats politicians’ private lives, in comments likely to cause heart murmurs on both sides of politics in Canberra.
Sales has revealed that until the last few weeks, she has adhered to unspoken rules that “people’s private lives are off bounds unless it has a direct bearing on the execution of their public duties”.
“That’s the standard I’ve adhered to for my entire working life,” she says.
But for the 7.30 host, that time-honoured principle may be about to change. In light of the momentous events of recent weeks, the 7.30 host is now weighing up whether that longstanding general principle of keeping the personal lives of public figures private — which she has observed since she was 20 — still stands.
When Sharri Markson, now The Australian’s investigative editor, revealed in February 2018 on The Daily Telegraph’s front page that Barnaby Joyce had a pregnant mistress, Sales admits she consciously limited her questioning when she interviewed him soon after on 7.30. Sales says she told Joyce at the time: “I have no intention of asking about intimate details of your private life. These questions that I’ve got are all in the context of establishing if your personal conduct has any intersection with your professional role as an elected official.”
.@Barnaby_Joyce tells @leighsales the end of his marriage was “one of the greatest failures of my lifeâ€. #abc730#auspolpic.twitter.com/maRfgpuL4u
— abc730 (@abc730) February 7, 2018
Sales told a Sydney Media Club Q&A session with the ABC’s John Lyons last Wednesday that this was “the kind of framework” in which she had always conducted her journalism when it came to politicians’ private lives.
“(But) what recent weeks have caused me to do a lot of soul-searching over — and I still feel I’m processing it so I don’t know what I think — is: have I been educated in, and almost brainwashed, into a system that has protected powerful men at the expense of women … like their wives, or their staffers, and we’ve seen staffers make that clear now?”
Sales stresses she is still “extremely discomforted” by the notion of reporting on people’s private lives. “But I do feel that I’m chewing this over in my head a lot and trying to process it, and work out what I now think.”
Politicians, beware.
-
Libs to grill ABC on ‘activism’
If you thought relations between the ABC and the federal government were already as frosty as they could be, think again.
The tension will crank up yet another notch on Tuesday. Diary is reliably informed the government will use Senate estimates to grill the ABC about whether some journalists have been practising “activism”.
In a case of impeccable timing, ABC managing director David Anderson is appearing in Senate estimates less than 24 hours after the Four Corners episode Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell deals with the treatment of women in politics in light of Brittany Higgins’ allegations.
It will come just two weeks after a separate Four Corners episode, Louise Milligan’s Bursting the Canberra Bubble, concentrated on historical rape allegations against Attorney-General Christian Porter.
The last time that Anderson appeared in Senate estimates, in November, another Milligan Four Corners story, Inside the Canberra Bubble, also about Porter, dominated proceedings.
Then there’s last week’s announcement of defamation action by Porter against Milligan and the ABC, featuring the mouth-watering clash between top senior counsel Bret Walker (for Porter) and former solicitor-general Justin Gleeson (for the ABC).
We’re told NSW senator Andrew Bragg is likely to open the bowling on Tuesday for the Coalition.
When Diary reached Bragg over the weekend, he indicated he wouldn’t be holding back. “This is an opportunity for us to ensure that the ABC is as good as it can be,” he said. “We want the ABC to be credible, and we want it to be the home of good journalism, not activism.
“This is not about a culture war. It’s not about any particular agenda other than ensuring that the ABC complies with its editorial standards.”
Diary is told the government’s questioning of Anderson about “activism” will focus on ABC journalists’ use of social media, and whether it is politically partisan. It was only last month that the ABC boss emailed every staff member to warn them they had a responsibility “to protect the ABC’s reputation, independence and integrity where your personal use of social media intersects with your professional life”.
Anderson also told staff that any breach of “the guidelines for personal use of social media … may lead to disciplinary action, including possible termination of employment”.
In light of this email, Bragg says he will ask Anderson: “Have you needed to pull any staff member off social media yet?”
Meanwhile, Diary hears on the other side, Labor is likely to press Anderson on claims of government pressure on the ABC behind the scenes ahead of the Four Corners programs.
There will be, we’re told, a particular focus from Labor on a December letter sent by Communications Minister Paul Fletcher to ABC chairman Ita Buttrose.
Through this column, Buttrose accused Fletcher of “disrespect”, after he tweeted out the letter lashing the Milligan story and the ABC board’s response to it.
We’re told Anderson has in recent days been rehearsing for his estimates appearance by spitballing the toughest possible questions senators could ask. Diary is told Anderson is “relaxed” about Tuesday’s encounter.
Should be compulsory viewing.
-
Uhlmann cops spray at march
It would be an understatement to say it’s been a rough month so far for Nine’s political editor Chris Uhlmann.
First, a couple of weeks back he copped an absolute pasting after directly taking on the Twittersphere over its treatment of the Christian Porter allegations.
Uhlmann had re-tweeted a Phil Coorey piece in the AFR which stated of the Porter episode: “One can only imagine how even more hideous the whole episode would have been had the internet — including its sewer, Twitter — existed back then.”
Uhlmann provocatively addressed the Twitterati directly in their favourite habitat: “Top of the morning sewer rats. Why not waste a lazy day in hysterics over this?”
If it was a reaction Uhlmann was looking for, he certainly got one, with thousands of Twitterati lashing out at his post.
So it’s probably not entirely a surprise that when Uhlmann turned up at last Monday’s main March 4 Justice in Canberra to film a story, it didn’t go unnoticed.
Diary is told Uhlmann and his cameraman Tim Sweeney were trying to remain relatively inconspicuous, but had to move locations three times to try to film a piece-to-camera. That’s because a black balaclava-clad protester in a particularly feisty mood, shouted a string of four-letter words and gave him one-fingered salutes with both hands wherever he went.
Amusingly, the protester initially mistook the Nine political editor for another Canberra commentator who has also been copping flak on Twitter, Peter van Onselen, until a friend corrected her and said it was Uhlmann. But that revelation only prompted a new round of colourful language, this time protesting Uhlmann’s provocative tweeting.
Despite her undisguised fury, we hear Uhlmann kept his cool and in fact gave his cameraman explicit instructions not to antagonise the protester in any way.
Finally, after 20 minutes and yet another unsuccessful change of location for the piece to camera, Uhlmann and his cameraman gave up and retreated to the relative quiet of Parliament House.
-
‘Suspicious Minds’ at Credlin’s 50th bash
Will she or won’t she?
After last week’s Diary, the running gag of Peta Credlin’s posh 50th birthday party at the venerable Melbourne Club on Saturday night was whether she should go into politics.
The hot topic was continually referenced during speeches from Credlin’s partner, Brian Loughnane, former PM Tony Abbott, several friends from her school days and finally, the Sky News host herself. But it was Credlin’s mum Brenda — delivering just the second public speech of her entire life — who stole the show with a heartfelt reminiscence about bringing a “mischievous” and youthful Credlin up in rural Victoria.
Other attendees bringing signed books to the big bash, as requested, included Credlin’s fellow Sky anchors Paul Murray, Peter Gleeson and Rita Panahi.
The night’s MC was who else but another prominent fellow Sky anchor in Alan Jones, who was determined to steer the night’s narrative back to the ‘Peta for politics’ push at every opportunity, adamant the Australian political landscape needed Credlin. Jones also suggested there was “never a time” that the country was more in need of strong leadership like hers.
It took the word of Credlin’s mum to put things in perspective when it came to Peta’s possible political career. “I’d prefer her to stay where she is,” she said.
Right at the end of the evening, Abbott brought the house down by making a special request to the band.
His song choice? We kid you not — Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds”. Enough said.
-
Aston the novelist?
The Australian Financial Review’s star columnist, Joe Aston, is considering a move into longer-form writing. Diary is told Aston is about to take some time off his Rear Window column to scope out the prospect of writing a novel.
Our sources say that while the plan has changed several times, the current intention is that he will take two months off Rear Window after Easter to put together a synopsis for a novel and “figure out if it will work”. The subject matter of the possible tome, however, remains a mystery.
-
Hugh Marks: My chance to do ‘nothing’
Hugh Marks will quietly depart Nine’s North Sydney headquarters this week, formally ending his five-year reign over the company.
Marks has confirmed to Diary that Friday will be his last day. “I’m looking forward to having some time away from the pressures of that role,” he told us.
Marks will vacate his office on the ninth floor of Nine’s new-ish North Sydney headquarters for new boss Mike Sneesby, who will now vacate his office with Nine’s streaming service Stan (still based in the Sydney CBD) for the posher digs on the other side of the harbour.
Marks said his non-compete agreement with Nine won’t expire until 2022 — leaving him with the chance, for once, to do nothing for the rest of the year. “I have nothing planned at this stage. I’ll have some time off and see what I do next. But right now, there are no plans.”
-
Leigh on Kerry O’Brien: ‘Give me three years’
Leigh Sales now seems as secure in her role as any TV anchor in Australia, after a decade hosting 7.30. But it wasn’t always thus.
In a fascinating titbit from her Sydney Media Club lunch last week, Sales revealed she was concerned that the shadow of former host Kerry O’Brien would loom large over the show when he left.
“When I first started at 7.30 … I remember saying to (ex-ABC news boss) Kate Torney and (ex-ABC managing director) Mark Scott when I took over that I wanted them to agree that I would get three years to do the job regardless of how it was going, because I just thought it would take ages for the audience to forget it was Kerry there. (It’s) the same way when Brian Henderson left Channel 9, and I remember when Karl Stefanovic took over from Steve Liebmann at Today.”
The problem, she said, is that “audiences don’t like change, full stop”.
These days, it is Sales who has the benefit of longevity on her side: “You spend a long period of time just trying to get the audience to accept that you’re not the old person. But I never get any of that now, it’s been such a long time.”
-
Gerry’s toaster for Ray Hadley wedding
It’ll be a case of sixth time lucky for Sydney and Brisbane talk radio king Ray Hadley and his partner Sophie Baird this coming Saturday, as the pair will, fingers crossed, finally tie the knot in front of 120 family and friends.
The Sydney media wedding of 2021 should have been the wedding of 2020, but has so far been delayed five times over the last year because of COVID-19.
Hadley tells Diary the big day will be at his great friend John ‘Singo’ Singleton’s Saddles venue at Mount White, north of Sydney.
The event will be a family/close friends affair, almost totally free of on-air radio talent. Hadley’s on-air work colleagues Ben Fordham, Deb Knight and Jim Wilson haven’t made the cut. His long-time radio understudy Mark Levy will have the privilege of being the only 2GB on-air person present, apart from Hadley himself.
“There’ll be no Channel 9 stories about our wedding and no surprises,” a relaxed Hadley tells us. “It will be a simple affair. But thanks to COVID-19 rules relaxing, we will be able to stand up and have a drink.”
The wedding will pay homage to Hadley’s beloved country music. Jem Cassar-Daley, daughter of country music legend Troy, will sing in the ceremony, along with another country star, Adam Harvey.
On the business side, apart from Singo, the other high-profile couple present will be the king and queen of Harvey Norman, Gerry Harvey and Katie Page. Hadley is unable to resist a final sledge for billionaire Harvey: “I’ve been forced to invite Gerry because I wanted Katie to come,” he tells Diary. “I expect he’ll give us a toaster and a sandwich maker as a wedding present!”
Join the conversation
‘Distressing’: Nine’s bombshell report to be released
The findings of the troubled TV network’s independent review into workplace misconduct will be released this week and staff offered extensive support.
Read more
‘What you saw, is what you got’ with larger-than-life presenter Negus
George Negus was made for TV. The pioneering journalist, one of the three original members of 60 Minutes and the inaugural host of ABC’s Foreign Correspondent, has died at the age of 82.
Read more