News Corp’s rival snaps up former Courier-Mail editor

Former Courier-Mail editor Lachlan Heywood has been appointed executive editor of Daily Mail Australia.

Cartoon: Johannes Leak

Lachlan Heywood, who left News Corp in September after 20 years, the final 21 months as editor of The Courier-Mail, has bounced back quicker than anyone expected. Heywood, who said at the time of his abrupt departure from News, “the clock is always ticking as soon as you arrive”, will move from Brisbane to Sydney to become executive editor of bitter News Corp rival, Daily Mail Australia. He will work with Barclay Crawford, who was recently appointed editor. The new structure comes as Luke McIlveen, launch editor of the site, prepares to return to News Corp to become executive editor at Fox Sports. Diary hears Heywood, who worked with McIlveen in the Canberra Press Gallery, is in London right now at the Daily Mail’s headquarters above a department store in swish Kensington for his induction/drinking the Kool-Aid.

Hall of Famers

If there has been a more fitting and memorable tribute to journalism than Friday’s launch of The Australian Media Hall of Fame at Doltone House overlooking Sydney’s Hyde Park, Diary is unaware of it. Such was the sheer buzz from the scoop of journalistic legends in one place and the professionalism of the night that the Sydney journalistic establishment didn’t mind a jot that it was all organised by the Melbourne Press Club (see our story on page 25). Ably compered by ABC News Breakfast’s Michael Rowland, who had been up since 3am, the night began with the sad news that Melbourne Press Club vice-president Philip Chubb, a Gold Walkley winner for 1993 ABC series Labor in Power and associate professor of Monash University’s journalism school, had died. The thing I loved the most about the Hall of Fame was how ecumenical it was, honouring those who had made a real impact: John Laws alongside Caroline Jones. John Pilger won over the room with a marvellous acceptance speech from London about growing up on Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph. And from New York, Steve Dunleavy explained his ruthless journalistic philosophy: “All’s fair in love, war and newsgathering.”

Paul Kelly, when asked who was the worst recent prime minister, replied: “the last four”, while Col Allan advised young journalists to “stay off the piss and keep your hands to yourself”. Richie Benaud’s widow Daphne said of her husband that “he didn’t say a lot but what he did say was worth listening to” while Max Suich said Fairfax chief executive Greg Hywood was not popular “but I also said to Greg that I didn’t think the corporation would have survived without him”. Lorrie Graham said in order to create the famous Rolling Stone cover of Paul Keating in sunglasses, she lied to his minder (Anne Summers, no less, another inductee), telling her she must leave to feed the parking meter. Graham on Keating: “He was pretty stiff; I didn’t have any film in the camera for the first half-hour.” The Bulletin’s cartoonist Patrick Cook thanked Bob Hawke: “Nobody will ever compare to Bob Hawke, who very kindly grew to resemble everybody’s drawings of him.” And there was wisdom as well from Gerald Stone: “There’s nothing like hypocrisy to bring out good journalism.” Chris Masters advised young journalists to stay the course: “When you tough it out you learn a lot.”

Only at one point did the Melbourne Press Club’s organisational power falter. Rowland recounted how the press club rang sports producer David Hill to alert him that he had been chosen for the Hall of fame, but managed to put a call through to the former ABC managing director instead.

Fairfax cuts deeper

Shareholders overwhelmingly approved Fairfax’s Domain spin-off at the start of the month and already there are redundancies. In Melbourne at The Weekly Review, a high-end lifestyle and property glossy that used to be owned by Antony Catalano’s Metro Media Publishing until Fairfax bought it, editor Jane Hutchinson and a photographer have been made redundant. Fairfax declined to comment. Meanwhile, Fairfax’s Australian Community Media division announced it is closing six Sydney newspapers with the loss of 11 staff. On Thursday affected staff were briefed about proposals to close the free suburban Parramatta-Holroyd Sun, Blacktown Sun, St Marys-Mt Druitt Star, Penrith City Gazette, Hills News and Rouse Hill Courier. Fairfax will launch a magazine next year to replace the titles. “Our priority at the moment is our staff and consulting with them about the proposed changes. Details of the title, content, format and distribution strategy of the magazine are still being finalised and we will talk more about it at the appropriate time,” a spokesman said. Maybe more Fairfax executives need to read The Australian Financial Review’s Chanticleer column on November 2, when Tony Boyd wrote: “But no company can cut themselves to greatness.”

Jones gets a Fair go

And the new editor of Vanity Fair is … New York Times’ books editor Radhika Jone s. According to The New York Times, which presumably knows. Confirmation is expected soon. Back in May this very column tipped that famous editor Graydon Carter would leave the magazine he has edited since 1992. Graydon stepped down in a blaze of publicity in September, while the magazine was flush with success due to a “Trump Bump” circulation boost thanks to the US President attacking it. Jones will be the first female editor since Tina Brown, who revived the title, left in 1992. Jones previously worked at Time and the Paris Review and is known in literary circles, but not in Hollywood. As one magazine ­editor sniffed, “Seems like a low budget choice — I doubt she would get anywhere near the dollars Carter was getting.”

Gallery changes afoot

All change at the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery. After 26 years in journalism, and 12 in the gallery, Fairfax Media photographer Andrew Meares is leaving. Meares recalls some sage advice he was given in the pub just after he had started. “I was told I had the best job in the world because I had the ability to be published every day and I could tell the prime minister what to do and he or she would actually do it.” Meares, the president of the gallery committee, rides off into the sunset this Friday. Gallery vice-president, The Australian’s political correspondent David Crowe, is leaving the paper next month. He is thinking about next steps and could remain in the gallery and on the committee; its elections are due at year’s end. The committee will meet within days but the talks are not expected to be as stormy as a Coalition party room meeting. Canberra journos deal with their own leadership questions more smoothly than the politicians.

Rebel now a cause

In a rare moment of solidarity at least four news organisations are hoping to join Bauer in its legal appeal over the $4.5 million defamation verdict awarded to Rebel Wilson. News Corp Australia, the Seven Network, Nine Network and Macquarie Radio plan on making an application to “intervene” before the Victorian Court of Appeal. If given leave by the court, the interveners as “friends of the court” would make a joint submission on elements of J ustice John Dixon’s judgment on damages, separate to the magazine publisher’s submission. In awarding the record sum to the Hollywood star in September, His Honour held that the $390,000 statutory cap on non-economic damages no longer applied when a plaintiff (such as Rebel) was found to be entitled to aggravated damages.

PVO in demand

Lots of conjecture about what exactly Peter van Onselen will be doing next year. Van Onselen will remain contributing editor for The Australian as well as Sky News, appearing across the network. With Wayne Errington, senior lecturer in politics and public policy of Adelaide University, PVO is writing two books, one on the decline of the political class and another titled Slaughtering Sacred Cows, about the policies the major political parties won’t tackle. Additionally, the plan is to bring back his Contrarians program for two hours each Friday afternoon.

This pea’s in a pod

And the media section today launches a podcast. It’s called Behind the Media and features candid conversations with journalists behind the face of Australian media. It is hosted by yours truly and aims to be witty and serious in different parts. Search for it on our website and subscribe via your podcatcher of choice.

@viscountbrooky