Plea puzzle in Raschke’s case

Rob Raschke ponders the first steps in rebuilding his 34-year career ­ruined by 10 seconds of madness; plus is it curtains for Carla McGrath?

Cartoon: Johannes Leak

Rob Raschke is out of town, pondering how to take the first steps in rebuilding his 34-year career ­ruined by 10 seconds of madness. Last week the former Sky News executive escaped jail, placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond with no conviction recorded after he grabbed wife Rachel while both were at home in February and ­“violently shook” her. Seven West Media commercial director Bruce McWilliam, Raschke’s old boss, told the court the incident was out of character. “I know it is not my place to lecture the court in a reference but I am aware of the highly unusual facts and that Rob could have changed his plea but he did not wish to put Rachel through it and he is determined to face up to it. Rob has been a wonderful father and stepfather and his commitment to his family is paramount. It goes without saying that this has cost Rob enormously given the glare of publicity in the world in which he works.” Raschke pleaded guilty to common assault at a hearing in February, but his crisis communications rep Tim Allerton caused media confusion by telling The Australian that lawyers had entered the guilty plea “by mistake”.

Press Council gets down

The Australian Press Council will seek to put an end to the controversy over Get Up! deputy chair Carla McGrath’s appointment as a public member. Members are now required to disclose any possible conflicts of interest and the council will consider these at its regular quarterly meeting on ­Friday. McGrath’s appointment led to former chairman David Weisbrot resigning and The Australian and other News Corp titles refusing to back any adjudication in which she had taken part. In an interview last week with News Media Works, new chairman ­Neville Stevens said the council had to judge conflicts of interest, both perceived and actual. “I think the need is to address controversy and to move on and ensure the confidence of both publishers and the community.” Curtains for Carla?

Platform paralysis

At a mere nine pages, Fairfax Media’s submission to the ACCC inquiry into the power of digital platforms looked a little thin compared with Nine’s 50 pages and News Corp’s 144 pages. “We see the digital platforms as important and enduring participants in our operating environment and are seeking to proactively partner in recognition of this reality.” Google and Facebook are said to “provide valuable services to both consumers and advertisers” and “we do not anticipate that their central role in the ecosystem will change markedly”. Quite a difference in tone from other media companies, full of detail about the damage the platforms cause to their business. Diary wonders if head of metro publishing Chris Janz, who ­recently signed an ad sales deal with Google, was responsible for this benign tone. “Fairfax’s submission is quite odd in that while it discusses the negative impact of the digital platforms on the health of the print industry, it holds back and is muted in its criticism of the platforms, presumably due to its partnership with Google,” one media executive who does not have an office on the fifth floor of ­2 Holt St, Surry Hills, told Diary. A Fairfax spokesman responded: “Total bollocks.”

In the public interest

Doltone House overlooking Sydney’s Hyde Park is the place to be on Friday night for the inaugural Walkley Fund for Journalism Dinner. The Walkley Foundation is shifting focus and wants to raise $1 million to help fund public interest journalism. Seven’s Melissa Doyle will host, Kerry O’Brien will moderate a panel featuring investigative heavy hitters Steve Pennells, Kate Geraghty, Ross Coulthart, Louise Milligan and Annika Smethurst. Alongside this cavalcade of stars will be your Diarist, hosting the auction, which includes the prize of being papped at dinner with Kate McClymont.

April’s busting out

When the Daily Mail’s C-bomb scribe, April Glover, was sacked from the website after accidentally publishing her description (which many thought accurate) that ­reality TV contestants were “vapid c — ts” Diary predicted she would land on her feet soon. Sure enough Glover is filing for BuzzFeed Australia as a contributor, and had a piece up last week on “21 Things That Totally Freaked Out Australian Primary Schools”. BuzzFeed stories have been included in digital tutorials ABC News is running for its journalists to get them trained up for the online world, not so much as examples to emulate but as part of an overview of digital journalism.

Forest grump

Journos at The Adelaide Advertiser are keen to boost female readership and out of that project has come a desire to changes in the newsroom. The Forest Room, launched last week, should prove popular with parents of both genders who need to park their children at work for an hour in between childcare placements. It’s a place for pregnant women to rest and mothers to breastfeed or change nappies. But labelling the room an “occasional space for female staff who need some respite” caused a sharp reaction, with one journo delivering what he thought was the highest form of insult: that the Forest Room was “something you’d expect to see in a Fairfax newsroom”.

Classified information

Speaking of the C-Bomb, media regulator ACMA is going to rule on the ABC’s Tonightly program, which referred to a conservative political candidate who declined to be interviewed by the show as a “c — t”. An ABC executive apologised to Australian Conservatives candidate Kevin Bailey, but the ABC said the sketch complied with editorial standards on harm and offence. Why oh why does the ABC continue to indulge these substandard comedians? Twitter trolls regularly abuse ABC presenters with such language, causing great unhappiness, but Tonightly does it and it’s laughs ­all round?

Now Aunty is put out that Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has doubled down, unsatisfied with its response, and complained to ACMA, which recently overturned the ABC ruling on political editor Andrew Probyn’s reference to former prime minister Tony Abbott as “the most destructive politician of his generation”. ACMA ruled that Probyn had breached standards and was ­“declarative and not in keeping with the scope of the factual matters presented earlier in the report”. In its Tonightly deter­mination, ACMA will take into account the show is broadcast at 9pm and has an M rating and will examine if language warnings were appropriate. Maybe ACMA, which is pondering the future of children’s drama and the children’s “C” classification hour, could solve multiple problems and deem Tonightly’s 9pm timeslot the new “C” classification hour.

On a roll

Seven West Media chief executive Tim Worner’s contract was up on June 30, but he is not going anywhere. Chairman and loyalist Kerry Stokes had decided to give Worner an “annual rolling contract”, a Seven spokesman said, but the terms were not disclosed.

Way of the West

But there are quite a few executive changes at SWM’s WA operations. Howard Gretton, 55, a ­journo for 37 years and news director of SMW’s top-rating Channel 7 Perth, has quit on amicable terms to join WA Police as media and corporate communications. Also leaving with other jobs to go to: Adam Everett, general manager of circulation and distribution at The West Australian and Dan Stinton, head of digital Seven West Media WA, who announced last month he was leaving to join the Guardian. Not the best timing given The West is due to unveil its paywall strategy in a month or so.

Out of reach

SBS had to withdraw its submission to the ACCC digital platforms inquiry after making a mistake. SBS program The Feed lost 50 per cent of its reach after Facebook news feed algorithm changes, but SBS had told the ACCC the program had lost “50 per cent of its audience”. Memo to communications managers. Don’t email a journalist telling them you have “noticed a small error” in their article without being explicit that the “small error” was actually contained in your company’s submission!