Peta Credlin lashes ‘drought of professional integrity’ among sections of the media

Peta Credlin has hit out at sections of the media, claiming she received abuse for calling reporters out on misreporting.

Sky News presenter Peta Credlin.

Peta Credlin has lashed out at a “drought of professional integrity” among journalists who “consistently reported rumour as fact”, after some reports of Tony Abbott’s Warringah preselection vote suggested the former prime minister had dramatically lower levels of support than he actually received.

Speaking on her show Credlin on Sky News on Thursday night, she criticised the Financial Review’s Phillip Coorey for misreporting the numbers from the vote, and claimed he abused her when she challenged him about it.

In Monday’s Financial Review, Coorey wrote that: “Tony Abbott was unable to command a majority of votes among his own branch members on Friday night when he sought to have his preselection endorsed. Out of 93 preselectors, Mr Abbott received just 46 votes while 38 rejected his renomination and nine abstained.”

The NSW Liberal Party subsequently released the figures of the vote, with Mr Abbott winning 68 votes, and 30 votes against him. There were two informal votes.

On Thursday night, Credlin said: “Coorey never bothered to call Abbott to check and when I pulled him up on this I copped the usual abuse, pretty foul abuse, that a conservative like me gets when you dare to point out where facts don’t match fiction.”

Responding to Credlin’s comments, Coorey told The Australian his exchange with Credlin “had nothing to do with her being conservative”.

“It was a private conversation with Peta,” Coorey said. “I sent her a private text to inform her that I actually had made some calls on those numbers and that I would not be lectured by her on journalism.

“She then read that private text out on air that night. She then sent me a text message afterwards impugning my integrity as a journalist.

“And I told her that she traduced our trade because she was a political participant masquerading as a journalist. Her revelation of private conversations further reduced my opinion her.”

Credlin also said that her “problem with the media coverage of the Turnbull era is not that some liked him and some didn’t, it’s just that some media outlets let prejudice overcome judgement and consistently reported rumour as fact.”

“At a much higher level there’s Andrew Probyn at the ABC reporting at great length on Tuesday night that Rupert Murdoch and Seven West boss Kerry Stokes had conspired to sack the prime minister Malcolm Turnbull,” she added.

“There was one phone call apparently, not several and their views differed. But in any event even very active and interested media owners know better than to dictate to their editors.”

“Today’s problem is not that the media moguls impose their political opinions on journalists. Rather it’s the failure of editors, certainly at Fairfax and the ABC, to impose professional standards on their staff.”

Credlin’s comments come after Kerry Stokes strongly rejected the claims in Probyn’s report that Malcolm Turnbull was rolled as prime minister because of interference from the Seven West Media chairman and Rupert Murdoch, executive chairman of News Corp.

“I have never been involved in leadership events nor autopsies of them like the one you have published,” Mr Stokes said.

Credlin went onto further criticise the journalists for “presenting one-sided views as fact”.

“It’s not the flood of political prejudice, it’s the drought of professional integrity.

“Journalists can have opinions absolutely but they cant let their opinions colour their reporting.

“I accept that a lot of politicians have behaved badly over the past decade but there’s been an integrity deficit right across this building here in Canberra and it’s not just with elected officials.

“Let me tell you having now worked on both sides it’s the journalists who need to lift their game as much as everyone else.”