Sydney Morning Herald editor chooses odd time for a holiday
Federal elections only come around once every three years, so for journalists, the election campaign is a rare month of big stories. Why then has SMH boss Bevan Shields decided to jet off on a vacation?
It’s less than three weeks until polling day and newsrooms across the country are humming.
Federal polls only come around once every three years, so for news journalists, an election campaign is a rare month’s worth of big stories with far-reaching national implications.
And for editors — as print circulations enjoy a sugar hit and online subscriptions grow — the campaign is a time to stamp their authority on their respective mastheads.
Or, in the case of The Sydney Morning Herald’s editor Bevan Shields, it’s time to go on a relaxing overseas holiday.
SMH journos have been left stunned by their boss’s decision to jet off for close to two weeks in the final stretch of the election campaign.
While it’s understood he’ll be back in the Sydney newsroom for the final few days before polling day on May 3, some insiders have told Diary word of Shields’ holiday plans went down like a brick in the newsroom.
Just last month, in an editorial for the SMH, Shields referenced former PM Scott Morrison’s infamous “I don’t hold a hose, mate” excuse when explaining his decision to go on a holiday when fires swept down the east coast in the Black Summer of 2019.
“Morrison’s jaunt in Hawaii forever damaged his image as an astute politician,” Shields wrote, before criticising the former PM’s “frontline tin ear”.
Diary is not suggesting Shields’ decision to go on holiday during an election campaign is on par with Morrison’s ill-judged trip to an island paradise at a time of national crisis. Nor are we suggesting the hardworking Shields isn’t entitled to a break.
But, in an industry where “optics” can be everything, Shields’ election campaign getaway is a real head scratcher, both for his staff and his loyal readers.
Pollie profiles
Peter Dutton’s polling numbers may have dipped slightly over the first fortnight of the federal election campaign, but it’s not because he’s been starved of media attention.
In fact, the Opposition Leader garnered significantly more coverage — at least in the print and online news mediums — than Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the first 14 days of the political showdown.
According to exclusive research done for Diary by media monitoring company Streem, Dutton was mentioned 33,381 times in the print and digital press from March 29 to April 11, comfortably more than his counterpart, Albanese, who registered 30,793 mentions over the same period.
What can you put that down to? Well, kicking a footy on to the bonce of an unsuspecting cameraman would have helped — that unfortunate incident last weekend, when Dutton’s stray drop punt in Darwin left Channel 10 cameraman Ghaith Nadir bleeding from the noggin, was certainly a hit with online readers.
Might Dutton’s strong media engagement numbers also have something to do with the public’s heightened interest in his policy announcements?
Guess we’ll find out on May 3!
But, while Dutton might be front and centre, the same can’t be said for his squadron of frontbenchers and Liberal candidates. Opposition Treasury spokesman Angus Taylor (3743 mentions) is the only other Coalition figure among the 14 most-talked-about politicians in the first fortnight of the election campaign.
Labor MPs Jim Chalmers (6938), Chris Bowen (2400), Jason Clare (1725), Mark Butler (1685), Richard Marles (1456) and Tony Burke (972) are well out in front of their Coalition counterparts in terms of media exposure.
But, here’s the real sting — a bunch of teals are also grabbing more of the media limelight than Coalition characters.
Monique Ryan, with 869 press mentions, is leading the teal charge, although she might wish she wasn’t atop that leaderboard given that much of her recent publicity has been of the negative variety, given the fallout from her hubby’s notorious removal of the campaign posters of Ryan’s rival Liberal candidate.
However, fellow teals Zoe Daniel (767), Kate Chaney (701), Allegra Spender (620), and Sophie Scamps (536) each drew more media attention than the next most talked about Coalition MP – Sussan Ley (502).
Liberal candidates Andrew Constance (399) and Gisele Kapterian (363) were close behind.
So, what does it all mean?
The obvious conclusion is that while Dutton himself appears to be selling his wares well, his Coalition colleagues need to make themselves more visible in the lead-up to polling day to ensure they’re not completely drowned out by their political rivals.
Campaigning Kerry
Just days after ABC chairman Kim Williams (again) passed around the begging bowl for more funding for the national broadcaster, another Aunty luminary has joined the chorus.
Yes, “Red” Kerry O’Brien has declared “the ABC is under attack again” from “conservatives”, and he’s calling for donations to “help power a strong campaign for the ABC this election”.
“And the Murdoch media is also on the attack in lock-step,” thundered Red Kezza in an email (with video!) to the 77,000-strong subscriber base of ABC Friends last week.
Well, if being on the attack consists of arguing that the ABC should stick to its charter, prioritise impartiality in its news coverage, and pour resources into regional and rural areas that are under-serviced by commercial media, then yes, we’re up for the fight!
Take it away, Kerry: “After 60 years in journalism, I can’t think of a more confusing time to know who to trust in the media, when truth has become such a corrupted commodity. We need a strong independent ABC that’s fearless in presenting the facts we need to know, not one that’s intimidated by politicians or special interest groups. At this election we need to make our voice count for the ABC.
“The election is now in full swing. The clock is ticking. We’ve built our most ambitious counteroffensive yet. But we can only succeed with your financial support.”
Maybe Kim and Kerry should consider embarking on a two-man, door-to-door fundraising campaign through marginal electorates in the final weeks of the campaign?
Compass error
The ABC has been using Vote Compass — an online tool that purports to help punters explore how their views marry up with various parties and candidates — for the past four elections.
And sure enough, for the past four elections, it’s attracted criticisms ranging from its tendency to encourage confirmation bias, to its reliance on a one-size-fits-all model, and its failure to distinguish between the different priorities of different regions and electorates.
So at the 2025 federal election, what’s the beef with Vote Compass?
Well, apparently Israel doesn’t exist.
Or at least it didn’t until last Wednesday, when — as the ABC’s online “Corrections” page helpfully explained — “the page on Vote Compass asking for the ethnic or cultural origins of users’ ancestors was updated to add a number of national and ethnic groups that were not initially included”.
Curiously, when Vote Compass 2025 was launched by the ABC last month, “Israeli” was not included as an option under the “cultural and ethnic group” classification, even though it had been in the four previous iterations of the tool when used at Australian elections. “Unfortunately, it (the ‘Israeli’ option) was omitted when Vote Compass underwent a rebuild between the last election and this one,” the ABC said in a statement last week.
“Now that we have been made aware of this omission, we have taken immediate action to reinstate ‘Israeli’ as a category.”
However, as a sorry-not-sorry follow up, the ABC argued that “this change would not impact the results for people who have already completed the survey”.
Hmmm, dunno about that, especially because Vote Compass poses the question whether “Australia should call for the immediate recognition of a Palestinian state”.
Seven’s Games deal
The Seven network has finally inked a deal to broadcast the 2026 Commonwealth Games, following a protracted negotiation with the event’s governing body.
Next year’s Games, to be held in Glasgow from July 23 to August 2, will forever be linked — for better or worse — to former Victorian premier Dan Andrews, who in 2023 decided to junk the event that had been scheduled for Melbourne.
Chairman Dan decided the price tag to host the Games was simply too great for the good burghers of Victoria to bear … and was then subsequently forced to pay compensation to the Commonwealth Games Foundation to the tune of about $380m, of which $200m has been directed to Scotland to assist with the rehoming of next year’s event.
Nice one, Dan! It’s just as well Victoria is in such a strong financial position, otherwise that $380m would have really hurt …
Back in February, Diary reported Seven was in the box seat to secure the broadcast rights to the Games, largely because neither Nine nor Ten were understood to have shown any genuine interest in covering the Glasgow event.
But, the Kerry Stokes-controlled network was wary of paying too much for a Games which was stripped back due to the relatively late notice of Melbourne’s cancellation.
Just 11 sports will feature at the Glasgow Games.
So how much did they cough up for the rights?
Seven isn’t saying, but it’s fair to say that the price tag won’t break Kerry’s bank.
If one was to speculate Seven paid in the vicinity of $15m for the 11-day event, one would be pretty close to the money.
By way of comparison, Seven reportedly paid $40m to secure the TV rights to the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018, but that event was obviously in Australia’s time zone, and thus audience-friendly.
In announcing the deal, Seven West Media managing director and chief executive Jeff Howard said: “Sport is part of Seven’s DNA, and we are looking forward to adding the Commonwealth Games to our strong sporting line-up for 2026, including Australia’s favourite winter and summer sports – AFL and cricket – horse racing, NFL, LIV Golf and much more.”
As an aside, Diary will welcome the day when media executives stop saying that certain characteristics are in the company’s “DNA”.
It’s an excruciating cliche that has somehow found its way into all corners of corporate-speak, both here and overseas.
DNA, as defined by the first snippet that appears on an internet search, is a molecule that carries the genetic instructions for the development, functioning and reproduction of organisms.
In other words, media companies don’t have any DNA. And neither do football clubs or political parties.
Vale, Richard
Australian TV and radio star Richard Zachariah died last Wednesday, aged 80, just four months after his former partner, co-host and renowned fashion icon Maggie Tabberer passed away.
The celebrity couple co-hosted the massively popular The Home Show on the ABC in the 1990s and were together for 10 years from 1985 to 1995.
Zachariah was also a regular presenter on Channel 7, while Tabberer, a model and fashion icon, edited the widely circulated Australian Women’s Weekly magazine for 15 years from 1981.
Zachariah enjoyed stints as a successful radio host, a journalist and was the author of several books, including The Vanished Land, which charts the history of Victoria’s western district.
In an interview with the ABC’s Conversation Hour in 2017, Zachariah spoke about The Vanished Land and the incredible wealth of the family dynasties in the area.
“I love the western district so much,” he said.
Zachariah attended Hamilton College in western Victoria, where his father was headmaster.
He lived in London, Sydney and Melbourne before moving to the Adelaide Hills later in life.
A funeral service for Zachariah will be held at the Eastern Park Chapel at Warrnambool in Victoria on April 23.
“A colourful character, respected journalist and writer, and lover of life,” read an online death notice posted on Sunday.
“Always remembered.”
Nick Tabakoff is on leave
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