Sydney Morning Herald takes high moral ground on chequebook journalism, says Ray Martin

The SMH has been accused of ‘breathtaking hypocrisy’ after publishing an editorial which bemoaned chequebook journalism but failed to mention its owner, Nine Entertainment, still engages in the contentious practice.

Journalist Ray Martin. Picture: Hollie Adams

The Sydney Morning Herald has been accused of “breathtaking hypocrisy” after publishing an editorial that bemoaned chequebook journalism but failed to mention that the newspaper’s owner, Nine Entertainment, still engages in the contentious practice.

The searing editorial, approved by editor Bevan Shields, was prompted by Seven’s alleged misconduct in attempting to convince accused rapist Bruce Lehrmann to agree to an exclusive paid interview with the network’s Spotlight program in 2023.

The Nine-owned tabloid blasted Seven for the “unredeemed squalor” that exists at the Spotlight program, and accused the Kerry Stokes-controlled media company of maintaining “tawdry standards” and having a “slothful” approach to “buying scoops”.

However, the 600-word editorial, beneath a headline that read “Squalor of buying scoop undermines good journalism”, made no mention of Nine’s own decades-old practice of engaging in chequebook journalism, including massive payments to the likes of Gordon Wood (who was acquitted of throwing his girlfriend off a clifftop in Sydney in 1995), and the parents of four-year-old Cleo Smith who was abducted from a campsite in Western Australia in 2021.

In 1986, Nine’s 60 Minutes also reportedly paid Lindy Chamberlain $250,000 – an enormous sum at the time – for an exclusive interview with her after her release from prison.

Asked about the SMH editorial on Tuesday, a spokesman for Seven chief executive James Warburton said: “The recent allegations about Seven are unfounded and untested, and we have disputed them. People should always remember that The Sydney Morning Herald is owned by Nine, a direct rival to Seven, so it cannot be regarded as independent.

“It’s also worth noting that Nine pioneered chequebook journalism in Australia.”

Another senior TV executive, who asked not to be named but doesn’t work at Seven, said the SMH editorial was “breathtaking in its hypocrisy”.

Veteran television journalist Ray Martin, who conducted the Chamberlain interview almost 40 years ago, said on Tuesday that while the practice of paying for stories can “occasionally” result in sloppy journalism, the SMH was wrong to take the “high moral ground” on the issue.

“Of course, no one really likes doing it. I’m sure even Kerry Packer didn’t like it. And if I had a choice, I’d always prefer not to pay for an interview. But I have no ethical problem with it,” Martin said. “It never coloured the way I covered a story.”

Last week, Martin wrote an opinion piece for the SMH in which he said the sordid allegations that had surfaced about Seven’s handling of Lehrmann had besmirched the wider reputation of the journalism profession.

But on Tuesday, he expressed a dim view of the newspaper’s editorial on chequebook journalism.

“I don’t agree with The Herald’s view. They seem to like taking the high moral ground on these things.”

Shields, Nine Publishing executive editor Luke McIlveen and Nine’s communications boss, Victoria Buchan, declined to comment. A spokesman for Mr Stokes also declined to comment.