At Fairfax they’re not sure if they’re Hatch or Hywood

Plus: Daniel Andrews in a catch 22, and why shouldn’t we bring global warming indoors?

The Australian’s Darren Davidson reporting on funny business involving Fairfax’s Domain real estate websites, Monday:

Fairfax Media’s property portal, Domain, is buying advertising space on pornographic and illegal download websites to inflate its audience figures and push through big ad rate increases under chief executive Antony Catalano. Ads for Domain’s Commercial Real Estate site were delivered to sites displaying images and online video footage of hardcore material, including extreme pornography, in examples obtained by The Australian.

Not happy, Jan. Fairfax’s corporate office fires off a statement in response, Monday:

We told The Australian it was wrong. We note they printed our quote. But still they had no hesitation in running the yarn. News Limited has never had any shame about using their media platforms for attacks on competitors. They dress up their bile as news and bore the rest of the industry with their seemingly endless appetite for gutter dwelling. We generally ignore it. Not today.

But who said it? TheAustralian ­Financial Review attributes the statement to its PR department, ­yesterday:

In a statement released Monday, (director of communications Brad) Hatch got his angry on: “News has never had any shame about using their media platforms for attacks on competitors. They dress up their bile as news and bore the rest of the industry with their seemingly endless appetite for gutter dwelling. We generally ignore it. Not today.”

Or was it Fairfax CEO Greg Hywood? Sydney Morning Herald, yesterday:

Fairfax Media chief executive Greg Hywood said the story was “wrong” and Domain had taken out no advertising on porn sites. “We told The Australian it was wrong,” Mr Hywood said. “We note they printed our quote. But they still had no hesitation in running the yarn. We generally ignore it. Not today.”

We wonder who will respond to this? Davidson following up his story, The Australian, yesterday:

More evidence linking Fairfax Media’s Domain to hardcore pornographic websites has been uncovered showing how the real estate portal is inflating its online audience with questionable internet traffic … Digital campaigns for Domain and CRE contained a URL, or web address, that included a tracking parameter sent to a publisher that enables a statistics tool to pick up visits from a specific source. URLs that allow for some basic data were embedded in ads for Domain and CRE in placements on porn, ­piracy and other dubious sites ...

Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy reacts to news Premier Daniel Andrews has ordered an audit of his own ministers’ phones, Tuesday:

This is an extraordinary vote of no confidence in the government by its own Premier — if he can’t trust his own team, why should we? In almost 30 years in politics I have never seen a leader express such a public vote of no confidence in his own team as Daniel Andrews has just done.

Joseph Heller, Catch-22, 1961:

Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you.

Finally, we really are just terrible people. Fairfax websites wring their hands over another deplorable Australian habit, Tuesday:

Two-thirds of Australians who have airconditioning are guilty of bad habits such as leaving it on when they leave the house or to cool the kitchen while using the oven … Nearly three in 10 people leave the airconditioner on overnight so they can sleep under a doona.