SENATOR Stephen Conroy is so pleased with the response to his media reforms that he is offering to autograph copies of The Daily Telegraph depicting him as a despot who wants to control the press.
On Wednesday, the Sydney tabloid pictured the Communications Minister alongside Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong and Fidel Castro, who also regulated the media.
Conroy is offering to autograph copies of the front page for his Labor colleagues.
But a disconnect has emerged within the government over Conroy's plans to appoint a public interest media advocate to regulate industry self-regulating bodies and rule on company mergers.
While Conroy believes he has scored "a hit" on the media, there are deep divisions within Labor ranks.
Several ministers and MPs believe this is a fight the government should never have waged close to an election. "Why pull the media tiger's tail?" said a senior Labor figure.
Ministers are concerned process was skirted as they were given little or no detail of the reforms ahead of the cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
When the proposals were presented to the caucus -- where there is general support -- very little information was presented.
The concerns mounted yesterday as it became clear several cross-bench MPs were unlikely to support the reforms in their current form.
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