00:00:03
Speaker 1: From the Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey. It's Monday, June twenty nine, twenty twenty six. Anthony albaneze he's back on the up after dumping controversial tax measures. News poll in The Australian Today reveals Labour's primary vote up three points and one Nation's down two but still well ahead of a lackluster coalition vote. Check out that exclusive live right now at The Australian dot com dot au. Australia's richest person, Gena Reinhardt, appears to have been quietly bankrolling Carl Stefanovick's podcast, and that's lucky since the former nine star now needs the show to stay afloat after losing his TV job. Today, Steve Jackson's here to discuss how Stefanovic's defiance of nine's party line on Ben Robert Smith and Charlie Teo contributed to his departure, plus another very expensive media exit. Jacko's here in just a moment. Steve Jackson edits the Media Diary in The Australian and Jacko, there comes a time in media careers where people start paying you to go away before we get on to Carl Stefanovic. Let's talk about Justin Stevens, the late recently departed head of news at the ABC.
00:01:30
Speaker 2: Well Claire, unlike everyone else who is getting paid to go away, this time, it's us paying him to go away.
00:01:35
Speaker 3: So, as you'll find out in.
00:01:36
Speaker 2: The diary today, taxpayers, we're forking out about three hundred and thirty five thousand dollars for Justin to take a little holiday after his time at the ABC. I know it's a tough job, but that's the better part of the wages for three journeys.
00:01:48
Speaker 1: Well at the ABC, I think you could probably get about ten. I think we've got all pretty lightly, Jacko the taxpayers, given he was earning six hundred and forty six seventy six hundred and seventy thousand dollars to be head of New us at the ABC.
00:02:01
Speaker 3: Oh, people say it's a punishing job.
00:02:03
Speaker 2: You know, there's two thousand very conscientious reporters with strong.
00:02:06
Speaker 3: Views in it the ABC.
00:02:07
Speaker 2: But I think people are also underestimating what I would put myself through for six hundred and seventy thousand dollars a year. It can't be that demanding, and all these predecessors. Now we've got a note. Justin survived the shortest amount of time reading to that what you will. But Kate Tawney she did six years, then Gavin Morris six years, Justin four years two months, and then he was burnt out.
00:02:30
Speaker 3: And they all come out as they Ah's challenging job. It's so high. They're not making any of the shows.
00:02:36
Speaker 2: They've all got executive producers and the lifestyle content we love about. You know, when to change your towels and whether or not you should share your toothbrush with someone spoiler alert, No you shouldn't.
00:02:47
Speaker 3: Thanks ABC.
00:02:47
Speaker 2: We needed our hard working journalists to tell us that. But it's not like they're making anything there. They're figurehead so I think six hundred and seventy thousand dollars, which is equivalent to what the people get paid in commercial TV. The different with commercial TVs you have the added drama of advertisers and there is this little window at the moment while Justin's taking his taxpayer funded holiday, hopefully he's spending it somewhere nicer than Sydney at the moment, which has just been drizzling, and Simon's not starting until September.
00:03:14
Speaker 3: But there's this little gap where look, people are.
00:03:17
Speaker 2: Going to be nervous, and the people are going to be nervous are the ones that we're friends traditionally with the people in powered at the ABC. And it's been quite a conscious move, I think, and a savvy move by Hugh Marx, who is obviously the managing director and the editor in chief of the ABC to go I want someone who's not friends with anyone not to say you can't be friends with your employees, but he wants someone to come in and go, look, I'm not here to look after my mates. I'm not here to listen to their gripes and tell them my yeah, you are amazing, we should back you and support you regardless. Let's find out the facts first, see what our staff have done wrong. They're not infallible, and if we've made a mistake, own up to it.
00:03:56
Speaker 3: Again.
00:03:56
Speaker 2: We saw during Steven's tenure and we're not blaming him. I'm not blaming him personally, But where there's a situation where you go, you know what, there's some fake gunshots have turned up in a video.
00:04:08
Speaker 3: You know, it's just one of those editing mistakes.
00:04:10
Speaker 2: You remember that time in the front where all of a sudden, six gunshots were just randomly inserted.
00:04:14
Speaker 3: So get rid of that.
00:04:22
Speaker 1: There is a wonderful opportunity here for Simon Robinson. I think to win back the audiences whom the ABC has lost. Lifelong ABC watchers and listeners who really want twenty four hour radio that's impartial and informative, who want lively local radio, who want great current affairs programming on television. They could be one back.
00:04:41
Speaker 3: Well here's the thing.
00:04:42
Speaker 2: And look, I met with Hugh Marx earlier this year when he granted me an interview and we had a chat in his office, and I said to him, mister Marks, you know the thing about The Australian is we write about the ABC not because we're determined to tear it down. It's because we share the same audience. The people listening to this podcast, the people that read The Australian, they're interested in the ABC. They know who they are, and unfortunately, I know from reading through the comments a lot of them are going, oh jeez, I remember the good old days when there used to be stuff for us on it, and now they're feeling alienated. And I think under Kim Williams, the chair and Hu Marks. There has been a desire to return to that and go, hey, we don't want it to be a niche. We're a broadcaster funded by the taxpayers. We've got to have broad appeal to all taxpayers, not just some pockets that we think are the intelligent pockets or the pockets were like, hey, we're here to serve everyone, not to say let's not have some voices from the left, but let's balance up with voices from the right and just make sure that we're delivering to as many people as possible.
00:05:43
Speaker 1: Coming up. The dust is still settling after Karl Stefanovic's departure from Today. Okay, Karl Stefanovic, you broke the story last week that Kyl Stefanovick was going to be ending his time at nine after a very ill advised interview or poorly conducted interview with a far right figure Tommy Robinson on his independent podcast.
00:06:14
Speaker 4: Loved by supporters and condemned by critics. A few figures have had a bigger impact on Britain's cultural wars. Strap yourselves in. Here's our chat with Tommy.
00:06:23
Speaker 1: Robinson that ended Carl's broadcast career, and he you know, he made a video in which he seemed tearful.
00:06:31
Speaker 4: It wasn't easy this last couple of days, but we roll on. So here's what I believe in the public deserve to hear perspectives. You have the right to hear from different voices. Freedom of speech here and around the world is what this show is about.
00:06:47
Speaker 1: He then ran through a park and clicked his heels in the air, which was weird and just shows Carl desperately needs a producer, Jacko well soone to tell him, no, man, don't click you yours.
00:06:59
Speaker 2: That everyone needs a producer or an editor to tell him you know what's good or what's bad. Carstefanovic hasn't done anything wrong, right like, by the terms of his agreement, he's allowed to say and do whatever he wants on his podcast. But once again you see on his way out he's saying, I'm finally free. He could have been free at any point, at any point in the last twenty five years. He could have said, you know what, nine, I want to be free of that three million dollar paycheck. You're giving me, the restraint placed on me by that monthly you know fifty thousand you put in my bank account.
00:07:32
Speaker 3: I just can't bear it anymore.
00:07:34
Speaker 1: Well, the thing that he had done wrong was allow a far right activist onto his show and not ask him any hard questions, will not challenge him at all.
00:07:42
Speaker 5: Yeah, here, I am invisible because you put me on level with somebod who murdered five thousand people one day because or use speech, because you don't agree with my free speech and I state facts, not opinions.
00:07:54
Speaker 3: Facts. At some point you decided to make a stand. Tell me a little bit about yourself.
00:08:00
Speaker 1: But in Nine's eyes, I think what he'd actually done wrong and maybe they were just waiting for an excuse. I'd love to know what you think was implicitly or explicitly criticized Nine's journalism about Ben Robert Smith and Charlie.
00:08:11
Speaker 3: T Yeah, one hundred percent.
00:08:12
Speaker 2: And what we know is that in the weeks and months leading up to this, that was the simmering tension within nine.
00:08:19
Speaker 3: Tommy Robinson.
00:08:20
Speaker 2: He's a little bit of a distraction because you know, they can say, oh, there's suggestions of an.
00:08:24
Speaker 3: Advertiser boycott, so we have to deal with this.
00:08:27
Speaker 2: The problem that they had was over the course of the first six months of him being afforded this fully independent freedom to go and do whatever he liked. On his podcast, he's continually ridiculing the network that's made him a star. He's apologizing for promoting the vaccine during the COVID global pandemic.
00:08:46
Speaker 4: And I am definitely sorry for the role I played in not questioning the science, in not questioning more the government mandates. And I feel like I isolated people because of that. And I don't think the media should be involved in that kind of messaging.
00:09:13
Speaker 2: He's talking to Pete Evans and saying I shouldn't have been part of the mainstream media while being part of the mainstream media, And he's critiquing or thumbing his nose or even ridiculing a lot of nine's investigative journalism while being its highest paid journalists.
00:09:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, suggesting that Ben Robert Smith is a wronged hero and that the arrest of him was some sort of active treason and a setup.
00:09:36
Speaker 6: You know.
00:09:37
Speaker 4: Yeah, When I saw those images of Ben Roberts Smith being arrested taking off a plan, and I was just shocked. It didn't make any sense to me that someone would be arrested in such a public fashion around his kids. That to me was shocking.
00:09:55
Speaker 1: He's very clearly taking the side of Charlie Teo when nine values very highly. It's journalism about the alleged failings of Charlie Teo. They are all issues that a reasonable person can have kind of differing opinions on. I mean, he's the lesson here that you can't expect a media organization to continue to pay you two million dollars a year if you're publicly canning their journalism.
00:10:16
Speaker 3: Well, it is difficult because particularly with those stories.
00:10:20
Speaker 2: Look, Karl has been a well known, long standing friend of doctor Teo and he's got strong views on it, and doctor Teo has been very supportive of Carl and his family, and there are reasons he supports doctor Teo.
00:10:33
Speaker 6: I don't want to say this because sounds like I'm a big noting myself, but Kream will always rise at the top. And I guess if you're good at what you do, and you're and you're doing it for the right reasons, and yeah, everything will work out.
00:10:47
Speaker 4: I'm not diving too much into that. It is what it is. It's there for people to know to have a look at. But before we move on with the positive stuff, because there's a lot what's the hardest thing if someone googles Charlie.
00:10:59
Speaker 3: Tea again with Ben Robert Smith.
00:11:01
Speaker 2: We know a lot of our own readers share the views Carl Stefanovic had, and when you have an outlet that says independent always, it's one of those things that really Carl should be allowed to have a dissenting view.
00:11:13
Speaker 3: I know that when I read the opinion.
00:11:15
Speaker 2: Pages of The Australian, there's stuff that people say that I agree with and there's that people say that I don't agree with. As an adult, I am allowed to make that decision. As a smaller liberal, I don't believe in deplatforming and canceling anyone.
00:11:28
Speaker 3: So should he have been allowed to say it? My personal view?
00:11:31
Speaker 1: Yeah?
00:11:31
Speaker 3: Why not? Like he's allowed to have his view.
00:11:33
Speaker 2: It's just that it was always going to rankle people within his own company and create an environment where they're going to be, you know, pushing saying get him off because he's not agreeing with what we're saying. We know that that was a big problem when he last had too on the Today Show and he supported him and he was effectively forced to write a letter of apology for disagreeing with the stance that the paper had taken so inside that company they can't of there is a group think mentality where they go we've decided he's bad or we've decided this person doesn't deserve to be platformed, and you need to conform to it.
00:12:09
Speaker 3: And Carl, I think.
00:12:11
Speaker 2: The issue he's had is because he's been paid three million dollars, he has conformed to that. So when he talks about I'm finally free, he's really saying I'm I'm finally free to give up the.
00:12:22
Speaker 3: Million free of charge.
00:12:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free and available on the internet. But he is actually saying I'm finally free of feeling as though I need to tow the company line because I want to ensure I'm getting paid millions. It does beg the question, Claire, where is he going to get these millions?
00:12:37
Speaker 1: Well, making a podcast is not quite as expensive as making a breakfast television show, which is a huge production every day and incredibly expensive. But you know, making that podcast that Karl makes would not be cheap. I think they could invest a little bit more in production. As I've said, the camera workers, having a producer to tell Carl to ask some questions, but also muting the microphone of the person who's not speaking. Tommy Robinson in that interview's kind of snuffling and you know you can clearing his throat is disgusting.
00:13:05
Speaker 4: We picked something up from you for the show. Actually on X you know a guy who you know, who'd raped a woman.
00:13:13
Speaker 1: And but the rumor has been about Carl's podcast that there was a billionaire behind it.
00:13:19
Speaker 2: Well, yes, well I've been hearing that there is one particular billionaire, probably the one everybody is trying to cozy up to at the moment, Australia's richest person, self made billionaire.
00:13:32
Speaker 3: And that's right, it's self made. But I've got sent a little kit.
00:13:35
Speaker 2: Explaining how she's had one of those, Yeah, Gina Reinhart, And so everyone's sort of cozying up to her at the moment, and there are suggestions that she is already financially supporting Carl Stefanovic. Now I have reached out to Jenna's team and said is this true, and they have decided not to comment on that.
00:13:54
Speaker 1: Well that's telling it itself, isn't it.
00:13:55
Speaker 2: Well I think so, But yeah, they're not saying that they are support but they're definitely not saying that they're not supporting it.
00:14:02
Speaker 1: In any older days of tablaudjournalism, Jackie, you could ring someone and just get them to deny something, and then you could write a story that said so and so deny as such and such.
00:14:09
Speaker 3: Well you might you might see that in media diary today.
00:14:12
Speaker 2: And then all of a sudden we see it's not just Carl who sees you know, the film Brewster's Millions.
00:14:18
Speaker 3: Now it's Ryan Hart's Billions.
00:14:20
Speaker 1: But all of a sudden, your references are way too out of date.
00:14:24
Speaker 3: Seriously, Well, yeah, I'm stuck in the eighties.
00:14:26
Speaker 2: But all of a sudden, we're seeing Kyla Sandalans, who I don't think has ever mentioned Pauline Hansen in a way that's sort of been unbridled support.
00:14:36
Speaker 1: Let's put this orange bulldozer through this government and just get rid of the waist.
00:14:40
Speaker 3: All of a sudden he wants to be part of team Pauline Hansen, and they just seems to be a causal link between people who are no longer being paid by big media companies, going, oh this Pauline Hansen and the dot over here to missus Ryan if I and then could I and so all I'm saying is when I launch my own independent podcast next week my first interviews with Pauline Hanson and say what a great job she's doing and hopefully that could see me financed.
00:15:08
Speaker 1: Oh weal listening.
00:15:09
Speaker 3: Thanks Jacko, thank you.
00:15:13
Speaker 1: Steve Jackson is The Australian's Media Diary editor. You can check out Jacko's work and all the best in media right now at the Australian dot com dot au slash media
Speaker 1: From the Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey. It's Monday, June twenty nine, twenty twenty six. Anthony albaneze he's back on the up after dumping controversial tax measures. News poll in The Australian Today reveals Labour's primary vote up three points and one Nation's down two but still well ahead of a lackluster coalition vote. Check out that exclusive live right now at The Australian dot com dot au. Australia's richest person, Gena Reinhardt, appears to have been quietly bankrolling Carl Stefanovick's podcast, and that's lucky since the former nine star now needs the show to stay afloat after losing his TV job. Today, Steve Jackson's here to discuss how Stefanovic's defiance of nine's party line on Ben Robert Smith and Charlie Teo contributed to his departure, plus another very expensive media exit. Jacko's here in just a moment. Steve Jackson edits the Media Diary in The Australian and Jacko, there comes a time in media careers where people start paying you to go away before we get on to Carl Stefanovic. Let's talk about Justin Stevens, the late recently departed head of news at the ABC.
00:01:30
Speaker 2: Well Claire, unlike everyone else who is getting paid to go away, this time, it's us paying him to go away.
00:01:35
Speaker 3: So, as you'll find out in.
00:01:36
Speaker 2: The diary today, taxpayers, we're forking out about three hundred and thirty five thousand dollars for Justin to take a little holiday after his time at the ABC. I know it's a tough job, but that's the better part of the wages for three journeys.
00:01:48
Speaker 1: Well at the ABC, I think you could probably get about ten. I think we've got all pretty lightly, Jacko the taxpayers, given he was earning six hundred and forty six seventy six hundred and seventy thousand dollars to be head of New us at the ABC.
00:02:01
Speaker 3: Oh, people say it's a punishing job.
00:02:03
Speaker 2: You know, there's two thousand very conscientious reporters with strong.
00:02:06
Speaker 3: Views in it the ABC.
00:02:07
Speaker 2: But I think people are also underestimating what I would put myself through for six hundred and seventy thousand dollars a year. It can't be that demanding, and all these predecessors. Now we've got a note. Justin survived the shortest amount of time reading to that what you will. But Kate Tawney she did six years, then Gavin Morris six years, Justin four years two months, and then he was burnt out.
00:02:30
Speaker 3: And they all come out as they Ah's challenging job. It's so high. They're not making any of the shows.
00:02:36
Speaker 2: They've all got executive producers and the lifestyle content we love about. You know, when to change your towels and whether or not you should share your toothbrush with someone spoiler alert, No you shouldn't.
00:02:47
Speaker 3: Thanks ABC.
00:02:47
Speaker 2: We needed our hard working journalists to tell us that. But it's not like they're making anything there. They're figurehead so I think six hundred and seventy thousand dollars, which is equivalent to what the people get paid in commercial TV. The different with commercial TVs you have the added drama of advertisers and there is this little window at the moment while Justin's taking his taxpayer funded holiday, hopefully he's spending it somewhere nicer than Sydney at the moment, which has just been drizzling, and Simon's not starting until September.
00:03:14
Speaker 3: But there's this little gap where look, people are.
00:03:17
Speaker 2: Going to be nervous, and the people are going to be nervous are the ones that we're friends traditionally with the people in powered at the ABC. And it's been quite a conscious move, I think, and a savvy move by Hugh Marx, who is obviously the managing director and the editor in chief of the ABC to go I want someone who's not friends with anyone not to say you can't be friends with your employees, but he wants someone to come in and go, look, I'm not here to look after my mates. I'm not here to listen to their gripes and tell them my yeah, you are amazing, we should back you and support you regardless. Let's find out the facts first, see what our staff have done wrong. They're not infallible, and if we've made a mistake, own up to it.
00:03:56
Speaker 3: Again.
00:03:56
Speaker 2: We saw during Steven's tenure and we're not blaming him. I'm not blaming him personally, But where there's a situation where you go, you know what, there's some fake gunshots have turned up in a video.
00:04:08
Speaker 3: You know, it's just one of those editing mistakes.
00:04:10
Speaker 2: You remember that time in the front where all of a sudden, six gunshots were just randomly inserted.
00:04:14
Speaker 3: So get rid of that.
00:04:22
Speaker 1: There is a wonderful opportunity here for Simon Robinson. I think to win back the audiences whom the ABC has lost. Lifelong ABC watchers and listeners who really want twenty four hour radio that's impartial and informative, who want lively local radio, who want great current affairs programming on television. They could be one back.
00:04:41
Speaker 3: Well here's the thing.
00:04:42
Speaker 2: And look, I met with Hugh Marx earlier this year when he granted me an interview and we had a chat in his office, and I said to him, mister Marks, you know the thing about The Australian is we write about the ABC not because we're determined to tear it down. It's because we share the same audience. The people listening to this podcast, the people that read The Australian, they're interested in the ABC. They know who they are, and unfortunately, I know from reading through the comments a lot of them are going, oh jeez, I remember the good old days when there used to be stuff for us on it, and now they're feeling alienated. And I think under Kim Williams, the chair and Hu Marks. There has been a desire to return to that and go, hey, we don't want it to be a niche. We're a broadcaster funded by the taxpayers. We've got to have broad appeal to all taxpayers, not just some pockets that we think are the intelligent pockets or the pockets were like, hey, we're here to serve everyone, not to say let's not have some voices from the left, but let's balance up with voices from the right and just make sure that we're delivering to as many people as possible.
00:05:43
Speaker 1: Coming up. The dust is still settling after Karl Stefanovic's departure from Today. Okay, Karl Stefanovic, you broke the story last week that Kyl Stefanovick was going to be ending his time at nine after a very ill advised interview or poorly conducted interview with a far right figure Tommy Robinson on his independent podcast.
00:06:14
Speaker 4: Loved by supporters and condemned by critics. A few figures have had a bigger impact on Britain's cultural wars. Strap yourselves in. Here's our chat with Tommy.
00:06:23
Speaker 1: Robinson that ended Carl's broadcast career, and he you know, he made a video in which he seemed tearful.
00:06:31
Speaker 4: It wasn't easy this last couple of days, but we roll on. So here's what I believe in the public deserve to hear perspectives. You have the right to hear from different voices. Freedom of speech here and around the world is what this show is about.
00:06:47
Speaker 1: He then ran through a park and clicked his heels in the air, which was weird and just shows Carl desperately needs a producer, Jacko well soone to tell him, no, man, don't click you yours.
00:06:59
Speaker 2: That everyone needs a producer or an editor to tell him you know what's good or what's bad. Carstefanovic hasn't done anything wrong, right like, by the terms of his agreement, he's allowed to say and do whatever he wants on his podcast. But once again you see on his way out he's saying, I'm finally free. He could have been free at any point, at any point in the last twenty five years. He could have said, you know what, nine, I want to be free of that three million dollar paycheck. You're giving me, the restraint placed on me by that monthly you know fifty thousand you put in my bank account.
00:07:32
Speaker 3: I just can't bear it anymore.
00:07:34
Speaker 1: Well, the thing that he had done wrong was allow a far right activist onto his show and not ask him any hard questions, will not challenge him at all.
00:07:42
Speaker 5: Yeah, here, I am invisible because you put me on level with somebod who murdered five thousand people one day because or use speech, because you don't agree with my free speech and I state facts, not opinions.
00:07:54
Speaker 3: Facts. At some point you decided to make a stand. Tell me a little bit about yourself.
00:08:00
Speaker 1: But in Nine's eyes, I think what he'd actually done wrong and maybe they were just waiting for an excuse. I'd love to know what you think was implicitly or explicitly criticized Nine's journalism about Ben Robert Smith and Charlie.
00:08:11
Speaker 3: T Yeah, one hundred percent.
00:08:12
Speaker 2: And what we know is that in the weeks and months leading up to this, that was the simmering tension within nine.
00:08:19
Speaker 3: Tommy Robinson.
00:08:20
Speaker 2: He's a little bit of a distraction because you know, they can say, oh, there's suggestions of an.
00:08:24
Speaker 3: Advertiser boycott, so we have to deal with this.
00:08:27
Speaker 2: The problem that they had was over the course of the first six months of him being afforded this fully independent freedom to go and do whatever he liked. On his podcast, he's continually ridiculing the network that's made him a star. He's apologizing for promoting the vaccine during the COVID global pandemic.
00:08:46
Speaker 4: And I am definitely sorry for the role I played in not questioning the science, in not questioning more the government mandates. And I feel like I isolated people because of that. And I don't think the media should be involved in that kind of messaging.
00:09:13
Speaker 2: He's talking to Pete Evans and saying I shouldn't have been part of the mainstream media while being part of the mainstream media, And he's critiquing or thumbing his nose or even ridiculing a lot of nine's investigative journalism while being its highest paid journalists.
00:09:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, suggesting that Ben Robert Smith is a wronged hero and that the arrest of him was some sort of active treason and a setup.
00:09:36
Speaker 6: You know.
00:09:37
Speaker 4: Yeah, When I saw those images of Ben Roberts Smith being arrested taking off a plan, and I was just shocked. It didn't make any sense to me that someone would be arrested in such a public fashion around his kids. That to me was shocking.
00:09:55
Speaker 1: He's very clearly taking the side of Charlie Teo when nine values very highly. It's journalism about the alleged failings of Charlie Teo. They are all issues that a reasonable person can have kind of differing opinions on. I mean, he's the lesson here that you can't expect a media organization to continue to pay you two million dollars a year if you're publicly canning their journalism.
00:10:16
Speaker 3: Well, it is difficult because particularly with those stories.
00:10:20
Speaker 2: Look, Karl has been a well known, long standing friend of doctor Teo and he's got strong views on it, and doctor Teo has been very supportive of Carl and his family, and there are reasons he supports doctor Teo.
00:10:33
Speaker 6: I don't want to say this because sounds like I'm a big noting myself, but Kream will always rise at the top. And I guess if you're good at what you do, and you're and you're doing it for the right reasons, and yeah, everything will work out.
00:10:47
Speaker 4: I'm not diving too much into that. It is what it is. It's there for people to know to have a look at. But before we move on with the positive stuff, because there's a lot what's the hardest thing if someone googles Charlie.
00:10:59
Speaker 3: Tea again with Ben Robert Smith.
00:11:01
Speaker 2: We know a lot of our own readers share the views Carl Stefanovic had, and when you have an outlet that says independent always, it's one of those things that really Carl should be allowed to have a dissenting view.
00:11:13
Speaker 3: I know that when I read the opinion.
00:11:15
Speaker 2: Pages of The Australian, there's stuff that people say that I agree with and there's that people say that I don't agree with. As an adult, I am allowed to make that decision. As a smaller liberal, I don't believe in deplatforming and canceling anyone.
00:11:28
Speaker 3: So should he have been allowed to say it? My personal view?
00:11:31
Speaker 1: Yeah?
00:11:31
Speaker 3: Why not? Like he's allowed to have his view.
00:11:33
Speaker 2: It's just that it was always going to rankle people within his own company and create an environment where they're going to be, you know, pushing saying get him off because he's not agreeing with what we're saying. We know that that was a big problem when he last had too on the Today Show and he supported him and he was effectively forced to write a letter of apology for disagreeing with the stance that the paper had taken so inside that company they can't of there is a group think mentality where they go we've decided he's bad or we've decided this person doesn't deserve to be platformed, and you need to conform to it.
00:12:09
Speaker 3: And Carl, I think.
00:12:11
Speaker 2: The issue he's had is because he's been paid three million dollars, he has conformed to that. So when he talks about I'm finally free, he's really saying I'm I'm finally free to give up the.
00:12:22
Speaker 3: Million free of charge.
00:12:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free and available on the internet. But he is actually saying I'm finally free of feeling as though I need to tow the company line because I want to ensure I'm getting paid millions. It does beg the question, Claire, where is he going to get these millions?
00:12:37
Speaker 1: Well, making a podcast is not quite as expensive as making a breakfast television show, which is a huge production every day and incredibly expensive. But you know, making that podcast that Karl makes would not be cheap. I think they could invest a little bit more in production. As I've said, the camera workers, having a producer to tell Carl to ask some questions, but also muting the microphone of the person who's not speaking. Tommy Robinson in that interview's kind of snuffling and you know you can clearing his throat is disgusting.
00:13:05
Speaker 4: We picked something up from you for the show. Actually on X you know a guy who you know, who'd raped a woman.
00:13:13
Speaker 1: And but the rumor has been about Carl's podcast that there was a billionaire behind it.
00:13:19
Speaker 2: Well, yes, well I've been hearing that there is one particular billionaire, probably the one everybody is trying to cozy up to at the moment, Australia's richest person, self made billionaire.
00:13:32
Speaker 3: And that's right, it's self made. But I've got sent a little kit.
00:13:35
Speaker 2: Explaining how she's had one of those, Yeah, Gina Reinhart, And so everyone's sort of cozying up to her at the moment, and there are suggestions that she is already financially supporting Carl Stefanovic. Now I have reached out to Jenna's team and said is this true, and they have decided not to comment on that.
00:13:54
Speaker 1: Well that's telling it itself, isn't it.
00:13:55
Speaker 2: Well I think so, But yeah, they're not saying that they are support but they're definitely not saying that they're not supporting it.
00:14:02
Speaker 1: In any older days of tablaudjournalism, Jackie, you could ring someone and just get them to deny something, and then you could write a story that said so and so deny as such and such.
00:14:09
Speaker 3: Well you might you might see that in media diary today.
00:14:12
Speaker 2: And then all of a sudden we see it's not just Carl who sees you know, the film Brewster's Millions.
00:14:18
Speaker 3: Now it's Ryan Hart's Billions.
00:14:20
Speaker 1: But all of a sudden, your references are way too out of date.
00:14:24
Speaker 3: Seriously, Well, yeah, I'm stuck in the eighties.
00:14:26
Speaker 2: But all of a sudden, we're seeing Kyla Sandalans, who I don't think has ever mentioned Pauline Hansen in a way that's sort of been unbridled support.
00:14:36
Speaker 1: Let's put this orange bulldozer through this government and just get rid of the waist.
00:14:40
Speaker 3: All of a sudden he wants to be part of team Pauline Hansen, and they just seems to be a causal link between people who are no longer being paid by big media companies, going, oh this Pauline Hansen and the dot over here to missus Ryan if I and then could I and so all I'm saying is when I launch my own independent podcast next week my first interviews with Pauline Hanson and say what a great job she's doing and hopefully that could see me financed.
00:15:08
Speaker 1: Oh weal listening.
00:15:09
Speaker 3: Thanks Jacko, thank you.
00:15:13
Speaker 1: Steve Jackson is The Australian's Media Diary editor. You can check out Jacko's work and all the best in media right now at the Australian dot com dot au slash media
