The Australian Financial Review's Jennifer Hewett filed two columns this week from the Australian Energy Producers conference in Adelaide, discussing the government's plans for a domestic gas reservation policy and a gas tax. Labor's plans for a reservation policy were 'creating tensions with the industry' and there was 'general confusion and alarm on full display at the conference', she wrote. But somehow the paper forgot to disclose that Hewett's trip to the conference – where she moderated sessions with the CEOs of Santos, Shell and Woodside and interviewed Peter Malinauskas and the US shale revolution entrepreneur Bryan Sheffield – was paid for by the gas and oil lobby.
It wasn't great timing since the editor of the AFR, Cosima Marriner, was fresh from fronting a marketing campaign telling advertisers how the newspaper's trusted reporting, credibility and 'commitment to reporting without a premeditated bias' made it a much safer environment for brands than social media. 'When you read us, you know you are getting news straight down the barrel,' Marriner said in Nine's corporate video.
We asked Marriner if Hewett had been paid for her work at the conference, which charges some 2,000 delegates roughly $3,000 each to attend, or for travel and accommodation. 'Jenny did not receive payment for moderating the sessions,' Marriner told Weekly Beast. 'She did receive support for travel. The lack of disclosure was reporter oversight and this has been remedied.' Marriner certainly made it clear she was not taking the blame for the lack of disclosure in the pointed words 'reporter oversight'.
After we contacted the AFR, the following note was added to both pieces: 'Jennifer Hewett attended the energy conference courtesy of Australian Energy Producers'. A clarification was also added to acknowledge the late disclosure: 'This story has been updated to acknowledge Jennifer Hewett attended the conference courtesy of Australian Energy Producers.' Hewett did not respond to a request for comment.
Chris Uhlmann at the Conference
A session at the same conference with Pauline Hanson was hosted by Chris Uhlmann, a contributor to Sky News Australia and columnist with the Australian. Uhlmann fitted right in as he is no fan of Australia's shift to renewables. The former ABC and Nine political editor got a nice shout-out from the opposition leader, Angus Taylor, during his address to the conference. 'And to Chris Uhlmann – who I'll sit down with shortly: Thank you for your outstanding journalism,' Taylor said. 'Chris' writing and reverence for the truth are an invaluable service to Australia's energy debate. In many of Chris' columns, he rightly points out that energy security is both national security and economic security.'
Andrew Leigh's Photo Controversy
The assistant productivity minister, Andrew Leigh, proudly posted on social media that he had completed last weekend's 100km ultra trail running event in the Blue Mountains, in an impressive 15 hours. Four photographs Leigh posted showing his run across rocks and waterfalls, and up thousands of stairs, had the photographic agency's watermark emblazoned across them: Sportograf.com. That would seem to indicate Leigh did not pay for the shots but chose to screenshot them complete with the mark. Comments poured in under his posts; most were critical of Leigh for not paying for the event photos, which the website says cost $20 each or $50 for the complete individual package. One critic said on X: 'Those photographers work for 24hrs to get those photos and hike the entire track, and you couldn't even muster up the moral compass to buy the photos ?? Instead you just ripped them off and screenshot them ??' We asked Leigh why he hadn't paid for the photos. 'That criticism is fair,' Leigh said. 'I acted hastily and should have bought the official photos before posting them. I've now done that, and I apologise to the photographers. It's a mistake I won't make again.'
ABC Chair Hits Back
Following the publication of an incendiary column in the Weekend Australian, which directly accused the ABC of fuelling antisemitism, the public broadcaster's chair, Kim Williams, has defended its work. 'ABC reporting on Gaza war failed nation, feeding into demonisation of Israel, fuelling antisemitism', was the headline on the Inquirer piece by the ABC critic-in-chief and Sky News host Chris Kenny. Kenny based his column on an anonymous submission to the royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion which claimed among other things that 'ABC headlines were 4-5 times less sympathetic to the impact on the Israeli population'. Williams did not name the publication or journalist in his response, first reported by the Nine papers, but criticised 'highly charged and inflammatory' reporting, saying it was 'divisive, undermines community cohesion and does not contribute to an informed or reasoned public debate'. 'Recent commercial media has accused the ABC of bias and as having contributed to the rise of antisemitism,' Williams said. 'The ABC stands by its reporting of the conflict in the Middle East. The few errors in reporting that have been made have been acknowledged and quickly corrected. As a public institution the ABC expects robust scrutiny from other media.' Weekly Beast understands News Corp is growing increasingly frustrated with the ABC ombudsman for not finding fault with reporting on the Middle East. Particularly annoying for the Australian was the half-yearly report from the ombudsman which said the office investigated 1,990 complaints about content and found the ABC had breached its editorial guidelines in less than 1% of cases. On Monday the Australian targeted the institution of the ombudsman, complaining that the ABC had refused its FOI request to reveal the combined salaries of the office.
Murdoch Children's Research Institute Coverage
When you have a charity to promote it helps if you own a media empire to ensure the institution's life-changing work gets all the coverage it deserves. It also helps if your ambassador is a former supermodel. And so it was this month when the 40th anniversary of the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI), co-chaired by Sarah Murdoch, stretched over three weeks and garnered more than 600 mentions across News Corp-owned newspapers and websites, and Sky News Australia TV and radio. The celebration of the institute's admirable work kicked off with a cover story on Sarah Murdoch in the Australian's Wish magazine. 'You can sometimes feel like medical research is something that's not tangible or is years away. But this is happening now,' Murdoch said. 'I definitely feel the urgency when I walk the corridors at MCRI. Everyone working there cares about making an impact.' Murdoch and the institute were featured about 20 times in each of the Australian, the Daily Telegraph, the Courier Mail and the Herald Sun's print editions, including 12 front page stories across the company's newspapers on 4 May, according to media monitoring. Sky News Australia screened a special report, and from the Townsville Bulletin to the NT News, Murdoch's city and local mastheads reported on the children whose lives have benefited from the discoveries of the institute, which was co-founded by Dame Elisabeth Murdoch and paediatrician Prof David Danks in 1986. The festival of coverage concluded at the weekend when Murdoch hosted a gala dinner at the State Library of Victoria, where the guest of honour was Anthony Albanese. The prime minister, surprisingly still smiling after a week of claims in Murdoch papers that the budget would bring about the collapse of the housing market and usher in 'death taxes', handed over a $5m cheque.
Press Council Threatens Legal Action
The Australian Press Council has threatened legal action against GetUp! for registering the domain name presscouncil.com.au to highlight its campaign for a new independent journalism standards authority. In February the progressive political campaigning outfit hired the former journalist David Sharaz to take the fight up to conservative groups, including Advance. The presscouncil.com.au site automatically redirects to the GetUp! website, asking people to sign a petition to replace the press council. Lawyers for the watchdog, whose domain name is presscouncil.org.au, allege the registration is in breach of domain licensing rules and is misleading and deceptive conduct in breach of competition laws. If GetUp! does not cancel the registration and stop the redirection by Tuesday, the council says it will take the matter to court. 'The irony is not lost on me that the only swift action the press council seems willing to take is on its own behalf,' Sharaz said.
