Seven evacuates Martin Place newsroom as networks move to rolling news and global media races to cover siege
Network Seven was forced to clear its Sydney CBD studio taking its national Morning Show off air due to the unfolding hostage situation in the Lindt Cafe in Martin Place, while reports claim the hostage taker has demanded to speak to the Prime Minister live on radio.
The network’s newsroom directly overlooks the cafe on Elizabeth Street, with the channel the first to carry the reports of the incident and live pictures of hostages pressed against windows.
However that feed was cut temporarily this morning with a Seven News reporter confirming on air it had been for operational reasons. Journalists have now moved to the network’s headquarters in nearby Jones Bay where a temporary newsroom was being set up.
Meanwhile 2GB’s Ray Hadley reported that the hostage taker has made demands to speak to Prime Minister Tony Abbott live on radio. Hadley also told listeners that he had received a phone call from a hostage inside the building, but added that he declined to put them on the air for their own safety.
Hadley also added the police commissioner in NSW has told him other media outlets and newsrooms are getting similar messages from hostages as the hostage taker tries to get his message out via the media.
Mobile phone signals are jammed congested, meaning journalists on the spot have been struggling to get on air, according to reports.
News Corp and Sky News political commentator Chris Kenny had been in the busy cafe just a few minutes before the situation unfolded, and was still on a bench outside when police closed off the area.
Most TV and radio networks were carrying rolling coverage of the unfolding situation while the Daily Telegraph published a special 2pm print edition. The headline suggested the siege was the action of the IS “death cult”.
The Australian Press Council has confirmed to Mumbrella the edition has attracted “at least one complaint” by 4pm, but did not specify how many, or the nature of them.
NSW Police issued a statement urging media to “be responsible in their reporting” adding “speculation can cause unnecessary alarm”.
Local communications agencies near the incident that are understood to be safe but locked in include one of Australia’s largest creative agency offices M&C Saatchi, and PR agency Edelman.
The news story is leading many global media websites.
Maybe it’s my love of The Newsroom, but it’s surely too soon to be calling it? The Daily Telegraph really need to watch the show.
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Man are they going to regret this.
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nothing more sad and soul destroying than watching various media outlets trying to make money off the back of this tragic situation…
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What a disgrace… They should sued for inciting racial tensions
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Meanwhile – to add some perspective, the Retailers Association is worried we might not spend money on things we don’t need: “I don’t want to be prophet of doom and gloom but you do worry about how this could affect spending,” said Australian Retailers Association chief executive Russell Zimmerman. How about worrying about the people and their families caught up in this, you dick.
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Confirming that all Edelman staff based in the Sydney CBD office are safe and accounted for.
Our thoughts are with those affected.
Matthew Gain
COO Edelman Australia
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You can practically hear the saliva drip from the DT editor’s jowls as they put that together. Sick people.
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To mt thinking i always thought that taking images of someone inside a private buildingas in the above iages was actually illegal and an invasion of privacy..
As usual the Aussie nedia have zero empathy for anyone..
I pity the poor girls relatives who had to witness this image being beAmed live and plastered on news sites…
Yes media journos, its not funny at all..
Bloody vultures!
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The Daily Telegraph is disgusting. A ‘special edition’ paper? They’re making money out of this siege, not to mention inflaming idiots out there. All the while, those poor staff and customers are still in there under real threat…. Both a sad day for Australia and a shameful one (thanks Rupert!).
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i wouldn’t know about it if it wasn’t for media outlets covering this event. I don’t have friends or family in Aus. so I have no way of knowing about it unless a reporter goes, gets the details, and posts them to the web. It’s a service that I happily pay for.
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Interesting head line, “The instant we changed forever”.
Perhaps but the next question asks itself, alright you changed, how and to what?
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Hockey releases some sort of statement about the nations finances…. (No I am not a conspiracy seeker).
Nothing is new here guys:
News Ltd /Corp (whatever they call themselves today) are traditionally after dollars and will do anything to get them; even hacking dead teenagers phones.
Media has always cashed in on a crisis. What is new is our ability to group together and sound them out. Let’s hop that over time fanatics of all shapes and sizes and regardless of which way they lean, can be eradicated.
Peace, love, health and happiness is what the vast majority of us crave; isn’t it? #sunlogic should be renamed #newscorplogic
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What race Sam? Islam is not a race. It is a religion.
Sam
15 Dec 14
3:28 pm
What a disgrace… They should sued for inciting racial tensions
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Bit hard for the dead tree media to compete with continuing live coverage on all the FTA TV stations, plus radio plus on-line.
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+1 to Ken and his comment “What a disgrace…”
I’m in San Francisco, watching the coverage via ABC live stream. There’s nothing I’ve seen to warrant the Daily Telegraph headline. Shame on them.
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Daily Telegraph! No point asking you to hang your head in shame, given your pattern of shameful behaviour. I suspect you take great pride in how poorly you behave as a newspaper.
Today Uber had to take swift action when their supply/demand technology appeared to profiteer from the siege. What will News Corp do given it is consciously profiteering from blowing the situation out of all proportion and spreading rumours.
The Police are the best informed it seems, and they don’t even know what the Daily Telegraph is suggesting as fact.
Poor journalism. Woefully disgusting abuse of fourth estate privilege.
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What a dumb way to do reporting. Running after scoops for audience and sales, no matter how damaging this can be to the world we live in.
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You are a greedy little parasite Rupert to profit of the backs of the less fortunate ! Hostages !
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Hostage situation? Where’s old Mike Willesee when needed? From what I remember he was always able to outplay the police negotiators and get the “real” story.
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Sensationalist, pathetic journalism strikes again. No wonder you are losing readers News Corp, you are so out of touch and everyone is switching off. Change tact…it’s so tacky!
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I find it so strange that we focus on how much global coverage we are getting, does this normally get reported if a tragedy happens in the US or the UK? Really points out that we are the little fish that likes the attention- however I find it repulsive that we get excited feeling the world is finally watching!
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While the DT prints this rubbish, the nation rallies together with #i’llridewithyou. Just as well no one is sucked in by News Corp’s propaganda. Get with the times, we have minds and voices of our own.
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All headlines like this do is incite dickheads to lash out at innocent people because of their beliefs or their nationality. It’s completely irresponsible. Shame News Corp, shame.
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seriously, it’s the Daily Telegraph’s fault that some nut job has held 20 odd hostages at gunpoint and made them hold up that flag?
and made them post on social media about ISL and how he was going to kill them?
some of you guys are the ones that need to look at yourselves…you’re driving your own agenda in exactly the same way that you’re criticising the telegraph for doing
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Well at least Rupert’s proud:
“AUST gets wake-call with Sydney terror. Only Daily Telegraph caught the bloody outcome at 2.00 am. Congrats.”
twitter.com/rupertmurdoch/status/544587566297522176
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Deeply, sincerely, fuck the Telegraph
#illridewithyou – This is who we are.
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“AUST gets wake-call with Sydney terror,” Murdoch tweeted soon after the siege ended. “Only Daily Telegraph caught the bloody outcome at 2.00 am. Congrats.” Rupert Murdoch’s tweet. What a class act!
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I remember when September 11 happened we were told that it was “the day the world changed forever” but I just went about my normal business as usual. Now we’re being told that the Sydney seige “is when we changed forever” but I’ll continue visiting Sydney like I always have, swimming at Icebergs and going to the City Gym. As far as I’m concerned nothing has changed.
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Circling Sharks – yes of course! The victims are not the hostages – two of whom were murdered by an Islamist – but the imaginary religious people being teased for their outfits in the imaginary future of which there are no actual reports. But hashtag away.
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Aussie_Austridge – you don’t think things have changed? You haven’t noticed airports are a bit more secure? You haven’t noticed a few more countries descending into religious and civil wars? How about the over 20000 religiously motivated attacks around the world since Sept 11?
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Ken, your ability to spectacularly misinterpret something seems to be matched only by the aforementioned Telegraph.
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Circling sharks – of course! – anyone who disagrees with you must love the Daily Telegraph. And yet the Daily Telegraph actually got it correct – despite it being a fairly average, sensational newspaper owned by a sociopath. The videos – watch them – show the killer’s support for Islamic State. So, they were correct.
As to the never-ending hashtags of meaningless grandstanding and misdirected sympathy, which is the modern way, I guarantee you will give no one a ‘ride’. It’s all talk.
Finally, interestingly not once have you mentioned your outrage about the the murdered, their families nor the freed hostages and their families. Nor the police. But hashtag away!
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The hashtag is easily one of the bigger circle jerks in history.
People who aren’t racist were never going to start abusing strangers and those stupid enough to be are never going to suddenly go ‘oi farkkkkk, this here twitters is right, foreigners are top c***s”
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@Ken – Islamist? Do you mean Extremist? 1 nutjob held up a flag with a statement, in Arabic, about God. 1 nutjob who was on bail awaiting trial for allegedly taking part in a conspiracy to kill his wife. 1 nutjob who has been accused of (I’m not sure of the outcome of these accusations, or if the reports are accurate) 20+ instances of assault. His religious beliefs are inconsequential in comparison to his actions. There are bigger issues at play here and none of them should be dressed as terrorism for the sake of a few paper sales.
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Is The Daily Tele still a thing?
I caught train to Central on Tuesday morning from Gosford. Train was about half full. Out of interest I walked the length of the train both upstairs and down before Hornsby stop. Didn’t see a single person with a copy of it.
Dead media.
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