The sad sight of two colleagues tearing each other apart over the battle for leadership
The events of the last week have been painful for Dr Mumbo to watch, as the nation’s right wing leaders have turned viciously upon each other.
He has found himself becoming increasingly saddened at the breakdown in relationship between the two long time colleagues and combatants.
Yes, the falling out between the Australian’s editor-in-chief Chris Mitchell and News Corp’s columnist Andrew Bolt has been harrowing indeed.
Mitchell kicked things off on Monday, pointing out Bolt’s failure to back new Liberal leader Turnbull, and laying into his readership: “Bolt’s audience includes many conservative retirees whereas The Australians audience is younger, rich, better educated and working in legal, political or the business community.”
Mitchell, however, failed to point out that the Oz’s readers are also more sensitive lovers and better endowed than buyers of tabloid stablemate the Daily Telegraph.
But he did tell his media editor Sharri Markson: “These people don’t read The Tele or Bolt.”
Somehow, Bolt, detected in this helpful critique some subtle coded criticism. And he hit Mitchell in his most sensitive spot – over the hotly contested question of just how deeply unprofitable The Australian is.
Worse yet, he used as his outlet, a radio station aligned with News Corp’s bitter enemy, Fairfax Media. Bolt told 2GB’s Steve Price: “If you really got an honest figure out, he is probably spending twenty million a year more on his paper than it actually earns. For that kind of subsidy from the rest of the empire which he disparages, he might actually have a more popular product.”
He added: “I think some of these things lately have been a bit unprincipled and unprofessional.”
Like the worst family divorces, the real victims could be the children. Dr Mumbo hopes that Ms Markson – seen by many people called Chris Mitchell as the world’s best media editor – will still be allowed to go on Bolt’s TV show as one of his regular guests rolled out to agree with him.
Turnbull has, Bolt warned, “set off a civil war within News Corp”.
And most damagingly (and implausibly) of all, Mitchell wanted to be a hipster, Bolt claimed.
When, oh when, will this horrible war come to an end?
Blot is still a thing. Really?
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I guess, since it’s produced by News, nobody knows how deeply unprofitable Bolt’s TV show is.
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Unprofitable and increasingly irrelevant “news”paper talks about bumbling idiot.
Headlines in the OZ and on Ten.
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Angry, BD and offal: three socialist idiots who think all news is ‘free’.
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Hey Robbo
Have I got news for you
It is.
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This is just great to watch
Conservatives blame the media for their conservative leaders downfall
Now they are blaming each other.
I love watching this blame game. Its so entertaining. Bolts more entertaining today then ever before!
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Oh @Robbo! Do you really need to make such an irrelevant, politically driven comment that do not relate to the previous comments? Socialist idiots? News is not free – as you say – and hence the strange affection that Murdochia has for losing money.
Bolt runs a low rating (expensive) propaganda piece for the increasingly irrelevant hard right. It gets beaten every single week by Insiders who have twice the audience and a variety of guests. With very rare exceptions, Bolt has the same crew of people to come in and agree with him – Albrechsten, Costello, Reith etc. It is not news, it breaks nothing and no one watches it. The Octonauts gets better ratings on ABC2 at midday.
As Mr Bolt points out, The Australian does lose money which, once again, Murdochia seems to be happy to forgive. (I understand that the number is closer to a $30m loss per year or around $600,000 per week.) News is not free and it is costing Mr Murdoch a small fortune. If he wants to lose money, that’s okay – it is his to lose.
Despite the most ardent support for the LNP from the local News Ltd papers and the most vitriolic campaigns against the ALP, the Victorian and Queensland governments changed hands after a single term and the SA government held on in the ‘Its Time’ election for the Liberals. And despite the Telegraph’s screaming out to their constituency, not one seat in Western Sydney was taken from the ALP by the Liberal Party. Not one.
It is time for News to reassess what it is doing. Their tabloids are losing readers every week and the people who are reading are not buying the political line, treating it as an entertainment paper.
We agree on one thing: News is not free. If you have very deep pockets to pursue a political agenda you can do so but it will cost you dearly in both the hip pocket and reputation.
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Oh Maisie
“It gets beaten every single week by Insiders (false) who have twice the audience (false) and a variety of guests (does Bolt have the same guests every week?)
With very rare exceptions, Bolt has the same crew of people to come in and agree with him – Albrechsten, Costello, Reith etc (false. He has different guests every week).
“It is not news (no one is saying it is. Nor is Insiders), it breaks nothing (check last weekend’s show) and no one watches it (false – by that measure, less than no one watches The Drum for instance). The Octonauts gets better ratings on ABC2 at midday (false).”
So, your argument is predictably thin on facts, but positively bulging with falsehoods.
And ABC isn’t free. We all pay for it, whether we like it or not.
Clearly you don’t live in SA, or you’d be familiar with News Ltd’s most left paper. Political editor is Tory Shepherd, does that give you some idea?
When you can actually construct a proper argument, get back to me.
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Robbo: There is no cogent argument in your reply so we will leave it there.
The facts you have asserted are false are correct.
No one said that the ABC is free – of course we all pay for it and 80% of the population use it.
I have lived in South Australia and am aware of the Advertiser. I think that Mr Murdoch would be surprised (and a little displeased) to hear it described as Leftist.
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Robbo shakes fist at the sky and shouts at the future.
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I’d respect Bolt if he had a climate scientist or two on his show to debunk all his dinialist bull. He wouldn’t have the guts. The right and their media lackies work by shutting down or discrediting dissenting opinion.
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The intertesting thing is that in long careers, neither Bolt nor Mitchell has at any stage produced anything under their byline that is at all memorable for its news value. Both have created/invented persona that provide comfortable lives but purely because they have appealed to a very particular audience of one. HMV.
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Robbo asserts that Maisie’s assertions are false, and Maisie asserts that “The facts you have asserted are false are correct.” But then, facts are by definition correct, which is why they are facts.
So, the factual points that Robbo asserted were false are in fact correct, or so Maisie says, but other points that Robbo condemns as false may indeed not be correct, since they are not matters of fact?
It’s so confusing!
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