A Current Affair: We’re not grubby journalists
Nine’s A Current Affair has hit back at claims by embattled Labor MP Craig Thomson that the show has engaged in “grubby journalism” be seeking to talk to a prostitute who alleges he was a client.
But the current affairs show claims that it has been investigating the scandal-burdened MP in a responsible manner.
This afternoon the show’s executive producer Grant Williams issued a statement saying:
“A Current Affair has been conducting an investigation into allegations against Federal MP Craig Thomson in relation to his former position at the Health Services Union. Our investigation has uncovered additional claims, not previously reported or to our knowledge investigated elsewhere.
“On that basis, we attended Parliament House in Canberra and met with Mr. Thomson. In the interests of absolute fairness and transparency, we presented our information to him, in an “off the record” conversation conducted in his office. This conversation lasted for almost 90 minutes.
“In response to claims made by Mr. Thomson in this morning’s News Ltd papers and in a subsequent press conference, we want to emphasise that no-one has received any payment from A Current Affair. We have not published or broadcast a story. In fact, our investigation is ongoing.
“We reject Mr. Thomson’s claims of “grubby journalism”. Grubby journalists would have already run a story, without giving him the opportunity to examine the information.”
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
Linkedin
topics
A Current Affair
Where did the figure of $60.000 come from? Is this yet another defence plucked from the sky? This guy just gets more unbelievable by the day.And Gillard loses more votes for Labor by defending him.
User ID not verified.
There was a time when A Current Affair was a quality news program. That time was long ago in an Australia far, far different to the one we find ourselves in now. A Current Affair and shows like it are nothing more than stories pitched for the gnashing teeth, rabid dog groups in society. All they do is spread sensationlised stories, re refugees, politicians, food and occasionally a piece on weight loss, beauty or buying budget fashion. People should watch these programs and think carefully about what they don’t tell you and the generalisations they go on about. You go to work and here rubbish like “Did you watch A current Affair last night? They had a story about ham and how it isn’t proper ham on the bone but pieces of ham fashioned around a bone by some sort of edible glue.” The problem is that people automatically go to their “Oh my God? mode and don’t bother to ask where this is happening, how wide spread is it and who did they bust to prove this theory. It may have happened in one place, but the whole of Australian is now talking about how they won’t be buying ham for Christmas. They are lite on media. News when you not really getting the news.
User ID not verified.
Craig Thompson along with anyone who puts themselves in the public arena
are open to journalism in all its forms. If it is too hot, get out of the kitchen!
He opened himself up to the greater scrutiny with his denials in parliament and
making commens on other people – ie Kathy Jackson – If it ok for him to name
names etc. it is ok for journalists to do so.
User ID not verified.
Good on you ACA for keeping the bastards Honest
User ID not verified.
What are they going to drop the ‘speed cameras what are you really paying for” and ‘best value pizza’ story for a real story about actual Current Affair?
User ID not verified.
Well done ACA and Craig Williams. Anything that can get him out or Parliament, or to resign has to be a good thing…respect!
User ID not verified.
Lol, ACA are the epitome of grubby journalism.
User ID not verified.
Of course they are not grubby journalists. They are not journalists at all. More like fiction writers.
User ID not verified.
You think you’re not grubby? Think again.
User ID not verified.
Ha! Definitely equals on the grubbometer.
User ID not verified.
I think the Clive James story showed what sort of journalists they are.
User ID not verified.
They’re grubs……not journalists.
So-called commercial TV “current affairs” programs are an insult to anyone with a smidgen of intelligence.
Who watches the crap?
Nardio
User ID not verified.
Very grubby — it is misappropriation or fraud that journalists should be pursuing not lurid details of sexual encounters. The issue is not who Thompson slept with, but did he rort his expense account. This is quite disgusting on the part of those who work at A Current Affair. They should be accountable for this sort of rubbish
User ID not verified.
Like I would take A Current Affiar’s word for it, they pay and continue to pay for stories and it is typical of journolism today. A Current Affair used to be a solid current affairs program what a shadow of its former self. No wonder ratings at nine have plummeted.
User ID not verified.
I like cat stuck in a tree stories, they should devote the whole half hour to stuff like that. OOPS they do already, keep up the grubby work
User ID not verified.
And in other news, the tobacco companies say cigarettes are not harmful to your health
User ID not verified.
Leaving aside judgment of Craig Thomson for one minute, I think we’re in danger of becoming a society where the media plays the role of judge and executioner.
Becoming a real judge is a long, challenging path, with purposeful education along the way about how to ethically discharge this duty, and few perverse incentives. Journalists are not trained for this particular duty, and the incentive to increase readership is not strongly aligned to the interest of justice.
The laws of evidence and requirements for natural justice are a sophisticated system designed to protect all of us from tyranny or mob rule, and were developed thoughtfully over the course of hundreds of years. Let’s not throw this all away.
I shudder at the enthusiasm with which so many of us watch the public downfall and dissection of one man – guilty or not.
User ID not verified.
thomson is an idiot – he had a great chance on monday to admit to being flawed, to admit to joining in with the other pirates raping and pillaging member funds when he joined the union and to throw himself at the mercy of what recovery action the HSU might take, and in the meantime he has every right to remain in parliament as no charges are pending that would disqualify him from sitting.
the FWA report has itemised the exact misuses of member funds so there’s not much room to deny it.
in this case there would be no oxygen left to feed this story and we could all move on. the media is going hard because they can smell the blood in the water, and the bumbling moves of thomson and gillard are making it way worse than it ever needed to be.
User ID not verified.
I personally have zero primary evidence about Craig Thompson. I understand that he has not had a day in court yet and until he does and until his is either proven guilty or acquitted of x or y I quite simply have no opinion or judgement on the man. (Or has he been proven to have committed an offense?)
As for A Current Affair, where do I start?! Luckily for me (I think) I can occasionally watch the awfulness knowing that I am able to digest the tripe with a pinch of salt. The hideous presenters, accompanied by the incredibly boring so called jorno’s are spellbindingly dull. Fox News “USA, USA…” comes to mind when I watch this show. Sensationalised drivel, one sided and designed to pollute the masses who are unable to think for themselves. Sad really because the majority of Aussies I encounter and not right wing, nor are they sensationalist…
Mob rule = Australian media. Although ABC and SBS do a terrific job.
User ID not verified.
journo’s* grammar* punctuation* (perhaps I am in ACA’s target field…?)
User ID not verified.
ACA is like fast food for the mind, easy to digest, addictive, light on any nutritional value, and if you have more then one serve per week you will end up soft and flabby.
User ID not verified.
Interesting that there seems to be plenty of comment on this subject. You can’t tell me that there are not numerous other media organisations looking for “participants” who can identify CT.
In this case not only have ACA found one first, they also found a transaction previously overlooked by FWA. I would suggest this is one of the more credible investigative pieces done by either ACA or TT in a while.
And I’m not commenting on the overall quality or lack thereof in relation to Current Affairs programs. I think that horse has well and truly bolted.
User ID not verified.
A Current Affair & Today Tonight. Emotional tripe. Stories never explain the full facts and often take the side of people that are in the wrong. It’s embarrasing to view. I often think of the families of the jouralists and cringe.
User ID not verified.
If you check times and dates of news stories you’ll find that wherever the $60,000 figure came from, it certainly appeared BEFORE Craig Thompson commented on it. ACA has been caught out and is now in damage control trying to shift the focus back on Craig Thompson. They say they haven’t payed anyone, sure, not yet. But if the payment was only if the story went to air then they’re only telling half truths and being deliberately misleading. No matter what the truth or falsehood of claims against Craig Thompson, the Australian media as a whole are disgusting bottom feeding scumbags. You shouldn’t take anything they vomit forth as trustworthy at all.
User ID not verified.
@Surin. You are either a troll from ACA or a deluded, brain washed moron. Either way, you can simply run and jump.
(Using ‘credible’ in a sentence associated with ACA) come on, pull the other one… I truly do not know how the ACA team can sleep at night. Awful people.
User ID not verified.
people still watch, believe and give a crap about what ACA and TT etc are “reporting” !?
hahahahhaa some people.
If everyone believed everything that was on ACA or TT, people would not leave there homes. Would live in a protective bubble.
One week its saying speed cameras are bad, the next week its asking what the police are doing about the numerous amount of street racers (which according to ACA is ANY car with an loud exhaust system)
User ID not verified.