Early win for new AWW editor Helen McCabe with Belinda Neal exclusive
Helen McCabe, the new editor of Australian Women’s Weekly, has wasted no time in proving her tabloid credentials, with the magazine winning the first interview with politician Belinda Neal, wife of disgraced former NSW minister John Della Bosca.
The monthly mag, which goes on sale today, features an interview with Neal in which she says she will be sticking with Della Bosca despite his widely reported affair.
The ACP title also persuaded Neal to undergo a makeover, pictured.
The PR coup comes in the first edition of Australian Women’s Weekly since McCabe moved into the editor’s chair a month ago. Previously she was deputy editor on Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph.
Mumbrella understands that Neal did not receive copy approval for the item.
Australian Women’s Weekly is one of Australia’s oldest titles and has a circulation of just under half a million.
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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not a great photo of her . . . she looks like an Iguana
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Gawd, reminds me of those studio shots some women use on online dating shots… when you see The Real Thing sans professional makeup, hair-do, stylist and strategically-placed soft lighting, YIKES!
Honestly, the whole ‘stand by your man’ thing is an obvious drawcard and that’s what MCabe is after of course… but I can’t see many AWW readers giving Neal any sympathy after the way she carried on during IguanaGate. And she deserves none.
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Tabloid? Helen is a damned good journalist, no matter who she works for.
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Jack, I sense perhaps you are not the target market for the AWW?
I know a lot of older readers of the AWW who will probably welcome the way Neal is presented in the mag – ie the soft focus and the sensible shirt.
I think it makes a refreshing change to the crankypants shots that keep being regurgitated by some online publications.
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Can’t imagine Australian women breaking down the doors of newsagents around Australia just because Belinda Neal is in a magazine
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Oops. The story was a big mistake on the part of Australian Women’s Monthly. The magazine obviously didn’t know who she was. But Jim Lloyd probably does, and he seems to be a good bet for romping back into Robertson in the next election. If the ALP wants to retain the seat then it’ll have to pull a Maxine out of a hat. Any suggestions?
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Haha! My thanks to poster #3, Campbell Fuller, for providing me with the biggest laugh of my day, and solid proof that irony is not dead!
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Hi Campbell,
The word “tabloid” isn’t meant in a derogatory sense. I’ve been one a tabloid journalist myself.
Many of the best story-getters I’ve come across are tabloid journos.
In this context, I eman that she’s clearly carried across the tabloid sensibility of picking a topic of populist interest and getting an exclusive out of it.
I’m not a member of the tabloid = bad team.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella