Sharri Markson named new media editor for The Australian, vows to bring more ‘attitude’
Markson
The Australian has this morning announced Sharri Markson has accepted the role of media editor, with the former Cleo editor signalling there will be no let up in the battle between News Corp and the ABC telling Mumbrella: “I enjoy a good media war”.
Markson replaces Nick Leys who announced earlier this week that he had accepted a role at the ABC as head of corporate communications, after just a fortnight in the role.
Speaking to Mumbrella this morning Markson, the section’s sixth editor in five years, said it will have “attitude” under her editorship.
She’s certainly kicked off with a whole bunch of cliches:
“addictive must read”
“attitude and breaking stories”
“one of the best jobs in journalism”
“huge potential”
Yawn.
Let’s be honest – it will just be more of the same ABC and Fairfax bashing crap. And I think writing that sort of nonsels at Chris Mitchell’s behest has to be one of the worst jobs in journalism.
“I find it hard to understand if you’re a journo and you’re a true journo why you would take a job doing PR like Nick Leys has,” said Markson. “It will be interesting to see what he does.”
Is it just me that finds that statement vaguely insulting to both PRs and journos?
All the best Nick. All the best Sherri (I do in all seriousness look forward to her shaking things up!)
“I find it hard to understand if you’re a journo and you’re a true journo why you would take a job doing PR like Nick Leys has,” said Markson.
Bloody oath, that’s poor form and a worrying sign that she lacks class. Play the ball and not the man, Sharri.
I find The Australian Media section very dull these days. It used to cover marketing and advertising, but that seems to have gone by the wayside. It has become the one-eyed cheerleader for whatever business interest Murdoch wants to pursue. At the moment it would appear to be lobbying the government to slash the budget and scope of the ABC’s operations. Like a petulant child who has had their lollies taken away from it, News Corp believe they have a devine right to commercial success and will plough down anyone they believe threatens that. Then there is the relentless Fairfax bashing. It’s getting very old and boring.
The media editor’s job has to be one of the easiest at the Oz. Just do as you’re told by Mitchell and Murdoch, without question, and you’re golden.
Sharri Markson will have to make a choice between writing PR crap which will please her boss or writing real stories which will please everyone else.
Agree that the section isn’t what it once was. It’s thinner than my hairline and with no ad revenue to support it, can’t see that changing any time soon (and really, the only people who read it are media wankers to see if they’re in it or it’s putting the boot into their opposition.)
Talks a lot, doesn’t she? And in cliches too, like a wome’s mag editor.
Interesting that none of the Oz’s own staff were apparently interested in the role.
What’s ‘The Australian’?
By comparison, I reckon Sharri’s well up for the job of being a Murdoch mouthpiece, and I agree with others here at Media has fallen way down from the section it used to be when it launched… it really was a must-read, relatively independent (probably had to deliberately work very hard to be seen so, given the concerns over Murdoch-bias when it first launched) and covered everything in this industry. Sadly like all other print sections it’s declined in pages, no doubt online ventures like Mumbrella are proving far more effective for reaching this audience; and it’s also declined in quality to become largely a ‘bully pulpit’ for Murdoch proxies, when I read any headline which has any connection to the Murdoch World View I immediately discount that story’s content and most of the time skip over it completely.
@Caro is there anyone left at the media section beyond Darren Davidson and Sally Jackson? Look at all the departures from the Oz media section in just two years: Amanda Meade, Stephen Brook, Simon Canning, Nic Christensen, Lara Sinclair (haven’t seen her byline in a while), Nick Tabakoff now Nick Leys… And now it’s just three pages.
I like the irony of having a crack at Nick for being the ABC’s PR man when the Oz media has been Foxtel’s PR arm for years now.
Dr Oyvind, ‘The Australian’ is a very rightwing newspaper published locally and is owned by a foreign publishing company which is run by a man who fled Australia in the pursuit of money and became an American.
“It’s going to be an exciting section every Monday. An addictive must-read media section with attitude and breaking stories”, said Markson.”
Breaking stories? After they’ve been on mUmBRELLA and TV Tonight for almost a week.
Always looked forward to Monday’s Oz for the Media section.
Until that section became a couple of pages.
At best…
“I find it hard to understand if you’re a journo and you’re a true journo why you would take a job doing PR like Nick Leys has,” said Markson. “It will be interesting to see what he does.”
When she becomes a journalist she may find out.
Didn’t she roll out the same quotes (attitude, must read, exciting, must-read, addictive ,best job in journalism yadeya..) when she took on the editorship of Cleo? All of 11 months ago….
Her comments are cringeworthy.
I agree that the only people who read it are those searching for a mention of their own name! Sharri perhaps on a slow news day you could just write about yourself?
Newspapers aren’t what they used to be. They used to be written by smart mature people with a well formulated voice. Why do you think hardly anyone reads them anymore?
It’s a tad disconcerting that of all the comments here, no-one seems to take serious umbrage with the word ‘attitude’ in the context of ‘news’. If the reputability of a media outlet is based on unbiased, objective reporting, surely the admission that The Australian plans to mach-out its stories in tats and backward facing baseball caps contradicts the very essence of its remit? Am I the only one left who doesn’t want my news poppin’ fakey inverted corkscrews and Smith-grindin’ the coping? Have we become so desensitised to the fact the mainstream news of today is patently sensationalised that we just accept it? Reminds me of Bauer touting its commitment to exceptional standards in journalism while syndicating stories from the UK and changing the event location to a Sydney suburb, dismissing it as a typo, then getting caught performing the same ruse on the NZ market, then claiming to hire more people to ensure it doesn’t happen again. How does it take more people to not change the ‘facts’ of a story? There was a time when the public trusted the mainstream media. They no longer do. No wonder…
Seriously Sharri – you sound like a silly young schoolgirl