WEBVTT - The Media Show | 2 May 0:00:01.480 --> 0:00:04.560 This is the Media Show with Jack Outing. 0:00:06.160 --> 0:00:08.800 Hello and welcome to the Media Show. Tonight we'll look 0:00:08.800 --> 0:00:12.040 at a major court victory for soldier Ben Roberts Smith, 0:00:12.440 --> 0:00:14.600 and then of course we'll sit down with media watchdog 0:00:14.640 --> 0:00:16.440 columnist Jared Henderson. 0:00:17.000 --> 0:00:18.520 But first, here. 0:00:18.320 --> 0:00:21.280 We are on the eve of another federal election, and 0:00:21.320 --> 0:00:24.320 now I could talk about how the Coalition has squandered 0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:27.640 an early polling lead with an absence of policy depth 0:00:27.920 --> 0:00:30.720 and a series of missteps, but you already know all 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:33.600 of that, and this show is about the media. So 0:00:33.640 --> 0:00:35.120 we're going to take some time to look at the 0:00:35.200 --> 0:00:38.640 respective media strategies of each major party because there have 0:00:38.760 --> 0:01:27.120 been some shocking changes in the wake of AI. 0:01:07.480 --> 0:01:14.840 Chick and tracking your money or your life. 0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:17.880 You're a smarter than. 0:01:17.760 --> 0:01:21.040 You look, authorized by ew Strain, Labor Party Westpeth. 0:01:22.760 --> 0:01:24.600 Well, what you just watched there was a series of 0:01:24.640 --> 0:01:28.600 AI enhanced social media memes which are having a devastating 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:33.039 impact on the coalition. Now these are official, authorized clips, 0:01:33.120 --> 0:01:35.680 which include dressing Peter dutten up as an evil sith 0:01:35.720 --> 0:01:39.640 lord uses a lightsaber to slash the healthcare system. And 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:42.480 there's any of it true, not a word. It is 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:46.840 brutal politics strategically targeting a young audience and people who 0:01:46.880 --> 0:01:49.440 don't have ours to spare in their busy lives to 0:01:49.520 --> 0:01:53.600 study politics. It is a scattergun approach, throw mud and 0:01:53.640 --> 0:01:56.320 see what sticks, and some of these clips are reaching 0:01:56.480 --> 0:01:59.960 hundreds and thousands of young voters. Now, we've been tracking 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:04.200 Labour's new AI misinformation blits across social media very closely 0:02:04.560 --> 0:02:07.360 and worked out they spent three point eight million dollars 0:02:07.360 --> 0:02:10.880 on Google ads including YouTube between March twenty eight and 0:02:10.919 --> 0:02:13.799 April twenty six, and a further one point one million 0:02:13.840 --> 0:02:18.600 on meta platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, and that 0:02:18.880 --> 0:02:21.280 is more than double the amount of money the coalition 0:02:21.360 --> 0:02:24.840 assigned to social media. Make no mistake, this sort of 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:29.120 disreperency kills campaigns. And what truly irks me about this 0:02:29.240 --> 0:02:32.640 new bold form of campaigning is that Labour has spent 0:02:32.680 --> 0:02:38.520 the last few years lecturing Australians about misinformation. Albanezi personally 0:02:38.560 --> 0:02:42.680 blamed his failed Voice referendum on misinformation and his parting 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:46.600 even tried to outlaw it on social media, although politicians 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:48.440 were going to be exempt from those laws. 0:02:49.680 --> 0:02:54.040 It is a lot of misinformation out there, but it's 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:58.800 a very clear proposition continue to counter some of the 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:03.040 misinformation which is out there. There will be misinformation out there, 0:03:03.080 --> 0:03:07.240 we say you all, sir, There's been a whole lot 0:03:07.280 --> 0:03:11.080 of misinformation out there. Some of the misinformation out there 0:03:11.960 --> 0:03:15.200 is extraordinary. People in public office and public life have 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:22.680 a responsibility to not spread misinformation, to talk about the facts. 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:25.240 How times have changed. 0:03:25.600 --> 0:03:27.919 And also, this was what Albanezi had to say back 0:03:27.960 --> 0:03:30.720 in twenty nineteen about fake political adverts. 0:03:32.360 --> 0:03:35.800 But what happens when it turns out that what politicians 0:03:35.840 --> 0:03:41.720 are allegedly saying isn't actually real at all? Facebook usually 0:03:41.720 --> 0:03:45.640 won't do anything at all about it. That happened to 0:03:45.680 --> 0:03:49.920 me just last week when men's rights activists Lead Erickson 0:03:50.240 --> 0:03:53.640 docted a social media image from my Facebook page. 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:57.480 It looks like if you stay in politics long enough, 0:03:57.560 --> 0:04:04.640 you become the villain you once despised. Well, joining me 0:04:04.680 --> 0:04:06.760 on the panel this week a Sky News contributors James 0:04:06.800 --> 0:04:09.880 Bolt and Louise Roberts. Of course, Louise, what do you 0:04:09.920 --> 0:04:13.440 make of this? You pivot the use of AI and 0:04:13.640 --> 0:04:15.840 the willingness to lie to win an election? 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:19.160 Well, the willingness to lie to win an election? Gee, 0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:21.080 that's not a new concept. I don't think and certainly 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:23.480 in recent weeks has it been so I think, you know, 0:04:23.680 --> 0:04:25.599 this is the way to win our hearts and minds 0:04:25.600 --> 0:04:27.760 tomorrow ahead of the vote. I don't think so. And 0:04:27.800 --> 0:04:30.520 it's a very cynical way of them trying to attract 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:33.320 or speak to young voters who will be turning off 0:04:33.320 --> 0:04:36.279 from this sort of messaging by the thousands because it 0:04:36.320 --> 0:04:38.799 is appalling and what an appalling waste money as well, 0:04:39.000 --> 0:04:42.440 millions of dollars spend on these stupid ads in making 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:45.200 look like a sith lord, you know, photoshopping him into 0:04:45.279 --> 0:04:48.159 various things, which that are really struggling to understand the 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:51.039 messaging behind these ads, despite all the money they're spent 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:53.600 on it. So to me they're completely counterproductive. 0:04:53.960 --> 0:04:57.040 Yeah, I mean James that they're equal parts light and funny. 0:04:57.040 --> 0:05:00.159 So you've got him dressed up as Darth Maul with 0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:03.240 a lightsaber, but there is a brutality to it in 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:07.640 that he's cutting through medicare and it does kind of work. 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:10.920 And I see some of these clips have thirty thousand shares, 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:13.880 you know, hundreds of comments in it, and they do 0:05:14.000 --> 0:05:18.320 permeate through the zeitgeist. I think of that demographic we'll 0:05:18.320 --> 0:05:21.159 have to see if it worked. But it looks like 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:23.040 if you're looking at the polls now that it's definitely 0:05:23.040 --> 0:05:23.599 had an impact. 0:05:23.680 --> 0:05:25.880 Yeah, and we're talking about it, so therefore it is 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:27.760 working a lot better than a lot of Liberal ads 0:05:27.760 --> 0:05:29.480 on it, and especially this medi scare thing. 0:05:29.600 --> 0:05:31.880 So you know when Anne Rustin talks. 0:05:31.680 --> 0:05:33.839 To ask a Godseeller wrote that article that we featured, 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:36.240 and she goes, oh, this is just political games from Labor. 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:40.040 It's just dir like first election campaign, where are your 0:05:40.080 --> 0:05:40.799 political games? 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:42.120 I mean medi scare. 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:45.159 Laby got to this quicker, meaner and louder than the 0:05:45.200 --> 0:05:48.560 Liberal Party, and dune't spent the whole campaign having to 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:52.000 just say it, reject another narrative and rather than set 0:05:52.000 --> 0:05:55.000 his zones and no matter what happens on Saturday, major 0:05:55.000 --> 0:05:57.719 wake up call for the Liberal Party about not being 0:05:57.760 --> 0:06:01.040 fast enough on social media, not getting AI quick enough, 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:04.679 and not being able to set an agenda from the start. 0:06:05.120 --> 0:06:08.440 The misinformation laws side of this, we were going to 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:12.839 have to have I guess discourse policed by these laws. Now, 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:15.640 in hindsight, when we've seen the strategies, when we've seen 0:06:15.760 --> 0:06:19.840 the way that that Labor is campaigning, it looks very hypocritical. 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:22.279 Now it does completely because we I think as parents 0:06:22.320 --> 0:06:24.560 as well, we sort of expected these laws to protect 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:26.800 our children's That's where really put out faith in for 0:06:26.800 --> 0:06:27.680 the government. 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:28.799 Has targeted at children. 0:06:28.880 --> 0:06:30.479 That's right, that was the point I was going to 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:34.720 make Exactly, it's going straight to young voters with you know, 0:06:34.839 --> 0:06:38.400 sort of saddled with dealing with and voting on issues 0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:40.200 which are not of their making. They haven't created the 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:42.880 housing crisis, they haven't created the cost of living crisis. 0:06:42.920 --> 0:06:45.240 They're looking to the government or the future party to 0:06:45.279 --> 0:06:47.919 actually solve these issues for them. Instead, they're having to 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:51.000 weigh through these social media means, which you know, yes, 0:06:51.160 --> 0:06:53.040 probably do come through to a certain extent, but they 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:57.200 don't actually give them anything tangible to think how, how 0:06:57.279 --> 0:06:58.880 is a political party going to fix this for me? 0:06:59.200 --> 0:07:01.320 What's the change be for me as a young person 0:07:01.600 --> 0:07:02.680 living in Australia. 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:05.719 I think that, but though, like how many young voters 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:08.440 actually are out there going well, what's tangible for me? 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:10.400 I mean, I really think every election comes down to 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:12.640 who would you rather have a beer with? And when 0:07:12.680 --> 0:07:14.600 you've got the Labor Party, I mean, look, they're not 0:07:14.640 --> 0:07:16.680 adds for me, They're not adds for us, they don't 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:18.000 speak in the language of the watpake. 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:19.400 But for some people. 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:20.920 That could just be the stuff like, Ah, this Labor party, 0:07:20.920 --> 0:07:22.720 they're kind of fun Like that could. 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:24.040 Just be enough to win over a vote. 0:07:24.480 --> 0:07:25.040 Maybe. 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:28.360 Well, there's another element to this social media campaigning which 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:32.160 is also killing the coalition. Now, Labour's advertising team might 0:07:32.200 --> 0:07:36.960 be shameless liars, but the coalition's team is simply weird. 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:40.360 How is the coalition fighting against the five million dollar 0:07:40.480 --> 0:07:45.440 labor blitz? Well with asenine clips like this, please vote 0:07:45.440 --> 0:07:45.760 for me. 0:07:45.920 --> 0:07:49.080 Screamed Dane bond Albanesi in a desperate attempt to clutch 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:51.600 a dub in the last four days of the Fortnite election. 0:07:51.800 --> 0:07:54.400 Despite his best efforts to camp his way to victory 0:07:54.600 --> 0:07:57.200 the players in the lobby, Moses time was for the 0:07:57.280 --> 0:07:59.920 last three seasons of an easy had dramas the chief 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:02.520 rightem sharp, but the price for the battle pass kept 0:08:02.600 --> 0:08:05.400 rising and causing many players to crash out. The rage 0:08:05.520 --> 0:08:07.880 continue this album as he hosted a mini event on 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:10.560 the island where he spent four hundred and fifty million 0:08:10.640 --> 0:08:13.560 taxpayer v bucks on a voice referendum, and now with 0:08:13.640 --> 0:08:16.480 the storm closing in the choice is clear a camping 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:18.520 default or dunten who will clutch up and get the 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:20.320 dub for Aussies with cheaper. 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:22.600 Petrol and energy authorized by a host liberal camera. 0:08:23.960 --> 0:08:26.800 If you publish that as an ad, you deserve to lose. 0:08:27.080 --> 0:08:30.160 There is no gray area here. The Coalition fumbled this 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:33.960 campaign because it did not have a message. Instead, it 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:36.600 employed a bunch of low IQ young liberals who are 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:41.280 obsessed with Fortnite to produce this utter garbage. It reeks 0:08:41.320 --> 0:08:44.000 of an older audience desperately trying to attract Gen Z 0:08:44.120 --> 0:08:47.760 voters by throwing buzzwords at them. Ironically, this sort of 0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:52.480 thing quickly becomes toxic. No policy details, no plans, just memes, 0:08:52.520 --> 0:08:59.000 and it will cost them dearly. So Luise, you've got 0:08:59.040 --> 0:09:02.160 to give labor Alis some credit. There was at least 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:08.240 some creativity there in the misinformation campaign, and when you 0:09:08.320 --> 0:09:10.840 compare it to some of the ads at the liberal parties, 0:09:10.880 --> 0:09:14.240 the way that they're trying to emulate that strategy very 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:17.120 cringe worthy. And I think that you can see online 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:19.520 it's getting mocked by a lot of that generation. 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:21.559 Absolutely who it's meant to appeal to. It's almost like 0:09:21.600 --> 0:09:23.200 they got into a bunker and went, oh my god, 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:25.600 we've got to quickly do an aiad who knows how 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:28.760 to use chat GPT quickly, let's cobble something together. I 0:09:28.760 --> 0:09:31.160 don't think politicians should be allowed to use any type 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:33.000 of AHI because clearly they've got no idea how it 0:09:33.040 --> 0:09:35.960 works or what the messaging is. But I mean, I 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:36.640 agree with your point. 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:37.640 I think James as well. 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:40.679 It's the kids that maybe don't have real world experience, 0:09:40.720 --> 0:09:43.199 and the older members of Liberal Party maybe don't understand 0:09:43.559 --> 0:09:46.800 social media, and they have deferred to the younger generation 0:09:46.920 --> 0:09:48.400 and their party that don't. 0:09:48.200 --> 0:09:49.120 Have the experience. 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:52.040 They're probably a little bit nerdy, they're probably not the 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:54.520 most likable people you wouldn't want to go have a 0:09:54.520 --> 0:09:56.920 beer with. Yes, and we're getting this kind of advertising 0:09:56.960 --> 0:10:00.400 from people that really don't have anything interesting say or 0:10:00.440 --> 0:10:01.920 anything of substance, lots of things. 0:10:01.960 --> 0:10:04.320 So watching that ad, like, I've never played Fortnite, but 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:07.320 I'm assuming it's just hitting buzzword after buzzword after buzzword 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:09.760 about Fortnite. And the difference with the labor One that 0:10:09.760 --> 0:10:12.040 we just played was that it always came back to 0:10:12.120 --> 0:10:15.840 duttonmal Cup medicicare, Like there was a point to what 0:10:15.960 --> 0:10:18.440 it was saying exactly. Now, the other part of this ad, 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:20.520 because like you can say it's terrible, and it is, 0:10:20.559 --> 0:10:22.320 and you guys have covered that. But the other part 0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:25.760 of it is it came out yesterday. Four million people 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:27.959 had already voted by the time it came out. That 0:10:28.120 --> 0:10:31.080 is one in for nearly one in four people on 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:34.160 the electoral role who can't change their minds, like not 0:10:34.320 --> 0:10:35.280 won't change their minds. 0:10:35.360 --> 0:10:36.600 They can't change their minds. 0:10:36.600 --> 0:10:39.480 So even if that ad were good, it's ultimately kind 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:43.120 of useless. So I mean the Liberal campaign, they came out, 0:10:43.160 --> 0:10:45.800 they say, okay, well from the last week of the campaign, 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:48.040 that's where now spending is going to really go up. 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:49.920 We're really going to focus in on that last week. 0:10:49.960 --> 0:10:53.240 But so many people have either voted, they have completely 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:54.760 made up their minds. They might have made up their 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:57.439 minds three months ago. They're not people that you can 0:10:57.480 --> 0:11:00.520 get anymore. I just think that the Liberal Party has 0:11:00.559 --> 0:11:03.360 this whole Super Bowl mentality of like everything got to 0:11:03.400 --> 0:11:05.480 lead up to game day, It's all about that Saturday, 0:11:05.520 --> 0:11:07.199 and that is just not how people think. 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:09.080 Getting more a great people just. 0:11:09.080 --> 0:11:11.200 Like they don't want to vote on Saturday because the 0:11:11.240 --> 0:11:14.920 lines are too long. It's not that they've just can't 0:11:14.920 --> 0:11:18.360 wait to vote. It's just the concept of election day. 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:20.400 It's a political animal thing. It is not a regular 0:11:20.400 --> 0:11:21.080 person thing any. 0:11:21.000 --> 0:11:23.240 And we were talking before, we were before the show, 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:26.400 and there might be some indication that people have switched off. 0:11:26.440 --> 0:11:29.360 They're going out to vote simply because they just don't 0:11:29.400 --> 0:11:30.560 care anymore. They want to get it done. 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:31.560 It's true they have. 0:11:31.440 --> 0:11:32.960 To, they just don't want to get a fine if 0:11:32.960 --> 0:11:34.640 they ever get a fine in the post. But the 0:11:34.640 --> 0:11:37.880 whole atmosphere of the democracy sausage and going there and 0:11:37.920 --> 0:11:40.000 getting the hat to vote cards and taking kids along 0:11:40.040 --> 0:11:42.360 and all that community, I really feel is is on 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:45.720 the decline, which is a real shame because democracy is 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:47.760 such a part of our fabric and framework. And to 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:50.400 your point, Jane's about the combalition leaving everything to the 0:11:50.440 --> 0:11:53.680 last minute, That show is a very bad understanding of 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:56.280 how media now works and how we consume media as well, 0:11:56.320 --> 0:11:58.319 that we're not waiting to the last minute to sort 0:11:58.320 --> 0:11:59.960 of suddenly check who we're going to vote for. 0:12:00.120 --> 0:12:02.560 But also your own political momentum, because they had a 0:12:02.679 --> 0:12:04.839 lead this year, how do you not go even harder 0:12:04.880 --> 0:12:07.440 at that moment or rather than just like stepping back 0:12:07.480 --> 0:12:10.840 and going okay, well wait wait, wait, no, no, no, you 0:12:10.920 --> 0:12:12.319 have to attack when they're at their webs. 0:12:12.679 --> 0:12:15.240 They need a lot of help in terms of media strategy, 0:12:15.559 --> 0:12:17.360 and that's particularly where they've let them down. 0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:19.559 Also, they need to have a look at their policies. 0:12:19.600 --> 0:12:22.640 I think the policies really if they resonate, then it 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:24.280 does the job for you. But they don't really have 0:12:24.320 --> 0:12:28.360 anything tangible to latch on rather than this abstract petrol 0:12:28.360 --> 0:12:31.199 thing that's going to disappear in a year anyway. Moving 0:12:31.240 --> 0:12:33.599 on now, media watchers, Linton Besser took aim at the 0:12:33.600 --> 0:12:37.040 ABC's chair Kim Williams this week, and it exposed a 0:12:37.120 --> 0:12:40.720 major fight brewing at the national broadcaster now. Besser revealed 0:12:40.720 --> 0:12:44.520 that Williams had personally intervened to get a washed up comic, 0:12:44.720 --> 0:12:48.240 Sandy Gutman, airtime so that he could sell tickets to 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:49.160 ABC viewers. 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:54.199 Ostentatious, whose real name is Sandy Goodman, has featured regularly 0:12:54.280 --> 0:12:58.920 on the ABC, celebrating his briefly famous monologue and sprooking 0:12:58.960 --> 0:12:59.959 his upcoming show. 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:02.319 Across the country, these days. 0:13:02.160 --> 0:13:04.920 The crowds are much more receptive and I get far 0:13:05.040 --> 0:13:08.160 less alcohol thrown at me than I did back in 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:08.800 the early days. 0:13:09.320 --> 0:13:12.920 Since July last year, Goodman has received more than ninety 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:17.040 minutes of free publicity on the public broadcaster. There's no 0:13:17.120 --> 0:13:22.240 fewer than eleven segments, all of which promoted specific upcoming gigs. 0:13:22.520 --> 0:13:25.040 You can book your seat for dinner and then also 0:13:25.040 --> 0:13:27.439 the show if you jump onto the pub's website. 0:13:28.600 --> 0:13:32.440 Some ABC staff pushback against the idea of having a 0:13:32.480 --> 0:13:35.960 no name failed comic given a platform to sell tickets, 0:13:36.240 --> 0:13:37.720 and they were right to push back. 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:41.960 But we've learned that not all of the ABC's radio 0:13:42.000 --> 0:13:45.319 staff loved the idea of Austin Tatious on their show 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:49.600 and declined to put him to air. The comedian would 0:13:49.600 --> 0:13:53.439 have the last laugh, however, because, as these regional bureau 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:58.320 soon learned, Sandy Goodman had a man on the inside, 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:02.200 none other than Kim william chairman of the ABC. 0:14:03.000 --> 0:14:04.160 I'm friends with Kim. 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:06.839 I would have known him for forty years. I asked 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:08.520 him if he could get a couple of interviews. 0:14:08.720 --> 0:14:09.160 He did. 0:14:09.800 --> 0:14:13.520 Kim Williams denies the two of friends and describes Sandy 0:14:13.559 --> 0:14:15.320 Goodman as a mere acquaintance. 0:14:15.960 --> 0:14:18.880 We had a brief involvement some twenty seven years ago. 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:23.680 Whatever the relationship, Sandy Goodman has used it to great success, 0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:26.320 beginning on August five last year. 0:14:27.680 --> 0:14:31.080 Williams used his slippery statement to dance around the issue, 0:14:31.360 --> 0:14:34.840 but the facts are clear. He had a connection to 0:14:34.880 --> 0:14:38.520 a professional comic and he pressured EBC journalists to help 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:41.160 him sell tickets on air. Now, if that isn't a 0:14:41.240 --> 0:14:44.720 breach of the charter, then nothing is and Williams appears 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:47.880 to be in trouble here. We reported after the fallout 0:14:47.880 --> 0:14:51.080 of the Media Watch episode that the MAAA Journalist Union 0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:55.160 was getting calls with similar complaints. They say there are 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:58.760 more stories like this to come. And the ABC's new 0:14:58.760 --> 0:15:01.640 managing director, Hu Mar, who should be the person running 0:15:01.640 --> 0:15:05.960 the editorial content, not Williams, had some interesting words to 0:15:06.000 --> 0:15:06.680 say in the matter. 0:15:07.720 --> 0:15:11.320 Kim and I are very clear. Kim's responsibility is to 0:15:11.400 --> 0:15:13.480 run the board and to run and to be the 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:16.160 advocate in chief for the ABC, and management needs to 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:19.080 have the ability to run the organization. The board exists 0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:22.880 proper governance to review what management does. Kim does not 0:15:23.280 --> 0:15:27.760 have any question with that, That's very clear, James. 0:15:27.760 --> 0:15:31.040 Really interesting work by Linton Besser. There it's always a 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:35.600 bit awkward when they're turning the microscope on their own employers. 0:15:35.880 --> 0:15:38.520 But in this situation, I can see why ABC journalists 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:42.760 are incredibly angry. He is directly influencing it. And there 0:15:42.840 --> 0:15:44.720 was this one comment from a journalist that they played 0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:48.320 on Media watchual we didn't share was if he's focusing 0:15:48.360 --> 0:15:51.520 on something that's this petty and this irrelevant and what 0:15:51.560 --> 0:15:52.400 else is he doing? 0:15:52.600 --> 0:15:55.720 Yeah, I just can't believe Kim Williams is risking it 0:15:55.800 --> 0:15:57.080 all for ostentatious. 0:15:58.040 --> 0:16:00.000 That's the craziest fust You know what this person is 0:16:00.160 --> 0:16:01.040 I ever heard of it? 0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:04.520 Slightly aware of the how much King Kohalabev I've been 0:16:04.600 --> 0:16:06.800 producer here that clip every now and then get shown 0:16:06.920 --> 0:16:09.240 if you recognized if he came up to me on 0:16:09.240 --> 0:16:10.680 the street and hit me, I would not know who 0:16:10.720 --> 0:16:14.640 he is, but man ostentatious. But like so, the serious 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:17.200 point of this it is just we pay for it. 0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:20.760 We pay for the ABC, We pay for these ego trips, 0:16:20.760 --> 0:16:23.760 We pay for everything. Like they're editorializing, they do away 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:25.040 from the ostentatious stuff. 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:29.480 And it's not him Williams personal broadcast. 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:35.120 And he's not a good talent correct me. Do you 0:16:35.120 --> 0:16:35.720 know who he is? 0:16:35.960 --> 0:16:37.960 I know of the name, but he's of a different vintage. 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:40.760 I mean, certainly nobody on the street would even be 0:16:40.760 --> 0:16:42.840 able to mention any of his jokes or these TV 0:16:42.880 --> 0:16:44.680 shows or anything like that as well, or we stand 0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:46.800 up routine. But the point I was going to make 0:16:46.920 --> 0:16:49.640 is how refreshing we now have an MD at the ABC. 0:16:50.040 --> 0:16:53.000 He's not afraid to push back and defend journalists. We 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:54.640 haven't had that for a long time. So I think 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:57.160 you know, full marks to Hugh Marks for that as well. 0:16:57.360 --> 0:17:00.360 Saying it publicly is publicly. I don't know how Williams 0:17:00.360 --> 0:17:01.240 will feel about that well. 0:17:01.280 --> 0:17:03.160 And we did say that would be his biggest hurdled, 0:17:03.160 --> 0:17:05.359 didn't we that when he took that job that had 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:07.360 to deal with the Kim issue would be the biggest 0:17:07.720 --> 0:17:08.879 sort of hurdle for him. 0:17:09.040 --> 0:17:12.200 Yeah, he's already gone out racing. We can't have people 0:17:12.320 --> 0:17:16.040 selling commercial tickets on the ABC's completely inappropriate. But moving on, 0:17:16.440 --> 0:17:19.280 Soldier Ben Robert Smith won a major victory against nine 0:17:19.280 --> 0:17:22.440 this week when audio recording which was uncovered by Sky 0:17:22.600 --> 0:17:26.040 News was admitted into court as he seeks to overturn 0:17:26.080 --> 0:17:27.960 his damaging defamation loss. 0:17:28.840 --> 0:17:32.160 Victoria Cross recipient Ben Robert Smith has had a legal 0:17:32.200 --> 0:17:35.000 win in the Federal court today as he seeks to 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:39.600 overturn his defamation loss. His lawyers successfully argued that a 0:17:39.680 --> 0:17:43.680 secretly recorded phone call should be admitted as evidence. 0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:50.600 Striding into court to try and clear his name, decorated 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:53.920 Soldier Ben Roberts Smith is hoping to reopen the defamation 0:17:54.040 --> 0:17:57.919 appeal against the journalist and newspaper who accused him of 0:17:58.000 --> 0:17:59.800 war crimes because of this. 0:18:00.200 --> 0:18:03.080 I've just preached my doing that this is where like 0:18:03.240 --> 0:18:03.600 this is. 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:08.879 A secretly recorded phone conversation between Nick mackenzie and a 0:18:08.920 --> 0:18:11.399 woman known as Person seventeen. 0:18:12.680 --> 0:18:13.080 James. 0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:16.000 A big win for Ben Robert Smith, but also Shari Markson, 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:18.959 who broke that story. She uncovered that audio and now 0:18:19.000 --> 0:18:21.040 it appears it's going to be very central to this appeal. 0:18:21.200 --> 0:18:23.840 I mean it is explosive audio and what Nick mackenzie 0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:26.440 was saying yes at court yesterday was also very interesting. 0:18:26.480 --> 0:18:28.560 So this is definitely something to be watching very closely 0:18:28.600 --> 0:18:30.119 for the next couple of days and weeks. 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:32.000 Yeah, louis your thoughts. 0:18:32.040 --> 0:18:33.680 I think if you're going to accuse someone of being 0:18:33.680 --> 0:18:35.879 a war criminal, you have to make sure every facet 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:38.080 of your house is in order, So very interesting to 0:18:38.080 --> 0:18:39.200 see where this goes from. 0:18:39.040 --> 0:18:41.920 And his testimony, because Nick mackenzie obviously took the stand 0:18:42.000 --> 0:18:45.200 and he made some admissions that in certain situations he 0:18:45.280 --> 0:18:48.480 will act deceptively if he thinks the public interest argument 0:18:48.560 --> 0:18:51.120 is there. But it will be definitely one to watch, 0:18:51.160 --> 0:18:55.080 particularly for us on this show. Well, James Louise, thank 0:18:55.080 --> 0:18:58.159 you so much for the time quick break. When we return, 0:18:58.560 --> 0:19:09.480 Carmala Harris rise from the political grave. Welcome back to 0:19:09.560 --> 0:19:12.679 Stars and Gripes, where we revel in the absurdity of 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:17.280 US media shenanigans. But big news tonight, Kamala's back rallying 0:19:17.280 --> 0:19:20.800 the resistance against the evil, democratically elected leader of her 0:19:20.840 --> 0:19:22.040 own country. 0:19:23.680 --> 0:19:29.200 Well, friends, that is called a constitutional crisis, and that 0:19:29.600 --> 0:19:37.159 is a crisis that will eventually impact everyone because it 0:19:37.160 --> 0:19:41.200 would mean that the rules that protect our fundamental rights 0:19:41.240 --> 0:19:46.800 and freedoms that ensure each of us has a say 0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:55.040 about how our government works will no longer matter. And 0:19:55.119 --> 0:20:02.760 if that happens, the one check, the one balance, the 0:20:02.800 --> 0:20:10.280 one power that must not fail is the voice of 0:20:10.320 --> 0:20:10.800 the people. 0:20:14.800 --> 0:20:17.000 It was good to see Kamala Harris take a break 0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:20.080 from selling time shares on the Gold Coast, and her 0:20:20.119 --> 0:20:23.080 resurgence appear to send shivers down the spine of the 0:20:23.119 --> 0:20:24.040 Trump administration. 0:20:25.400 --> 0:20:27.080 Just to add on the Kamala Harris point, I think 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:28.879 I speak for everyone at the White House. We encourage 0:20:28.920 --> 0:20:29.800