To celebrate her 69th birthday billionaire Gina Rinehart has been handing out millions of dollars to employees in an act of “life-changing generosity”, the Australian Financial Review reported.
“The often misunderstood and sometimes unfairly maligned billionaire gave away at least 10 prizes of $100,000 each at a Christmas gathering for Roy Hill workers,” wrote Perth reporter Brad Thompson in a headline so glowing it could have been written by Australia’s richest woman herself: “Rinehart gives away millions to workers in birthday raffle.”
It was the first in a series of flattering portraits in the AFR which the mining magnate’s own public relations team must have been delighted with.
$4.1 million! That's how much Australia's richest person, Gina Rinehart, is giving away to staff in a cash bonus bonanza. @sunriseon7 pic.twitter.com/Rq0ImYzMWe
— Matt Tinney (@Matt_Tinney) February 8, 2023
In a 3,000-word feature filled with praise from anonymous sources who were “close to Rinehart” and quotes from Hancock chief executive Adam Giles, Thompson wrote that her admirers see her as a “loyal, warm, engaging and generous” woman who doesn’t get enough credit for her “business success, her quiet philanthropy and her generous support of Olympic and other sporting teams”.
Western Australian journalists familiar with covering the mining magnate told Weekly Beast Rinehart has demanded editorial approval for any interviews in the past. We don’t think that’s the case here, while Thompson says he conducted a “written interview” with Rinehart.
Among the insights he gleaned were that the mother of four is unfazed by what “greenies and fellow travellers” think of her rejection of renewables and that Gina is “an unabashed fan of Donald Trump’s presidency”.
Rinehart is number one on the AFR’s Rich List with a fortune of $34bn.
Headline blues
The Daily Mail has not apologised for its breaking news headline on a post about Bonnie Raitt’s Grammy’s win for Song of the Year that read: “Shock as unknown blues singer beats Beyoncé, Adele and Taylor Swift to win Song of the Year at Grammys.”
Bonnie Raitt, “unknown blues singer” pic.twitter.com/argi9iNKEB
— Nick Parco (@nick_parco) February 6, 2023
Raitt, 73, has of course won 13 Grammys as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. The American singer was ranked number 50 in Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time and its list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
Bluey hits the beach
Is there anything Bluey can’t do? The most popular ABC TV show, Bluey is a cult international program which has a hit album, a touring play, an Emmy and a podcast that dissects each episode.
Now Bluey’s mum, Chilli, is a magazine cover star.
InStyle Australia magazine and Ludo Studio have recreated the Sunbaker, the famous 1937 photograph by Max Dupain, in an issue to celebrate Australian icons.
“Chilli’s moment in the spotlight as an InStyle cover star not only celebrates the astounding achievements of the show, but also the role that mothers have played over the past few years in keeping the world going,” InStyle editor-in-chief, Justine Cullen, said. Another memorable cover from InStyle was a moody photoshoot with Anthony Albanese in a trenchcoat in the run-up to the federal election last year.
ABC board tussle
The staff-elected director on the ABC board usually beavers away to represent staff issues without much publicity, but that all changed when 7.30 political editor Laura Tingle put up her hand as a high-profile candidate for the vacancy last month.
The incumbent, Dr Jane Connors, finishes her term on 30 April and nominations close on Friday 10 February. Connors is an adviser on ABC editorial policies and a former Radio National manager.
The candidates for the position are traditionally backed by one of the two ABC unions, the Community and Public Sector Union or the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance. Connors was the CPSU pick last time.
But Tingle chose to go it alone, rejecting the MEAA’s ballot process to select a candidate. “There are clear obligations for directors of any board to be independent and while I would obviously listen to all staff concerns, I feel it would be detrimental to simply be perceived as representing the interests of one sector of our workforce,” Tingle said.
The winner of the MEAA ballot was Melbourne business reporter Dan Ziffer, but Indigenous journalist Dan Bourchier, who is leading the coverage of the referendum and the voice to parliament has self-nominated. Ziffer’s pitch is that he is an active member of the union who has consistently lobbied for members’ rights while Bourchier is a regional candidate who grew up in Tennant Creek and is a member of the LGBTQIA+ community.
“Let me be your voice,” Bourchier wrote to staff. “There’s hasn’t been an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander voice or anyone with Indigenous heritage on the ABC board since 1991.”
Whoever gets union members support - through their vote - does not represent the union, but has the backing of those staff.
— Dan Bourchier (@Dan_Bourchier) January 29, 2023
I threw my hat in the ring for the board, to bring my experience, independence & perspective. I’d be grateful and driven if ABC staff back me with their 🗳️
Tingle’s bid was followed by a push from another high-profile broadcaster, Indira Naidoo, who is now ABC Radio Evenings presenter in New South Wales and Canberra.
But Weekly Beast can reveal there is another candidate who may not be well known outside the ABC, or indeed among ABC News staffers, but has a good chance of taking the prize.
The head of Indigenous, Diversity & Inclusion, Kelly Williams, is a 34-year veteran of the ABC and very popular among staff. An Indigenous woman, Williams has worked on ABC TV’s Back Roads program for years and is a mentor to Indigenous staffers.
ACM push to cut ties with code
One of Australian Community Media’s 100 regional papers is pushing staff to drop a commitment to the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance’s journalist code of ethics in its new employment agreement.
The Ballarat Courier is negotiating a new enterprise agreement with its journalists, point five in the Australian Community Media’s log of claims says: “To keep the Proposed Agreement fit for purpose, we propose to no longer include things like authorship, code of ethics and files for references.”
The MEAA says the Journalist Code of Ethics protects sources, readers and journalists and requires journalists to report honestly, accurately and independently, and upholds transparency and fairness.
“Removing it means journalists could be asked to prioritise advertising or commercial interests over accuracy and fairness, disrespect grief and personal privacy, place unnecessary emphasis on race, gender or other personal characteristics, or suppress relevant facts,” the union says.
The company told us last year when bargaining began that it was “committed to the journalists’ code of ethics” and it was too early to comment on the agreement. “Ethics and integrity are also cornerstones of our code of conduct. We are bargaining respectfully and in good faith with our valued employees.”
A spokesperson for ACM said enterprise bargaining negotiations at the Courier are progressing constructively. “The code of ethics has not yet been discussed, but we look forward to hearing the views of our staff.”
Courier Mail takes the low road
The press watchdog has taken 15 months to publish an adverse finding against a Courier Mail article which argued that Indigenous parents “routinely abandon their responsibilities”. The Australian Press Council said the masthead unfairly omitted entrenched Indigenous disadvantage as a reason for high youth crime rates. “The publication failed to take reasonable steps to avoid substantial offence and prejudice.”
Courier columnist Mike O’Connor said “while they march up and down the street waving flags, their children are stealing cars, robbing houses and being hauled off to the watch-house.”
The masthead had to publish the adjudication in the paper and online but the offensive commentary remains on the website despite breaching two of the general principles of the APC.
“Although the Council notes the very substantial public interest in reporting and commenting on the incarceration rates of Indigenous youths and the potential causes, the public interest did not justify the level of offence and prejudice,” the council said.
The publication caused further offence by republishing an infamous Bill Leak cartoon which the council said “is used to further perpetuate a racist stereotype that Indigenous parents, and in particular Indigenous fathers, are potentially drunkards and poor parents.”
