Annabel Crabb has received some harsh criticism for her ABC TV show Kitchen Cabinet over its seven seasons, but a recent critique motivated the political journalist to hit back hard. The result is a withering 2,500 word defence of the type of TV interview she conducts, why it works, and the skills needed to pull it off. It’s a masterclass in responding to what she describes as a “lazy op-ed … about the bankruptcy of the politico-media industrial complex”.
Her “Dear Tim” letter was written in reply to a blog post in which the writer Tim Dunlop said Crabb was “soft-soaping powerful people” and Kitchen Cabinet “dumbs down debate”. Dunlop took issue with her interview with Peter Dutton, aired on 22 August, and referred to a 2015 piece by Amy McQuire in New Matilda, which has circulated again on social media.
