It’s been five weeks since Andrew Probyn lost his job when the ABC declared the role of political editor for TV news was redundant. By all accounts Probyn is angry and hurt by the decision to dump him so publicly, which was exacerbated by the appointment of the Insiders host, David Speers, as national political lead.
But, across the commercial divide in the Canberra press gallery, there may be a shiny new role for the former newspaper reporter who turned his hand to TV reporting for the ABC’s 7pm bulletin six years ago.
Nine’s news director, Darren Wick, has confirmed he is in talks with Probyn about joining Nine, describing the reporter as a good news breaker. “He is a big personality but we can handle big personalities: we had Laurie Oakes and Chris Uhlmann,” Wick told Weekly Beast at an industry conference this week.
Uhlmann, a former ABC reporter, replaced the legendary Oakes at Nine in the same year Probyn joined the ABC from the West Australian.
Sources say Probyn may be offered a dual newspaper and TV role, and would not replace Charles Croucher who was appointed chief political editor for Nine News in October.
Probyn has not answered a request for comment but he is still working through his separation from the ABC where he has worked since 2017.
The discussions come as Nine completes the building of a super bureau in the press gallery which will join its TV and newspaper empires together for the first time.
The bureaus have been operating separately since Fairfax Media merged with Nine Entertainment in 2018.
Builders are demolishing the walls between the bureaus which housed the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age and Channel Nine to construct what will apparently be the largest bureau in the press gallery, with a TV studio to rival that of Sky News Australia.
Fawlty Towers
The worst interview guest of the week has to go to visiting UK comedian John Cleese who asked the Project host Waleed Aly: “What kind of a name is Waleed, anyway? Is it an anagram?”
Aly kept calm and said: “No. It’s just Arabic. I take it your Arabic’s not great?”
Cleese, 83, was annoyed by Aly’s questions and got a big laugh when he turned his back on him. “I don’t want to talk about Fawlty Towers,” Cleese said.
But Aly insisted on asking him about his much-loved comedy Fawlty Towers which he is rebooting with his daughter Camilla Cleese.
The wrong man
The West Australian newspaper and 10 News First in Perth have had to apologise for a major blunder after wrongly identifying a man as an accused murderer.
“On 18 June 2023 we ran a story accompanied by a photograph of Alex Sutton which indicated that Mr Sutton had been arrested and charged with the alleged murder of Patrik Weiss,” the West Australian said.
“Mr Sutton had absolutely nothing to do with Mr Weiss’ murder and was not the person arrested.
“We made a mistake in publishing his photo.
“The West Australian sincerely apologises to Mr Sutton and his family for the hurt and embarrassment that our mistake caused him.”
Meanwhile on Ten, newsreader Natalie Forrest was equally apologetic: “That story incorrectly included an image of Alex Sutton who shares the same name of the accused, instead of the accused Alexander Mark Sutton. Network Ten apologises.”
It’s a costly mistake for a media company to make.
Chvastek exits ABC
After months of speculation the ABC has told listeners of Victoria’s regional statewide drive program that the woman who hosted the program for 11 years, Nicole Chvastek, will not be coming back.
Chvastek disappeared off air months ago without explanation and listeners started a petition demanding she return.
We reported in May Chvastek had lodged a bullying claim against the ABC in the Fair Work Commission.
On Wednesday the stand-in Drive presenter, Warwick Long, told viewers Chvastek had resigned.
The outcome of the Fair Work claim remains confidential and the ABC will not comment on the circumstances of her resignation.
Chvastek’s lawyer, Mark Comito of Stal Employment Lawyers, confirmed she had resigned and her bullying application against the ABC had been discontinued.
The drive show, which reaches every regional area across Victoria, southern New South Wales and eastern South Australia, is now looking for another host.
No fun over games cancellation
Dan Andrews has faced vitriol from some sections of the media for his decision to cancel the Commonwealth Games after cost estimates reached $7bn.
Sky News was particularly critical. The Melbourne broadcaster Steve Price said the premier had “trashed Victoria’s sporting reputation globally”.
The decision by Victoria to cancel its hosting Commonwealth Games hosting rights has been lambasted in both Australia and around the world > https://t.co/738q7K172F pic.twitter.com/nuJFSpS2gw
— Herald Sun (@theheraldsun) July 18, 2023
The Coalition minister Sarah Henderson sang from the same songbook saying Andrews “trashed our reputation”.
But a cartoon by Mark Knight in the Herald Sun went further than most, picturing the premier of Victoria shooting an athlete representing the state of Victoria in the head with a starting gun.
Teo’s swipe at McClymont ‘revolting’
Days after the neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo was found guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct by a professional standards committee he appeared on Seven’s Spotlight program for an interview with reporter Michael Usher.
Teo was scathing about reporting by the Sydney Morning Herald’s Kate McClymont who revealed in 2019 the “devastating impact on families of ultimately futile procedures” which sparked a review by the Medical Professional Standards Committee.
Teo did not mention her by name but he was discussing her reporting when he said: “If she wants validation in what she’s done, I can tell you now that you’ve been very, very successful in killing a lot of people if that’s what you wanted to do.”
The program also used footage of McClymont from the 60 Minutes program she made about him so it was clear who the “she” was he was referring to.
For so many, Dr Charlie Teo is their final hope. Now, Aussie patients are being forced overseas because the surgeon they trust is banished from Australian hospitals. Is Charlie Teo a genius or a doctor with a god complex? 7NEWS Spotlight, Sunday 8:50pm on @Channel7 and @7plus. pic.twitter.com/TGLSnCgqQN
— 7NEWS Spotlight (@7NewsSpotlight) July 12, 2023
McClymont’s colleagues at the Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes were gobsmacked by Teo’s claim that “hundreds if not thousands of people have died” as a result of Nine’s reporting. Usher did not approach McClymont for a right of reply.
When a two-year-old boy died after brain surgery in India, Teo effectively accused McClymont of killing the child because her coverage meant he was unable to control the boy’s treatment, the SMH wrote in an editorial this week.
“Teo’s slur against McClymont – one of Australia’s most experienced and respected investigative journalists – is highly offensive,” the editorial said.
Weekly Beast understands McClymont does not want to sue for defamation and would rather let her journalism speak for itself.
Seven did not answer direct questions about a right of reply but told Weekly Beast: “We asked Dr Charlie Teo the tough questions. The report was strong, balanced and fair to him and his patients. We stand by our story.”
