Sky News

London-bound Sky news sports presenter James Bracey has just had a rather interesting morning.

Some saw his totally innocuous cough gesture as something a little cheekier. Bracey refutes that suggestion, as does his regular Sportsline guest Jim Wilson. We’re highly inclined to agree. The two have a great on-air rapport, and it’s unlikely the young presenter would take the piss in that way.

Anyway, it got us thinking about embarrassing stuff that happens at work. Some time in your career, we’re all of us going to look a little silly. Hopefully it won’t happen on national telly as it did with James or this unfortunate booger-loving soccer coach. But what about you? Ever turn up to work on your day off? Get sprung sucking up to the boss? Tell, tell. No one’s listening except hundreds of thousands of Punchers.

The commonly accepted choice between a stuff-up or a stitch-up is to go with the stuff-up.  Anyone reading the Auditor-General’s report into Labor’s botched tender for the Australia Network television service will reject that accepted wisdom and conclude a stitch-up was more likely.

While the Australia Network may be Australia’s soft diplomacy channel into the Asia-Pacific, Labor’s internal wrangling over who should produce this service has involved anything but soft diplomacy.  A needless internal power game saw the most senior figures in the government face-off over the future direction of the Australia Network.

Sadly, Labor wasn’t content to just battle it out amongst each other.  The owners of Sky News and the ABC were dragged into the fray as proxies in a war over a contract that need not have gone to tender in the first place.

Continue reading "The tender trap set by Government mired in enmity" »

Most people only get one shot at being the target of a lynch mob. I’ve had two in a week.

Last week, Angry Anderson turned a passionate crowd of thousands against me for accurately reporting the number of people at the rally. Yesterday, it was Alan Jones’s turn.

First, let me clarify that at no point did I feel physically threatened. Even when I saw a dozen burly truck drivers marching towards me (with purpose and an escort of 10 cameras), once a few words were exchanged, I quickly realised they were all calm and reasonable people. Not the same could be said about everyone there.

Continue reading "Revved up by Alan Jones, the angry mob turned on me" »

Commercial television’s breakfast programs aren’t for everyone. It’s not compulsory to watch and there are plenty of alternatives.

But the facts are that they connect with their viewers in a more powerful way than their traditional television news formats.

Stop. Don’t start commenting yet. Hear me out and then go your hardest… I’ve broad shoulders (and a sense of humour, check out the clip above).

Continue reading "Like it or not, breakfast TV has an important role" »

Fight! Fight! Fight!

Hundreds of people have complained to British media regulator Ofcom about the heated exchange between Sky News political editor Adam Boulton and former Blair adviser Alistair Campbell, captured in the video above.

The Guardian reported that the interview between the two men “errupted into a spectacular bunfight” with the news anchor telling Mr Campbell ““I’m fed up with you telling me what I think” and also included a number of pointed finger-jabs.

Many of the complaining members of the British public were said to have been offended by Adam Boulton’s lack of “professionalism” during the exchange. But what do you think? Watch the video and share your thoughts here.