He chose the latter.<\/p>\n
Pickering told his ABC listeners he had been taken out of his context. He stressed he was a \u201cbig fan\u201d of Tame. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was a little naive and I will learn from that \u2026 but whatever beliefs I may hold on any particular issue, it cannot be said I have a problem with or would in any way have gone after Grace Tame,\u201d he\u00a0said.<\/p>\n
Which, of course, misses the point. No one really cares if Pickering is a fan of Grace Tame. <\/p>\n
Plenty of people are, and some are not. But Diary is willing to wager a large sum that there are many Australians who greatly admire Tame and yet still think the ABC shouldn\u2019t have gifted her a podcast at this point in time.<\/p>\n
Pickering wasn\u2019t asked by Yemeni if he was a fan of Tame. He was asked about the ABC\u2019s decision to hire her. <\/p>\n
His \u201cproblematic\u201d descriptor of the ABC\u2019s call wasn\u2019t taken out of context. He said what he said. But when the pile-on from the left started to outweigh the praise from the sensible centre, Pickering bucked and opted to play it safe.<\/p>\n
In 2015, when Pickering left The Project, he told lifestyle website Mamamia that the compromises demanded by commercial TV had become too much for him, and that the pressure to appease his then network (Ten) \u201cfelt like a betrayal of who I was\u201d.<\/p>\n
It looks like similar pressures apply at the ABC.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s in a name<\/p>\n
And what of the ABC\u2019s handling of this mess?<\/p>\n
How does Tame\u2019s rally cry to \u201cglobalise the intifada\u201d and her shocking commentary on the \u201cdebunked\u201d torture of Israelis on Oct\u00adober 7 sit with the requirements of the ABC\u2019s charter for staff to observe impartiality and accuracy? <\/p>\n
Tame, of course, isn\u2019t a full-time employee of the ABC, but she is fronting a podcast on the public broadcaster \u2013 a podcast that includes editorial content and reporting by its journalists who cover disability affairs, health and science. <\/p>\n
Was Tame given any guidance<\/a> on what she could or couldn\u2019t say?<\/p>\n The ABC wouldn\u2019t tell us when we asked, but surely someone referred to the Tale of Antoinette Lattouf before Tame was handed her visitor\u2019s pass to Aunty\u2019s \u00adstudios?<\/p>\n Meanwhile, several autism advocates told Diary that they were uncomfortable with the title of Tame\u2019s podcast, Autistic AF (As F..k).<\/p>\n \u201cThe flippant title fails to respect the fact that there are varying degrees of autism. <\/p>\n Quite a few people in the sector think it\u2019s offensive,\u201d one expert in the field told Diary.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard to understand why they called it that.\u201d<\/p>\n Diary asked the ABC who had settled on the name Autistic AF.<\/p>\n In response, an ABC spokesman said: \u201cThe Autistic AF series is not intended to provide a complete overview of autism. <\/p>\n \u201cIt shares personal experiences and perspectives from a variety of contributors alongside interviews with researchers and experts.\u201d<\/p>\n Translation: We\u2019d rather not answer your question, thank you very much.<\/p>\n Levy pays his levies <\/p>\n As a restaurateur, 2GB Mark Levy makes a very good radio host.<\/p>\n Regular Diary readers will recall that Levy, the Sydney station\u2019s morning show presenter (and weekend rugby league caller), has been struggling with some off-field drama in recent times with the collapse of his Italian eatery Pronto-Sylvania, in the city\u2019s south. <\/p>\n To cut a long story short, the restaurant started well in 2024 but after about a year the schnit hit the fan and a liquidator was appointed.<\/p>\n Creditors were owed a tonne of cash.<\/p>\n The revelation that Levy\u2019s hospo business had hit the fence, leaving many out of pocket, was not welcome news for a guy \u2013 and a station \u2013 that prides itself on calling out those who do the wrong thing by ordinary Australians.<\/p>\n How could Levy legitimately scrutinise<\/a> the likes of Treasurer Jim Chalmers for his budget missteps if he couldn\u2019t balance the books of a suburban joint that specialised in a Balkan mixed grill?<\/p>\n Levy started to cop flak in the press over his kitchen calamity. \u00adInitially he didn\u2019t handle it all that well, lashing out at journalists who had reported on the matter and accusing them in January this year of being \u201cinfatuated with the story\u201d.<\/p>\n Levy claimed journos were \u00adsingling him out for being a failed small business owner because of his media profile. <\/p>\n Yep, that was pretty much it.<\/p>\n To be fair, Levy always insisted that everyone who was owed money from the Pronto wreck would be repaid in full.<\/p>\n There may have been some doubters along the way but on Thursday morning Levy told his 2GB listeners that the debts had been settled.<\/p>\n \u201cAll creditors who came forward have received 100c in the dollar \u2026 a total of $674,119 has been paid,\u201d Levy said.<\/p>\n \u201cAdmittedly, this has come at a huge cost. Many would have walked away. Some would have gone into receivership and declared bankruptcy.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was never an option for me.<\/p>\n \u201cAt my core, I believe in standing up, taking responsibility, accountability and doing what\u2019s right. No matter how hard it gets.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to thank all of the aforementioned creditors for their understanding and their patience while the lengthy process has run its course.\u201d<\/p>\n Credit where credit is due \u2013 Levy could have resorted to \u00adaccounting trickery to dodge some of the massive bill, but he put his money where his mouth was (even though that\u2019s what literally got him into financial trouble in the first place) and he paid up. That is to be admired.<\/p>\n Levy even had some kind words for the journalists who had pursued the story of the Pronto shambles.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t harbour any ill feelings towards those who have reported on the demise of the business and fully understand they are doing their job,\u201d Levy said.<\/p>\n Gee, thanks!<\/p>\n And just to prove that Diary is as financially honourable as Levy, this column will honour the pledge we made on Australia Day to buy the radio host a beer if he pays all his debts in full.<\/p>\n Just FYI, Mr Levy: regular Media Diarist Steve Jackson, who is currently on leave, will purchase your pint upon his return to work. <\/p>\n Hells Bells<\/p>\n All in all, it was a good week for Levy.<\/p>\n Not only did he palm off those pesky creditors but he also conducted the interview of the week \u2013 brief though it was.<\/p>\n Levy invited One Nation senator Sean Bell on to his 2GB program on Friday morning, as confusion over the Pauline \u00adHanson-led party\u2019s policy on foreign ownership of residential was front and centre of the news cycle.<\/p>\n It was magnificent radio, if one\u2019s definition of magnificent radio is when the conversation goes completely off the rails.<\/p>\n Levy began by asking what in any other normal circumstance might be considered a Dorothy Dixer: under a One Nation government, would foreign owners have their property seized after a two-year period, and what would happen if permanent residents refused to give up their homes.<\/p>\n But poor old Ding Dong Bell wasn\u2019t across his brief.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is an excellent question, but what we\u2019re saying, and it is perfectly reasonable to expect that homes in Australia go to Australian citizens,\u201d Bell responded. \u201cIt\u2019s very simple. What happens is that, again, this look, it\u2019s a fair question to ask \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Levy: \u201cSo what\u2019s the answer?\u201d<\/p>\n Bell: \u201cThe answer is that this is going to be, this policy is one that\u2019s\u00a0being brought forward and investigated.\u201d<\/p>\n Levy correctly identified the interview was \u201cturning into a train wreck\u201d and advised Bell should \u201cgo and get some clarity before this gets worse\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t come on the radio and say \u2018We\u2019re going to give \u00adpeople two years to divest their property\u2019 and then not answer the question. Go back and get an answer, and come back to me,\u201d Levy thundered.<\/p>\n Senator Bell was last seen looking for Mal Meninga\u2019s phone number, presumably to ask if there\u2019s any escape from the Radio Trainwreck Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n Walkleys whispers<\/p>\n It\u2019s that time of year again, when journalists from the ABC, the Guardian Australia and the Green Left Weekly start reviewing their work over the past 12 months, sifting through what they think might be journalism that is worthy of an entry to the Walkley Awards.<\/p>\n But this year, there is a bit of extra intrigue surrounding the once-prestigious gongs.<\/p>\n As first reported by The Australian in April, the independence \u2013 and the charity status \u2013 of the Walkleys Awards is under renewed scrutiny<\/a> after its revamped board was filled with a majority of union-aligned members.<\/p>\n Some industry folk have joined the dots and suggested the apparent stacking of the board doesn\u2019t augur well for the supposed independence of the awards, but the Walkley Foundation was having none of it when it last spoke to us.<\/p>\n \u201cThe foundation\u2019s board has always included independent directors and the new board continues that,\u201d a Walkleys spokesman proffered. <\/p>\n Righto.<\/p>\n But since then, another curiosity has emerged.<\/p>\n The new chair of the Walkleys judging board is a chap named Ben Butler. According to the ABC website, \u201cBen Butler is an award-winning investigative journalist with interests in finance, crime and the areas in between.\u201d<\/p>\n Strange that the ABC website would carry that claim because Butler doesn\u2019t work there anymore.<\/p>\n According to multiple sources, Butler left the ABC in early April, just before he was appointed to the\u00a0position of chair of the \u00adWalkleys judging board.<\/p>\n So we thought it reasonable to ask the Walkleys when, and by whom, Butler was appointed, and were they aware of the circumstances of Butler\u2019s departure from the ABC?<\/p>\n Diary sent questions to Butler, as well as Shona Martyn, the CEO of the Walkley Foundation, and Michael Slezak, the federal president of the media union who sits on the Walkleys board.<\/p>\n Ms Martyn promptly replied to our inquiry on Wednesday: \u201cAppointments by the Walkley Foundation board of directors are questions for that board.\u201d<\/p>\n In the trade, that kind of response is known as a handball, or a hospital pass, depending on which football code you prefer.<\/p>\n Slezak ignored several emails across several days before replying with a message on behalf of Butler on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n Slezak wrote: \u201cHere is a response from Ben: \u2018I am confused by your inquiry. Your questions include materially false alle\u00adgations and information\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n The truth is out there.<\/p>\n What the Hegarty<\/p>\n Sixty Minutes\u2019 lone, full-time male reporter Adam Hegarty is nothing if not prolific. But sometimes less is more.<\/p>\n Diary couldn\u2019t help but notice Sixty slipped to its lowest ratings of the year last Sunday even though audience numbers typically go up in winter as inclement weather encourages people to stay indoors and warm themselves in front of the small screen.<\/p>\n As everyone in television knows, it\u2019s never great to pull poor numbers and even worse to be one of the reporters on-air the night that it happens.<\/p>\n Sadly for Hegarty, he didn\u2019t just have one story on the show last Sunday during the record low \u2026 he had both of them.<\/p>\n One was a heart-wrenching story about mothers being separated from their kids and the other an update on an old 60 Minutes yarn about an aviation investi\u00adgation. Neither seemed to really take off with viewers. <\/p>\n On the up side, Sixty did at least manage to finish in the top 10 on the night, well ahead of Seven\u2019s rival Spotlight (which was shown in only a couple of states because of the network\u2019s AFL coverage), while it also muscled out Ten\u2019s once dominant reality cook-off MasterChef to claim seventh spot.<\/p>\n Rare Maroons victory<\/p>\n While the Maroons are still plotting their revenge against the Blues next week, Nine\u2019s Brisbane newsroom is already celebrating a massive victory in a state of origin clash, with star reporter Annie Pullar returning to Nine News Queensland. <\/p>\n The hard-hitting newsbreaker cut her teeth on television reporting after launching her career in Nine\u2019s Toowoomba bureau and moved on to the network\u2019s Gold Coast bulletin before being promoted to first grade in Brisbane.<\/p>\n Like all great Queensland products, she was lured to the bright lights and big city of Sydney back in 2022, but in a massive \u00adfumble that ended up having a huge knock-on effect at Nine, arch rival Seven managed to swoop in under then Sydney news director and current Daily Telegraph news boss Jason Morrison and convince her to change \u00adchannels.<\/p>\n Nine\u2019s national news supremo, Fiona Dear, was so devastated at having Pullar snatched away that she was still fuming about it two years later.<\/p>\n Indeed, it is understood the failure to extend her contract at the network was listed as one of the key reasons former Queensland news director Amanda \u00adPatersonwas brutally axed in late 2024<\/a>. <\/p>\n Pullar \u2013 who sources internally at Nine are already describing as \u201cthe new Sylvia Jeffreys\u201d \u2013 had a headline-leading run in Seven\u2019s Sydney newsroom before relocating to Paris and filing for the network as a freelance Europe correspondent. <\/p>\n In a feted homecoming, Paterson\u2019s successor, Brendan Hockings, convinced Pullar to return to the Queensland capital and her old stomping ground at Mt Coot-tha as one of his newsroom\u2019s chief reporters from July 20, replacing Lily Greer, who is jetting off across the Pacific as Nine\u2019s new US \u00adcorrespondent.<\/p>\n The signing is yet another coup for Hockings, who already leads what has become Nine\u2019s strongest news team, with his bureau continually battering Seven\u2019s ailing second-placed offering in the \u00adratings. <\/p>\n In fact, under his stewardship, Nine News Queensland has won every single ratings week since the start of last year, beating Seven by a nightly margin of more than 65,000 viewers each weeknight at 6pm with top-rating anchors Melissa Downes and Joel Dry.<\/p>\n The Pullar pick-up comes straight from the tried and tested Hockings play book with Dry, himself, convinced to return to his former home at Nine after freelancing as a Europe corres\u00adpondent for Seven News just last year (while his wife, Jessica Millward, worked in Nine\u2019s London bureau). <\/p>\n
![\"James](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780895005_876_james_madden.png\")
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