I wonder if clips of the interview will be shown on 7.30 on ABC tonight (7.30 and Fairfax had a joint investigation on the sexual harassment allegations against Don Burke).
AN ACA EXCLUSIVE
TRACY GRIMSHAW HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH DON BURKE
Tonight at 7.00pm on Channel Nine
Explosive allegations were levelled today against TV personality Don Burke, who hosted the top-rating Burkeâs Backyard program in the 1980âs and 1990âs.
A series of former colleagues and associates have spoken out and accused Burke of shocking sexual harassment and bullying, in alleged incidences dating back more than a quarter of a century ago.
Burke today sat down for a heated interview with A Current Affairâs Tracy Grimshaw in which he is grilled on the allegations that he was a âsexual predatorâ and a âpsychotic bullyâ during the hit gardening showâs 17-year run on the Nine Network.
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Hereâs hoping. Nine will either look like itâs complicit in covering Burkeâs name or have a rare moment where ACA does good journalism.
Grimshaw being papped.
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Next to be interviewed should be Leakie and Meakin who knew of the allegations at the time and did nothing about the situation.
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⌠and Chisolm.
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Iâm sure Don Burke isnât even close to the worst that any of them have come across during their time in Australian Television. This is only the beginning.
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Iâd put my money on [LIBELOUS - REMOVED] being a sex pest.
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To be fair to Leckie and Meakin the show was produced off site by Burkeâs production company so it wouldnât have been happening directly under their noses. Thereâs no doubt they were aware of his poor behaviour, however. I remember reading about Burke having staff in tears in gossip columns years ago but there werenât allegations of sexual harassment in those reports.
You only have to look at old network blooper videos on You Tube to see how different work places and the world was back then. Some of that stuff wouldnât be tolerated now and would lead to instant dismissal. A very good thing, IMO. I know Iâve found myself in uncomfortable situations where Iâve had to laugh at disgusting comments to go along with the crowd in the room. Not proud of that. Thankfully people are quick to speak up against such behaviour now.
I have suspicions about certain celebs and wouldnât be surprised to see certain You Tube videos used as evidence against them should they find themselves in court.
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Exhibit A:
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I was looking for that infamous video earlier this afternoon.
How dare you, Libelous Removed is a saint!
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That was an outstanding interview by Tracey Grimshaw - she put forward pretty much every allegation leveled against Don Burke today (including raising one herself about a story she heard) and asked him all of the questions that needed to be asked
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Excellent questioning by Tracy.
Yes he has the right to defend himself against these allegations but personally I think this interview has even done more damage to his reputation which is already in tatters. Tracy did mention he was not paid for the interview.
This interview was about the allegations by ex employees, but interestingly journalist Kate McClymont alleged today on ABC News that she had received at least 200 additional complaints from members of the public and people who work in the horticultural industry.
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Another great interview by Tracy.
A Current Affair really needs to a Sunday Night-esque format, with one/two main story nightly, with the majority of them by Tracy.
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Or Tracy needs to be on a different show where her journalistic talents are actually used.
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Not that itâs likely to ever happen but I was personally thinking that Tracy needs to be at the ABC, where there seems to be a bit more journalistic freedom than at networks like Nine who need to take commercial decisions into consideration.
Anyway, I didnât see tonightâs Don Burke interview but Iâm sure it was one of the very rare instances where ACA has actually done good journalism. Just a pity that ACA focuses on heavily sensationalised but minor local issues or the networkâs latest advertising deals the other 99% of the time!
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Despite showing excerpts from ACA and a promo during Nine News, Nine in Brisbane then showed the old promos in the ad break that followedâŚ
As part of news report
Ad break
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Tracy could be offered a move over to 60 Minutes
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