James Valentine doing MediaBites today.
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Dylan Behan did Media Bites this week
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I haven’t been watching. Is Janine do we think the right choice for a permanent host?
She seems to have that smart arse attitude to stuff when it seems like there are lies or not right.
I don’t think she would be a bad replacement
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She has certainly made some waves this morning with the Tony Armstrong story last night.
I think she’s quite funny in the way that she calls the bullshit out. She does have a good personality for it I find her quite entertaining to watch the last couple of weeks
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In the old days, when the ABC had standards, you would never see anyone from ABC News or radio fill in on MW. There was always a firewall between MW and the rest of the organisation. Crazy the ABC now thinks it’s ok for Jez and Valentine to now fill in.
Janine is a perfect fit for the show. Not a creature of the ABC. And she’s very entertaining and funny.
Just wish the show would get more time and that media bites turns into something like BBC’s Newswatch to focus on ABC standards and accountability BBC Newswatch (Full Program - 31/3/23) [1080p50] (youtube.com)
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I think Janine has the required amount of gravitas for the role. She is authoritative but can do light hearted as well which can be a difficult combo.
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Jeremy was due to Paul Barry being injured in a crash only 2-3 days prior to the edition going to air - wasn’t enough time to find someone else and get them trained up with editorial standards, studios, etc.
Valentine only presents Media Bites, which is more of a light hearted short program, often looking at mistakes (i.e. incorrect dates & footage, etc), rather than substantial analysis of any kind.
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I so wish she could be the permanent host. Enough of old dudes trying to act smart in delivering some well-deserved criticism of the media (In fairness, Barry was the least worst out of the previous ones). Janine is fantastic, and her stint on Media Bites was quite good as well, not sure why they wouldn’t let her do it and let the comparatively predictable Valentine doing it.
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Possibly scheduling conflicts - either that, or they have something in mind for Valentine next year - he did present TV TV, so he at least has some experience with the genre.
When is Paul back?
Janine is only doing three weeks - so I guess he will either be back next week or the week after.
ABC stars Mark Willacy and Paul Barry in bathroom dispute over war crimes reporting
Two of the ABC’s biggest stars — Media Watch host Paul Barry and investigative journalist Mark Willacy — were involved in a bathroom confrontation after Barry had criticised Willacy’s reporting on war crimes on his show.
The incident, according to sources, occurred during a time of much internal drama at the public broadcaster, where Media Watch staff were feuding with members of the ABC Investigations team.
In December 2021, Media Watch called out a story by Willacy which alleged Australian soldiers executed an unarmed prisoner in Afghanistan.
It was after this segment went to air that Willacy and Barry found themselves in a bathroom disagreement, which a source at the public broadcaster said was “spoken about in the corridors.”
I thought Media Watch would have had some coverage of the Nine’s culture report findings.
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The show’s executive producer, Tim Latham, will depart by the end of the year, and CBD reports that ABC top brass wanted to fill that role before settling on a host just to make sure chemistry and vibes were right.
That role has been filled, with investigative reporter Mario Christodoulou, currently with radio program Background Briefing, getting the nod for the EP gig.
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The host has not yet been confirmed but one of the frontrunners is another top investigative reporter, Linton Besser.
Not on the short list are the stand-in host, Janine Perrett, or the Australian Financial Review’s Rear Window columnist, Mark Di Stefano. Di Stefano was screen-tested at the urging of the current Media Watch team, who thought he was a good fit.
The ABC will announce the new team at the ABC Upfronts on 21 November.
Episode from 3 March 2003:
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Marr was probably my favourite presenter, alongside Jonathan Holmes.
Linton Besser has been named as new Media Watch host
Update:
Linton Besser to replace Paul Barry as Media Watch host in 2025
Award-winning investigative journalist Linton Besser will be the next presenter of the ABC’s Media Watch program from 2025.
Besser is a former foreign correspondent who has reported from around the world for Four Corners, Foreign Correspondent and 7.30. His work has also appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Bulletin.
Besser has won four Walkley Awards, two Kennedy Awards and a George Munster Award. His work has prompted public inquiries, including a Royal Commission, corruption findings and criminal prosecutions against business figures, politicians and other public officials.
Besser follows in the footsteps of Paul Barry, Jonathon Holmes, Richard Ackland, David Marr, Liz Jackson, Monica Attard and Stuart Littlemore, who have all hosted Media Watch since the show began in 1989.
His first show as host is on Monday 3 February.
Linton Besser: “I’m thrilled and sobered to be given the opportunity to host this important television program and hope to continue its great tradition. The media is big business and hugely influential. Its mission may be to hold others to account — but it too deserves the blowtorch.
“For years, members of the public have described to me a fundamental distrust of the media. They lump us together, the good and the bad. Rather than despairing at this uncomfortable reality I’m going to try in my own small way to do something about it. Media Watch remains Australia’s best public guardrail against bad behaviour by the press.”
Chief Content Officer Chris Oliver-Taylor: “Linton is an award-winning and hugely accomplished journalist who brings decades of experience – and no doubt a wonderful flair and style – to this key position.
“Media Watch plays a unique role working on behalf of the public and its mission has remained unchanged during its incredible 35-year history. Each week it holds the media industry’s most powerful outlets and personalities to account with uncompromising scrutiny. In an increasingly fragmented and tech-savvy media landscape this has never been more important.”
Besser replaces Paul Barry who announced earlier this year that 2024 will be his last season in the presenter chair. His final show will be on Monday 2 December.
Joining Besser at Media Watch next year as Executive Producer is investigative reporter and Gold Walkley winner Mario Christodoulou. He replaces Tim Latham, who is also stepping down at the end of the year.
Christodoulou has worked as a journalist with the Sydney Morning Herald’s Investigations unit, Four Corners and Background Briefing.
About Linton Besser
Linton Besser is an investigative journalist, former foreign correspondent, newspaper reporter and television documentary maker of more than two decades’ experience.
His first full-time job in the media was as a producer for Nine’s Today program in 2003, before he then moved into country and regional newspapers, first in Dubbo and then in Wollongong.
In 2007 he joined The Sydney Morning Herald where he wrote about planning, transport and state politics, before moving to the paper’s investigations desk.
Besser joined the ABC in 2013, and Four Corners the following year, where he was a reporter for five years. Among his groundbreaking reports, he was the first journalist to identify the infiltration of Crown’s Macau properties by Chinese triads, and his investigation into the $13 billion Murray Darling Basin Plan led to a Royal Commission and a string of criminal prosecutions.
In 2018, he was appointed the ABC’s Europe Correspondent, covering major international stories including Brexit and the outbreak of early Covid outbreaks in Italy.
Since 2021 Besser has been an investigative reporter and editor with ABC News. This year, his work has focused on Australia’s high rates of recidivism, including a fly-on-the-wall documentary on the realities of life after prison in NSW. His investigation into the strata industry has run across 730, Four Corners and AM and prompted sweeping changes to the industry and to the law which governs it.
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