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"Cynical" Nine complaint is all "spin"

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The Nine Network’s outrage over the National Press Club’s handling of the Debate feed is “a cynical exercise in ambush marketing” says NPC Vice President Glenn Milne.

“Think about it,” he wrote in The Australian. “John Westacott, widely regarded as the king of chequebook journalism, lecturing the National Press Club about principle?”

“Or Ray Martin, the former face of that nightly paragon, A Current Affair? And then there’s Laurie Oakes.”

Milne has quite a bit to say about an unfair Nine, reminding them they agreed not to host the worm when they hosted the 2004 Debate. The NPC, he claims, was equally compliant with the rules, as dictated by the governing party.

But Milne also admits the processes didn’t work so well, a problem the board will seek to address.

“As a result it will likely appoint an editorial oversight group to steer such events in the future and be in the backrooms with NPC executives on the night to take editorial, as distinct from contractual, decisions,” he said.

A footnote on Milne’s article indicated the NPC endorses his expressed views and that he is a journo for The Australian as well as being the NPC Vice President.

The footnote neglects to mention Milne is also a former Chief Political Reporter for the Seven Network, and the bloke who had a go at Crikey’s Stephen Maine at the 2006 Walkley Awards.


8 Responses

  1. I never believe people like Mia who say “they will never watch that channel ever again”.They are usually the first to compalain again about that channel,when something else is shown that upsets them…lol

  3. Other Anonymous – yeah, I tend to go over the top sometimes 😛 I exaggerate a lot. I meant death to the channel, not the actual people working there. Don’t worry, I’m not that extreme 😀

    I completely boycott 9 nowadays anyway, so I don’t watch that much TV.

    I should really get over this hate I have for them…but I just…can’t…

    Pathetic, yes 😀 I probably would be more upset by the worm if it was any other channel. But it’s 9. So no.

  4. I have no respect for the NPC after it cut the feed for ch 9, so what if they had the worm… get over it, it’s nothing new.. sure it’s a just a ratings gimmick, but it is a matter of a freedom of speech.. Especially important during an election. The NPC should be in favour of freedom of speech!

    I used to try to watch every NPC broadcast on ABC on Wednesday afternoons, but since their anti-worm behaviour I’ve opted to stay away.

    I didn’t realise Glenn Milne was the
    Vice President of the NPC, I guess it’s no surprise they would cut the feed if the NPC is run by people like him.

    Cheers Glenn Milne, enjoy all that free booze wherever you can find it! lol

  5. Anonymous – the point is that channel nine only pontificates about ‘freedom of speech’ when it suits them. I would be outraged if the coalition/NPC had cut their feed if Martin had been giving a negative opinion on Howard and they were actually suppressing him from expressing an opinion. That would be unpardonable.

    But this is the worm. Get real.

    Everything channel nine does is for ratings.

  6. Geez…Mia Freedman is still bitter…lol

    Calm down darl…. I think when a television show/network makes you “physically ill” and you wish death on someone…. you need to stop watching television.

    Go take a walk, or read a book.

  7. Speak for yaself Mia…….. Well actually that is the point isnt it……. No one cut your feed, you got to say what u wanted. Gotta Love Freedom Of Speech when it suits ya.

  8. Couldn’t agree more. Channel Nine make me physically ill, and the sooner they die the better as far as I’m concerned.

    I thought Milne had a fantastic point when he brought up the NPC’s stand against the Chinese government as a real example of the defence of freedom of speech. Compare that with ‘the worm’. It just makes Ray Martin look like a bigger idiot than he already is.

    And the hypocrisy overwhelms me as well – that they were prepared to do a similar thing to channel 7 in 2004 and they’re complaining about their own treatment now is amazing.

    I hate the worm anyway. I don’t need a bunch of people with a collective IQ lower than my own to tell me how to react to a debate – especially when they aren’t really listening to what’s being said anyway.

    Milne’s column also appeared next to Ray Martin’s yesterday – where Martin used terms such as ‘you betcha’ and ‘yep’. Maybe he was just trying to be folksy, but his column just highlighted for me the absolute lack of journalistic standards at Nine.

    They deserve everything they get – the fact that they’re hyping this up as an abuse of freedom of speech just shows how shallow they really are.

    Whew. Yeah, I hate them. For this and for their absolute contempt for their audience. As much as I love Weeds, I refuse to watch it on channel 9. And it kills me that they got Pushing Daisies and Chuck. Just not fair. They’ll probably pull both after 2 episodes.

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