60 Minutes turns camera on Ray

It’s art imitating life this Sunday on 60 Minutes, as Ray Martin becomes the subject of a Charles Wooley interview.

Martin publishing his autobiography will form the backbone of the story, with comments on his childhood.

“These were hard years, marked by poverty and the emotional turmoil of living with a drunken, violent father. But Ray transcended those early difficulties and become a huge star on the television screen and, as Charles Wooley reports, an even bigger star behind the scenes,” publicity notes detail.

But if Martin is to be the subject of a story, can we please make it comprehensive and not just a puff piece for the book? Will there be any comment on his criticism of the declining standards in news and current affairs?

In last year’s Andrew Olle Lecture he compliments ABC, Sky News and SBS, “By comparison, I’m sorry to say, the three commercial networks have gone AWOL -when it comes to journalism. Out to Lunch. Except for the excellent nightly bulletins, the redoubtable Sixty Minutes…and, every so-often, the much-maligned 6.30 nightly current-affairs shows.”

When Sunday was axed he said: “It just seems to me that it’s a dopey business idea, to drop a programme. I can say that now because I don’t work here anymore. It’s a dopey idea to drop a programme like this because this almost says to an audience ‘well we don’t do current affairs anymore. Why don’t you go and watch the ABC, or go and look at Sky Television, we don’t do it anymore.’ This programme did it and this programme propped it up.”

While we’re at it can we get George Negus next week too, please? He might not have a book to sell, but he does have a few things to say on the same subject.

Other stories this week are as follows:

SEARCH FOR JUSTICE
They were five Australians – executed in cold blood. Journalists who became known as the Balibo Five, shot down by Indonesian soldiers in East Timor in 1975. For 34 years, the families of the murdered men have been begging for answers. But all they’ve got from the Indonesians and successive Australian Governments are lies and excuses. Finally, the Australian Federal Police has announced a special war crimes investigation into what really happened at Balibo. Just don’t expect any help from the Indonesians – they think we should get over it and move on. However, as Liam Bartlett discovered during a moving pilgrimage back to Balibo, that’s something the long-suffering families of these men simply aren’t willing to do.
Reporter: Liam Bartlett
Producer: Nick Greenaway / Shaun Devitt

LITTLE HEROES
He may be tiny, but the young bloke you’re about to meet has a huge heart. Leo Lagana is 9 years old yet he’s only 79 centimetres tall – that’s the size of your average three year old. Leo has an extremely rare condition called Primordial Dwarfism. Unlike more common forms of dwarfism, his body is in perfect proportion – it’s just that it’s so very small. Most kids like him are lucky to survive into their teens and very few live past 30. But Leo’s not sitting around feeling sorry for himself. Instead, he’s off on a grand adventure with his family – a trip that Michael Usher found provided hope and comfort for this plucky little boy.
Reporter: Michael Usher
Producer: Hugh Nailon

It airs 7:30pm Sunday on Nine.