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TEN chairman: Gina Rinehart doesn’t influence editorial

TEN Network chairman, Brian Long, says Gina Rinehart has not interfered in editorial content or programming.

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TEN Network chairman, Brian Long, says Gina Rinehart has not interfered in editorial content or programming at the network.

His statement follows media reports that Australia’s richest person was seeking to gain editorial influence as part of a bid for shares in Fairfax.

”I need to set the record straight,” Long said. ”Much of the comment is about the presumed motivation of Gina influencing the editorial content at Fairfax … what worries me is almost every article makes the implied or explicit suggestion that her investment in TEN was motivated by the same thing, to influence editorial content to suit her needs.

”I want to make it clear that in all the time I have been chairman – which is as long as Gina Rinehart has been on the board – that neither she nor any other board member has sought to influence programming or editorial. That goes for either inside the boardroom or outside the boardroom.”

The TEN shareholder has also been the subject of media reports about a family trust dispute.

Lang also said Rinehart had not played any role in the hiring of the conservative newspaper columnist Andrew Bolt, who hosts The Bolt Report.

”Andrew was on our payroll prior to Mrs Rinehart joining the board,” he said. ”The news and editorial teams were the ones who framed Andrew into the Sunday show.”

However, Bolt’s show premiered in May 2011, but Rinehart took a 10% stake in Ten Network Holdings in 2010.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

23 Responses

  1. Well how much do you believe a Chairman that has only been in the Job for a short while, I’d say that she may have been involved but it all looks to me to be a way to combined the Ten Holdings with FairFax Media Group and create the Second biggest media company in Australia as we all know that Seven West Media is the biggest.

  4. This kind of right-wing programming is what’s going to kill TV and send people entirely to the internet. I dont think that is a good thing but it is ultimately what will happen. If TV cant promise quality, someone else will.

  5. Adding Bolt to the Ten News service damages what has been, for many years, a credible brand. I have moved on after being a regular viewer for 20 or more years. News is news – political posturing has no place in a news bulletin. Thankfully he was moved from The Project just in time or that would have been another casualty and The Bolt Report, of course, is what it is – repetitive propaganda!

  7. Thats true @Paully.

    What I cant understand is when people get so rich, they sometimes have to get richer and richer and richer. Surely it is greed when people like this have to influence the media so they can pay less tax.

  8. Every Murdoch editor says the same thing, but they know what the man stands for and his expectations – he’s never had to write an edict, the people on the payroll don’t need to be told, they know.

    Its not hard either – Rinehart wrote in Australia Resource and Investment magazine last year –

    “Families and industries need to be told that carbon tax and the MRRT (on thermal coal at least) have been abandoned, so that we can all stop adding this burden to our increasing national debt ….

    We can’t wait any longer for Australia’s business ‘leaders’ to finally stand up on this issue! If we don’t stand up, we run the risk of seeing the consequences of such non-action in Australia and I sincerely hope we don’t.”

    She is “standing up”. I don’t think Tim Flannery will be appearing on the Project in the near future. If she takes a controlling interest in Fairfax, the Herald Sun and Telegraph will look left wing.

  9. And I was worried that Sky News Australia where becoming the Australian lite version of Fox News. Looks like ch10 wants the name of “Fox News Lite” in Australia. Wow let the Labor Bashing begin!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  11. We’re not idiots, Mr Long. Why is she suddenly buying up shares in the media like it’s going out of style? It’s not as though Ten or Fairfax are huge money spinners. There are plenty of better investments out there. She wants two things: to make sure the media is pro-mining and for journos to stop reporting her family problems.

  12. @Sharpy, Ten news has done that for quite a few months now. Cos that’s when i stopped watching Ten news when i noticed after a political story they’d say and now here’s Andrew Bolt where he ranted for a minute about why Labor bad and Liberal good. It’s disgusting and the news is not for commentary, it’s for reporting the facts. Hope Media Watch take a look at it.

  16. I dont believe it. By many accounts, she was integral in Bolt getting his own show. Bolt is the only surviver of the Ten News Overhaul, the Negus program is gone and yet the Bolt Report continues. Thats why I just dont trust ten anymore, they have damaged their brand for me. Why else would she be investing in such an unprofitable industry? Why would such an opinionated, politically active Woman go into the media?

  18. I don’t believe it either.. what’s the point in buying double digit percentage of a media company and seeking a place on the board if you’re not intending to influence programming???

    @Rutzie
    I didn’t see TEN News although The Project did spend a segment on her by taking to a media analyst.

  20. Not buying it Long. You give Andrew Bolt his own show so he can spew the Liberal message, and then even worse, you add him to Ten news to add his own political commentary and opinion. News should be about reporting news and facts, not about having a bias journalist rant his own views. I stopped watching Ten news when they introduced Bolt to add comment to political stories. And judging by pietro’s comment, seems Ten are still doing it.

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