0/5

Today Show dumps Pauline Hanson

Today will no longer feature Pauline Hanson as a regular contributor following controversial comments around Melbourne lockdown.

The Today Show will no longer feature Pauline Hanson as a regular contributor following her comments this morning regarding the COVID-19 crisis in Melbourne.

Amongst her controversial comments on housing commission residents in lockdown she said, “The fact is a lot of them are drug addicts as well, they are getting their medication, they are alcoholics so they’re being looked after in that way.”

She added, “We should not be putting out literature in their own language. Learn to speak English when you come here to this country. That’s a big problem that we have in Australia.”

But host Allison Langdon said while tough decisions had to be made, there was room to treat people with some humanity.

Darren Wick, Nine’s Director of News and Current Affairs said, “The Today Show has advised Pauline Hanson that she will no longer be appearing on our programme as a regular contributor.

“We don’t shy away from diverse opinions and robust debate on the Today Show. But this morning’s accusations from Pauline Hanson were ill-informed and divisive. At a time of uncertainty in this national and global health crisis, Australians have to be united and supportive of one another. We need to get through this together.”

44 Responses

  1. I find it hilarious that C9 should suddenly be shocked by something Pauline has said. Why else give this terrible person a platform, other than to create ratings and controversy? With Pauline, the content matches the description on the label – you know what you’re getting.

  2. Pauline Hanson says that refugees and migrants should learn to speak English. Of course, no question!
    I wonder if the people who see that as racist know that our immigrants and refugees come from many countries and cultures, and are not all “of colour”, and represent many races.
    Do these people actually listen to the words Pauline Hanson speaks?
    Or do they just react at the sight of her. She is not a racist.
    Disagree with her if you must, but please try listening first.

    1. As the post indicates she also made offensive and incorrect statements for everybody who was listening. Clearly a final straw for Nine, but I agree with those who say Nine knew who they were booking.

    2. Yes, migrants should learn English but I have a friend who has lived in Australia for over twenty years, English is her second language and she can speak fluently but doesn’t know every word so I feel there is a need to have text in other languages to bridge the gap.

    3. They will learn English eventually but in the middle of a Pandemic you need them to have information today not in six months time when they might understand some of it.

  3. Well it’s about time. She’s a nasty, ignorant woman who never has anything of substance to contribute. She can go to Sky where she will fit right in.

    1. Yes, the beauty of Sky is that they present many different opinions.
      They employ something called “debate”, and encourage people to listen to other people’s opinions.
      It’s called freedom of speech, and is beyond the experience of most viewers of junk TV.

    1. Ah yes, I heard Andrew Bolt start this line of bullshit on Sky News last night. So despite close to 70 journos at The Age worrying that Nine ownership is moving them to the right, especially under the chairmanship of former Liberal Peter Costello, Nine is actually far left now. And owned by China! Hilarious!!!

    2. Moved to the left? The exact opposite. Their CEO is Peter Costello, former Liberal Treasurer. You may have missed all the Labor bashing recently while completely ignoring the Liberal Party scandals.

  4. Hanson has always been like this. This is simply a closing of the gate after the horse (public opinion) has bolted. Trying to take a higher ground when, all along, they’ve been happy receivers of the attention she has garnered and it has now suddenly bit them in the nether regions.
    So this hollow statement has been designed to look like a morally high PR masterstroke, when in truth it simply appears to be a shallow gutless stepping away – from the obvious choices made in using Hansen to get the attention they craved when having her on their show. One step removed from the tired old “staff are being counselled about this behaviour”… BTW I don’t agree with anything Hanson has said.

  5. David, I am curious about this matter – did Nine get rid of Hanson due to what she said today, or because it has copped such a huge backlash?
    In Darren Wick’s statement, he said her views were ‘ill-informed and divisive’ – but there was nothing new in her doing that. So why wasn’t she removed on any of the many, many occasions she had also behaved in this way? Why today?

  6. After all the things Hanson has said on the Today show, incredible that it took this long for them to finally draw the line and say enough is enough.

  7. I thought she was part informed and accurate, but part ill-informed and inaccurate. Also possibly partly insensitive. If the comments were made about or critical of policies and legislation, it might have been different but they were attributed to the residents which were likely to have been assumptions.

    Openly stating that she won’t be appearing on the Today show anymore and denouncing the comments is quite different to just quietly not inviting her on the show again in terms of publicity and perception for both Pauline and Today.

  8. So she more explicitly verbalised the same views she’s publicly held for 25 years – what a joke. Let’s see Stokes get rid of the public voice of his true feelings.

  9. The thing is that they shared what she said on the show through social media (Twitter) with the video of the discussion (Now deleted). They can’t say they were didn’t agree with it or were offended by it because initially they were happy to promote it and share it

  10. The today show should hang it’s head in shame, they always allow racist bigots like Hansen on-air in the hope they will say something controversial. Have some respects for your brand and the fading integrity of the Nine news brand

  11. Years ago, John Howard tried to deal with Pauline Hanson by ‘cutting her out’. It didn’t and won’t work. Hanson represents a small but passionate percentage of bewildered Australians who will double down their support whenever they perceive her to be the victim of mainstream media bullying. Fact is, even these angry, bewildered people deserve a voice and they’ve chosen her shaky, jumbled one to speak their minds. The Today Show (and all relevant news media) shouldn’t censor her, rather they should balance the debate with articulate, intelligent, well-informed advocates who will help her followers (and maybe even her) to understand the issues then react appropriately for the good of all Australians.

    It’s bad enough that social media encourages increasingly one-sided opinions; we can’t afford to let main-stream traditional media fall into the same trap. Who will we turn to for…

  12. Coming from a network that has given Sam Newman multiple opportunities despite him having made no effort to change, I find it insulting that Channel 9 would even put out a press release, when we all know she’ll be back again within a month.

      1. That’s my point, putting out statements condemning actions mean nothing when their actions (ie. Sam Newman, Eddie Maguire) are always in turn of whatever gets ratings. And as much as you can argue Pauline Hanson’s 30 year track record of racism folded within idiocy, we all know she brings viewers

  13. Did they really expect a different outcome – she shouldn’t have been invited to weigh in on her opinion on this particular situation as it was always going to be some racist remark – that said – quite happy for her to no longer have a platform for her views at least on the Today show.

    1. Yassssssss! First we were going to be swamped by Chinese the when something new and easier came along we were going to be swamped by Muslims. She sold her fish and chip shop to…….Chinese. Not only racists but a hypocrite.

  14. I think this is a great move.
    I love Today, but I’ve felt that the commentary from both Karl and Ally have leaned to the right of the argument lately, especially referring to the pandemic in Victoria.

    1. And Karl’s obsession with the Qld border being closed was becoming ridiculous. No one seemed to have a problem with the non-Labor States borders closed. Anyone would think Qld was the only State who closed it’s border.

  15. I’m an ABC News breakfast viewer myself, but I believe some heads need to roll at Channel Nine. Last week Media Watch highlighted how Today had that interview with the young girl. There are some producers on Today that are making some very bad choices (including firing and rehiring Karl)

  16. What exactly were they expecting when they asked her to appear and comment on the story? The Today Show wanted to create click-bait stories by recruiting a known racist to spout her usual spiel. “Australians have to be united and supportive of one another.” The Today Show is full of you know what with this statement. If this were true, they wouldn’t create division by asking Hanson to appear in the first place.

  17. Not that I’d ever watch Today, but it’s about damn time. She’s always been a racist. They knew she’d always been a racist. They’d better just remember she’s a racist when this particular controversy blows over and they’re tempted to invite her back on again. There’s precisely zero reason anyone should be turning to a clown like her during a public health emergency anyway.

      1. Hate to agree Dave, but you are correct. Nine will let all this fury settle down and then sneak her back in for some ‘one-off’ appearances, then a few more and then return her to the regular weekly schedule. And so it will continue until the next time. And then again after that.

  18. The big problem with Mrs Hanson is that while she has a lot of points to make, she isn’t good at putting them across. She gets so frustrated and ends up mixing up her words and phrases. She would be much better getting herself a well-spoken spokesperson. It’s like she talks too quickly and too loudly.

Leave a Reply