One event, two stories, remarkable similarities. Some striking similarities between two AFL stories have set tongues wagging in the tight-knit world of sports journalism. Emma Quayle from The Sunday Age and Nick Smart from the Gold Coast Bulletin have both spent some time recently hanging around the new Gold Coast AFL franchise. So much so, that it seems some of the Fairfax scribe’s pearls of wisdom have rubbed off on her younger counterpart.

Here’s Quayle, on April 11, in her story on livewire recruit Liam Patrick (emphasis added):

For eight weekends last year, Patrick drove from his home to Darwin to play for Wanderers each week, finishing second in the best and fairest by just one vote despite playing less than half the season.

After he was overlooked in the national draft, and the Gold Coast called, Patrick decided it would be a good move. At 22, he has dealt with more hardship than a long weekend drive – he and partner Loretta lost their baby daughter in a car accident a few years ago. “We just kept going and we fought through the sorrow,” says Patrick, who now has a 10-month-old son, Mazlen. “When Gold Coast called me, I thought, this is the right thing. It gives me one year to get ready.”

And here’s Smart, three days later:

Life here is very different for the 22-year-old, who moved from the Northern Territory to the glitter strip with wife Loretta and 10-month-old son Mazlen.

…

For eight weekends last year, Patrick drove to Darwin to play for Wanderers in the NTFL each week in the hope of catching the attention of AFL scouts.

…

Add to that, the youngster has dealt with more hardship than a long weekend drive.

He and his wife lost their baby daughter in a car accident a few years ago.

“We just kept going and we fought through the sorrow,” he said.

…

“That’s what I really want (to play AFL) and when Gold Coast called me, I thought: ‘This is the right thing. It gives me one year to get ready’,” he said.

Smart told Crikey that Quayle confronted him over the similarities on Twitter, and that he had apologised, saying that over-eager sub editors had removed the immortal lines “told The Sunday Age“. He said he was “careless” over the “eight weekends a year” and “long weekend drive” sentences that were lifted word for word from Quayle’s copy and that Quayle had accepted his apology. The other Patrick quotes in the story were his, he said.

But Quayle was also er, smarting, over another Smart story on the Gold Coast’s leadership group’s decision to ban themselves from Surfers Paradise nightclubs, which like the first effort, appeared three days after her initial scoop in The Sunday Age.

Said Quayle:

THE infamous Surfers Paradise nightclub scene has been declared off-limits for the Gold Coast team, but not by coaches or club management.

Instead, the club’s leadership group has decided to discipline anyone found visiting the clubs, as the team prepares to graduate from the VFL to the AFL next season.

Echoed Smart:

THE Surfers Paradise nightclub scene is off limits for the young playing group of the Gold Coast Football Club this year.

The directive has not come from the coaching staff or higher-ups but from the player leadership group itself, which will discipline any player found visiting the party haven as the team prepares to graduate from the VFL to the AFL next season.

One Bulletin commenter weighed in: “…it’s old news — there was a much better article about this with some excellent comments from [Gold Coast coach Guy] McKenna in The Age on Sunday. Great recycling job by the Bulletin journo!”– Andrew Crook

Things are tight at ABC Science Online: A Crikey reader leaked this email from ABC Science Online, showing that producers are forced to borrow books from ABC staff in order to meet their tight budget while programs like ABC 24hrs News is showered with funding:

** Request to ABC Ultimo staff on behalf of ABC Science Online **

Do you have a copy of the book ‘The Eerie Silence’ by Paul Davies? If so, ABC Science Online would love to borrow it for a few weeks – or even a few days. They promise to take good care of it.

They urgently need to get hold of this newly published book for use in a live event they’re recording for ABC Radio National and ABC2 (and the book is hard-cover and too expensive for them to purchase).

If you have a copy you can spare for a few days or longer, ABC Science Online would be very pleased to hear from you.

Brisbane shock-jock in Price’s sights. New Melbourne radio station MTR is already in acquisition mode, with rising Brisbane shock-jock Michael Smith very much in the sights. Smith, who has had a fascinating career in law enforcement, the military and mobile phone sales, has been a star of afternoon radio in Brisbane, bringing just the right touch of shock-jockery, right-wing conspiracy theory and talkback outrage to the troublesome Drive slot for Fairfax-owned 4BC.

Sources say his fresh face and cheeky personality are viewed as a potential fillip for the tired and predictable new Melbourne Talk Radio. Word is the offers are coming, and with friends and family in the Yarra City, 4BC will have to scramble to keep this rising star of radio on their books. — Terry Towelling

Food beat crime on Australian TV

“He cut a swathe through Melbourne’s underworld on a murderous reign of terror, but not even Carl Williams could unseat Ten’s television blockbuster Masterchef Australia.” — Sydney Morning Herald

The Independent‘s nip-and-tuck makeover

“Tomorrow will see a “radical redesign and overhaul” of the lowest-selling quality title alongside its first marketing and advertising campaign for over a year.” — The Guardian

Journalists join forces to create a new Climate Desk

“Four months later we’re so excited to introduce the Climate Desk, an ongoing project dedicated to exploring the impact — human, environmental, economic, political — of a changing climate. The partners in this endeavor are The Atlantic, Center for Investigative Reporting, Grist, Mother Jones, Slate, Wired, and PBS’ new public affairs show Need To Know.” — Mother Jones