Selling the Czech Farm. The ABC’s News Online Investigations team, still smarting after a series of factual errors in its Lateline reports on Archbishop Philip Wilson, have turned their gaze to a new online initiative called Selling The Farm. The series traces the evil presence of foreign multinationals in rural Australia, and is illustrated by a photo of an apparently dinky-di wheat field ripe for exploitation credited to a Jiri Matyas. But a quick check of Matyas’ Flickr account reveals the horse may have already bolted. The real location for the photo? Bohemia in the Czech Republic. — Andrew Crook

Mother gets done by media. Media outlets from Sky News to the ABC and a number of news websites reported Kristi Abrahams, the mother of missing six-year-old Kiesha, had been taken into custody and was being questioned by police. Alternative stories included a woman covering her face being taken by police from the house where Kristi is known to be staying.

ABC News tweeted: “Just in: Mother taken into custody in Kiesha Abrahams missing girl case”.

News.com.au tweeted: Mum ‘questioned over Kiesha’: THE mother of missing schoolgirl Kiesha Abrahams is reportedly being questioned by p…

Journalists covering the case were also busy tweeting the news. But the stories were false — the mother was simply on her way to the police-run press conference, where she was barely able to speak through her tears. The stories were quickly removed from news websites (including the Sydney Morning Herald, the Canberra Times and the ABC) or re-directed, but some of the URLs remain.

While most outlets ignored that the previous story was fabricated, at least SBS and the ABC admitted the reports were wrong. But the rampant media speculation continued, with ABC journo John Thompson tweeting: “At Mt Druitt covering Keisha Abrahams’ mysterious disappearance — locals have their own theories.” — Amber Jamieson

Spotted: a childless woman. One of the delights of the campaign is to hear from old friends. Thus Angela Shanahan made a rare appearance in The Spectator Australia this week (rare, because Oz Spec editor Tom ‘Heidi’ Switzer spent a lot of his time trying to get rid of her column in The Oz when op-ed editor there). Better yet, she revealed her secret powers:

“There was a bit of a posse of journalists on the plane, one of whom, an obviously childless woman, remarked how dull it would be having to stay put in Canberra rather than follow the campaign!”

They try to disguise their fangs and tell-tale exoskeleton, but a childless woman can always be spotted by a Catholic with nine children, trained by albino monks in witch-finding, in a crypt beneath the Vatican. — Guy Rundle

Bitter Sweet truths. Former Verve singer Richard Ashcroft’s Splendour in the Grass hissy fit on Sunday may have been exacerbated by photographers just doing their job, festival insiders say. Ashcroft, a notorious diva who has previously compared himself to Jesus, threw down his microphone and kicked the drum kit towards the end of opening dirge Are You Ready? before escaping in a waiting vehicle.

But photographers say the script went differently. “Richard was closing his eyes as if he was praying, and this local photographer started to shoot him. Richard then gave him a bring-it-on gesture, and the photographer did the same back… Richard jumped down into the pit and all the photographers were cleared out by security.” Ashcroft’s manager Jazz Summers blamed the incident yesterday on a faltering voicebox that stopped Ashcroft from hitting Are You Ready?‘s “high parts” when in fact the five-minute song plods for the most part in a lower register.The Bitter Sweet Symphony singer’s ire was almost certainly set in train by the sparse turn out of well under 500 punters, that on Crikey’s personal estimate was bested by charming Blue Mountains four-piece Cloud Control earlier in the day. — Andrew Crook

Marc Thiessen: we must stop WikiLeaks

“Arresting Assange would be a major blow to his organization. But taking him off the streets is not enough; we must also recover the documents he unlawfully possesses and disable the system he has built to illegally disseminate classified information.” — Washington Post

Time defends its brutal cover image

“Our cover image this week is powerful, shocking and disturbing. It is a portrait of Aisha, a shy 18-year-old Afghan woman who was sentenced by a Taliban commander to have her nose and ears cut off for fleeing her abusive in-laws. Aisha posed for the picture and says she wants the world to see the effect a Taliban resurgence would have on the women of Afghanistan, many of whom have flourished in the past few years.” — Time

Goodbye Mary Hart?

“Mary Hart has been the host of “Entertainment Tonight” since l982. But her contract is up this year, and insiders are speculating that the plum job could be offered to Lara Spencer, who anchors syndicated sister show The Insider.” — New York Post

The life of a freelancer

“…as a public service, here’s a look at the interior of my seven years as a freelancer. That is to say, seven years as one of the choosiest beggars imaginable. The Devil does not wear Prada. The Devil wears Times New Roman. Or Arial Narrow. And he shows up in my inbox every hour on the hour. And the Devil is sneaky. He gets deputy editors to send me emails that read, in full: ‘Hey there. Got an idea for you. Any interest in writing a James Franco profile?'” — The Awl

Voting for the internet

“Liberal and Labor are engaged in a digital war with both parties buying up search terms relating to the other, although the tone of online video ads is marketly more negative from the Liberal Party, research by Mumbrella reveals.” — Mumbrella

New Testament for Jesus phone

“Google Android Phones are outselling Apple iPhone so far in 2010, according to a new report of the US market by leading analyst group Nielsen.” — Techradar

FBI’s latest target: Wikipedia

“The bureau wrote a letter in July to the Wikimedia Foundation, the parent organization of Wikipedia, demanding that it take down an image of the F.B.I. seal accompanying an article on the bureau, and threatened litigation: ‘Failure to comply may result in further legal action. We appreciate your timely attention to this matter.'” — New York Times

Who bought Newsweek?

“That the Washington Post Co. has opted to sell Newsweek to Sidney Harman, an electronics tycoon with a history of philanthropy, may reassure some as to the future of the news magazine. That Harman is 91 years old may not. But, if you had to look to a nonagenarian for direction, you could do much worse than Harman, a technology pioneer and lover of the arts whose life and pursuits have taken as many twists as a telenovela.” — Forbes