david leyonhjelm

Sexist slur sees Sky News producer suspended, The Capital defies shooter, the ABC tells staff to “talk straight”, and other media tidbits of the day.

Producer takes fall for Outsiders. Sky News has suspended a producer after one part of the usual “no holds barred” Outsiders program gained some attention on social media (largely due to being noticed by Shannon Molloy in a Qantas lounge). The show was Mark Latham’s most recent ongoing media gig, until he was sacked for calling a schoolboy “gay” on-air last year.

The program on Sunday had Senator David Leyonhjelm on as a guest. Leyonhjelm had been in the news earlier in the week when Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young asked him for an apology in the Senate. He had reportedly called out that she “should stop shagging men”, and then told her to “fuck off” when she confronted him about it.

He repeated similar slurs, which were written up as an on-air text strap.

Sky News tweeted an apology later in the day, saying a producer had been suspended pending an investigation. When asked for further detail this morning, a Sky News spokeswoman told Crikey it was an “internal staff matter”.

Get the damn paper out. With a newsroom reeling from a shooting in its offices on Friday, The Capital still put a newspaper out the following day, paying tribute to its five staffers who were killed.

In editions since the shooting, the paper has published first-person accounts of the attack, a profile by Wendi Winters, who was killed, and a letter of thanks to readers for their support.

While details of the shooting were still unfolding, court reporter Chase Cook was defiant:

Mark Colvin scholarship. The ABC has launched a scholarship in Mark Colvin’s name, with Kidney Health Australia. The scholarship will be open to entry-level journalists, or those from non-traditional journalism backgrounds, for a 12-month placement commemorating the life and work of Colvin, who died last year after a long illness.

Straight talking. ABC staff have been briefed on new “ABC principles” in an email. As well as being “accountable” and “open and transparent” (an area identified as lacking in consecutive staff surveys), the poster sent to staff includes the principle of “straight talking” (“we have brave and honest conversations with each other in our teams”). 

Glenn Dyer’s TV Ratings. Nine won last night with the Logies despite having the lowest audience for years (1.157 million). Seven’s ratings wrap Monday summed up last night when it described House Rules (1.46 million nationally) as the best performed “entertainment” program. It was compared to MasterChef (948,000 nationally) which seems to be a bit full of itself these days.

In regional markets, Seven News was on top with 623,000, with House Rules second at 548,000, Nine News with 449,000, Sunday Night with 380,000 and Mystery Road with 336,000 for the final ep. Read the rest on the Crikey website.