Initially, a UN report on racial discrimination, which found Indigenous children were over-represented in Australia\u2019s justice system, dominated questions.<\/p>\n
Then Bourke stepped in<\/a> with her gotcha moment. \u201cHere in New York on Wednesday night, you will receive an award for being a global citizen,\u201d she said, pointing to an accolade handed out by the Atlantic Council for his work in the Pacific.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t you feel like a bit of a fraud accepting this award when, at home, you screwed up the response to the worst massacre since Port Arthur? In the polls, you are taking Labor to one point shy of Julia Gillard when you rolled her, and your net negatives are worse than Scott Morrison.\u201d<\/p>\n Albanese had a one word response: \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n The world could have moved on. But instead the Nightly\u2019s front page<\/a> on Monday was splashed with a picture of Bourke in a Ukrainian army baseball cap, gazing in disappointment at the PM, accompanied by the quote: \u201cDon\u2019t you feel like a bit of a fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLatika M Bourke asks the question that hits close to home,\u201d the text read.<\/p>\n Latika Bourke, left, with the ABC\u2019s Global Roaming team \u2013 Hamish Macdonald, Geraldine Doogue and Kylie Morris. Photograph: supplied ABC<\/p>\n Again, the world could have moved on, but then the \u201cfraud\u201d line got a strong run in a string of other publications, including News24<\/a>, news.com.au<\/a>, 2GB<\/a> and the Herald Sun<\/a>. The deputy executive director of the Institute of Public Affairs, Daniel Wild, praised Bourke<\/a> on The Rita Panahi Show, asking \u201cWhy don\u2019t more journalists do this?\u201d Panahi was similarly gushing, describing it as \u201cthe best question I have heard posed to the Australian prime minister\u201d.<\/p>\n If she\u2019s right, we\u2019re in a grim state of affairs.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the ABC said Bourke\u2019s role with Global Roaming \u201cdoes not mean the ABC endorses the opinions she expresses outside the editorial output of the program\u201d and her appearance in New York \u201cwas not as a representative of the ABC\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cABC workers are members of the communities they serve and the ABC does not wish to unnecessarily curtail their engagement in civic life, including by expressing personal views outside of their ABC work,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n Bourke was approached for comment.<\/p>\n Now let\u2019s hear from \u2018the KKK guy\u2019<\/p>\n Speaking of fundamental rules of journalism, another may be: if you interview members of the Ku Klux Klan, you should have a really good reason.<\/p>\n On Sunday, 9News aired the first episode<\/a> of Trump\u2019s America, looking at the \u201cdeep political and social chasms\u201d separating communities in the US. Reid Butler headed to Arkansas to interview Thomas Robb, who he described as \u201cthe KKK guy\u201d \u2013 Robb is the national director of the Knights Party, a faction of the clan. Why? To interrogate \u201cugly racism\u201d.<\/p>\n Robb, apparently unprompted, brought up Pauline Hanson<\/a>, saying the One Nation leader was \u201cdemonised by the same element of people that wants to demonise us\u201d, and agreed it was \u201cencouraging\u201d to see her doing well.<\/p>\n Hanson was quick to go on the front foot, claiming the network was \u201cattempting to draw a link between the white supremacist organisation and One Nation\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cNine should be ashamed of itself,\u201d she wrote on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n The national news director at 9News defended the reporting, saying \u201cthe inclusion of Mr Robb\u2019s comments does not constitute endorsement of those views, nor of the comparison he chose to make\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir inclusion was an editorial decision made in the context of reporting on the racial and political divisions examined by the documentary.\u201d<\/p>\n Total crocFewer salties than the west \u2026 the Fitzroy River in Rockhampton, Queensland. Photograph: Sylvia Liber\/AAP<\/p>\n Nothing gets international media going like dangerous animals in Australia. So when it was announced that central Queensland\u2019s Fitzroy River, a crocodile habitat<\/a>, had been given the green light<\/a> to host rowing at the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, a media frenzy ensued.<\/p>\n \u201cRiver with 500 crocodiles chosen as Olympic rowing venue,\u201d the BBC<\/a> declared last week, accompanied by alarming footage. There were just a couple of issues.<\/p>\n For one, the video showed crocs at Fitzroy River in Western Australia, not Queensland, and the estimated number of saltwater crocodiles in the area of the correct river where the rowing will take place is many fewer. Queensland\u2019s environment department reported 32 sightings in the Rockhampton region<\/a> in 2023.<\/p>\n Corrections were issued<\/a> and some of the BBC footage was deleted<\/a>, though one video still claimed<\/a> there were 500 crocodiles in the river as of Thursday.<\/p>\n The Nationals leader, Matt Canavan, was quick to weigh in on the BBC report, angrily calling out the broadcaster<\/a> for \u201cBS FAKE NEWS\u201d.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Weekly Beast<\/p>\n Amanda Meade’s weekly diary on the latest in Australian media, free every Friday<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n \u201cThe BBC used stock footage from the WRONG Fitzroy River,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThe 500 figure is also total BS.\u201d<\/p>\n The BBC said the 500 figure was provided by Reuters, which has also issued a correction to its story \u201cto clarify that Australian government estimates put the number of saltwater crocodiles in the Fitzroy River at around 100, not 500\u201d.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, the ship had already sailed. The \u201c500 crocs\u201d figure, which has no scientific backing, was also quoted in the Daily Mail<\/a>, the UK\u2019s Telegraph<\/a>, Vice<\/a>, People<\/a> and the Sun<\/a>, among many others, but no such corrections have been issued across the mastheads, and the stories remain live and widely shared.<\/p>\n More Four Corners misery<\/p>\n The ABC\u2019s ombudsman has found<\/a> two Four Corners programs by the bikie turned journalist Mahmood Fazal, Cocaine Nation and Meth Highway, failed to meet the public broadcaster\u2019s editorial standards.<\/p>\n (Fazal\u2019s employment was terminated for separate reasons, the ABC\u2019s managing director, Hugh Marks, said in May<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Two Four Corners episodes by Mahmood Fazal were taken down in July amid concerns about the veracity of sources. Photograph: Supplied ABC<\/p>\n The ABC board requested an independent review of the programs, broadcast in 2023 and 2024, after concerns raised in the media over the veracity of anonymous sources. Both programs and associated content aired on Background Briefing have since been removed<\/a>.<\/p>\n The ombudsman found audiences were giving a \u201cmisleading impression\u201d of sources in the programs, \u201cthe basis on which the ABC was relying on them and the level of confidence that could reasonably be placed in their claims\u201d, which \u201cundermined confidence in the integrity of the programs\u201d.<\/p>\n Among the reasons for the breaches were \u201cmanagement\u2019s failure to properly interrogate\u201d \u2026 \u201ca culture that favoured limiting knowledge about sources given perceived risks\u201d and \u201cinsufficient verification and factchecking\u201d.<\/p>\n The ABC has accepted the ombudsman\u2019s recommendations in full. In a statement, it said managers were \u201cworking closely with editorial leaders to ensure every team understands and consistently upholds the ABC\u2019s Editorial Policies\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ABC will update its editorial guidance on attribution and anonymity to provide further clarity around editorial oversight and review and to reflect the high standards expected regarding the use of anonymous sources.\u201d<\/p>\n Every senior editorial figure who was involved in the programs has now left the ABC, including the head of investigations and current affairs, Jo Puccini, who resigned last month<\/a>, the former director of news Justin Stevens, the executive producer of Four Corners, Matthew Carney, and the program\u2019s supervising producer, Alice Brennan.<\/p>\n Chessell gambit<\/p>\n Less than three years after becoming editor of the Australian Financial Review, James Chessell has jumped ship to edit Rampart, the subscription-based business and finance publication launched by the AFR\u2019s former Rear Window columnist, Joe Aston, last year.<\/p>\n He\u2019s in good company. According to Rampart\u2019s author page, five AFR alumni write for the publication, including Amelia McGuire, Rampart\u2019s senior writer, who previously covered technology for the AFR, and freelance journalist Julie Hare, who was the AFR\u2019s award-winning education editor.<\/p>\n \u2018Fantastic contribution\u2019 \u2026 James Chessell has left his role as AFR editor to edit Rampart. Photograph: Sam Mooy\/Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790315291_846_500.jpg\")
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