It was a ripper episode of Media Watchlast night – a textbook demolition of the Daily Telegraph’s “Brogden’s Sordid Past” beat-up.

While the rest of the media was busy beating its chest over whether the Tele had gone too far with its sleazy attack on Brogden the morning after his suicide attempt (see right), Media Watch did exactly what good journalists should always do – it went out and tested the Tele’s evidence by chasing down the two women who the Tele claimed were harassed and propositioned by Brogden.

And guess what? It turns out the story was pretty much a complete fabrication.

Telegraph
editor David Penberthy resisted calls to resign last week, but it’s
hard to see how he can continue to stand by reporter Luke McIlveen
after revelations that the two women at the centre of his beat-up say
it’s a lie and that he didn’t even speak to either of them.

“We’ve
spoken to both,” said Jackson last night. “They say his account is a
lie. Neither wishes their name to be public, but one woman told us:”

I would like to put on the record that I never came forward to the Telegraph with these accusations, never spoke with the Telegraph about these accusations, and certainly never gave quotes. What upsets me most is at no point did the Telegraph attempt to call me to give me a chance to set the record straight.

According to Jackson the other woman did at least get a call from a Tele journo, but:

The other women told us that Anna Patty from the Telegraph
did ring the day before the story for details about what happened. She
had heard the rumours. “She said do you want to make a comment, and I
said no. So for Luke McIlveen to be publishing that story including
quotes – They are completely and utterly fabricated.”

Meanwhile the fallout continues at News Limited stablemate, The Australian, withstate
political reporter Andrew West refusing to withdraw his resignation
made last week because his name was attached to a story repeating some
of the Tele’s tawdry allegations.

West told Crikey this morning that the Media Watch revelations only reinforced his “disgust at the gross ethical violation of which the Daily Telegraph is guilty.” He said he’d tendered his resignation and not asked for his job back, and wouldn’t say whether he had spoken to Oz editor Chris Mitchell, who told Crikey this morning he was still trying to lure West back.

It’s going to be an uphill battle if an interview West gave to Terry Lane on Radio National (audio only) on the weekend is anything to go by. West told Lane he’d urged the Oz not to retail the Tele’s
“toxic unsubstantiated sludge.” The editors agreed not to repeat the
allegations from the two women allegedly propositioned for sex, but
they decided to repeat an old rumour about an affair between Brogden
and former staff that both had repeatedly denied.

“They decided in the late editions of the paper on Wednesday to basically emulate the early edition of TheDaily Telegraph
and publish the name of a woman who was alleged to have had a
relationship with the former NSW liberal leader John Brogden… but Mr
Brogden had denied the relationship and so had the woman,” said West.

“If
he’s denied and she’s denied it please explain where the public
interest is including it? It’s only for titillation. It ought not be in
the public area – that’s why I thought it was grossly unfair.”

West said that to its credit the Oz had refused to repeat the (fabricated) allegations from the Tele story. But he said the Daily Telegraph
was guilty of “some of the most unethical and predatory journalism that
I have ever seen” and that no matter how restrained the Oz had been, the appalling story was still “published by the same company that published the Daily Telegraph…”