The inquest into the death of Brian Peters, the Channel Nine cameraman who died at Balibo with four others in the Indonesian invasion of 1975, opened in Sydney yesterday.
It was well covered by the networks – except one. The One.
Seven, Ten, the ABC and Nine had crews and reporters there as did radio networks and the papers. Seven, Ten and the ABC did packages on their main news bulletins last night. But amazingly, the network which employed Peters at the time of his death didn’t bother with a full package story.
Apparently Nine’s reporter at the inquest, Allison Langdon, was enthusiastic about the story – but not so her bosses.
They preferred a package on the death of Dianne Brimble, the Brisbane woman who died in lurid circumstances on a P&O cruise liner several years ago.
Is there anyone left in the Nine newsroom with a corporate memory or the sense to understand that the Peters inquest is an important political story that involved one of their own in a set of circumstances which are still hotly debated?
Crikey is committed to hosting lively discussions. Help us keep the conversation useful, interesting and welcoming. We aim to publish comments quickly in the interest of promoting robust conversation, but we’re a small team and we deploy filters to protect against legal risk. Occasionally your comment may be held up while we review, but we’re working as fast as we can to keep the conversation rolling.
The Crikey comment section is members-only content. Please subscribe to leave a comment.
The Crikey comment section is members-only content. Please login to leave a comment.