Crikey publisher Eric Beecher and Melbourne’s 3AW morning host Neil Mitchell enjoyed a lively exchange today.
No reason why we should restrict it to the AW audience.
- This morning’s audio.
- Yesterday’s audio.
- The original story about Mitchell.
Audio of the day: Neil Mitchell v. Eric Beecher — cage death match
Crikey publisher Eric Beecher and Melbourne's 3AW morning host Neil Mitchell enjoyed a lively exchange today.
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When it comes to journalistic ethics, Mitchell needs to be asked to explain how he, on air, broke the news to a man that his two year old son’s remains had just been found after being dug up by a dog. The man had not been informed by police, a fact Mitchell was aware of at the time but broke the shocking news to him regardless. To make matters worse, Mitchell had the audio of the man’s personal anguish placed on 3AW’s website for all to hear. Was this done with the man’s permission?
Looking at the original story to which Mitchell has taken such offence, it’s difficult to see how an email exchange with a public figure like Mitchell about his very public actions in relation to the Vizard story could be seen to be a private matter. Or for that matter, how he considers email exchanges between himself and someone not known to him, to bee personal in nature. The content of the exchange looks pretty straightforward to me and seemed to be reasonable questions to ask.
I emailed Neil Mitchell once and received a reply from someone called Justin Smith which was emailed from Neil Mitchell’s email address. It wasn’t a private matter but obviously indicates that my email to Mitchell was not treated with any privacy.
neil mitchell has a daily right of reply doesnt he?