Screwed over? ABC to aplogise. News Corp papers are crowing this morning with the news that the ABC will apologise to The Australian columnist Chris Kenny for a skit on The Hamster Decides that depicted him, well, screwing the pooch. The national broadcaster will also have to pay “some damages”, but it’s not clear if it will have to fork out the full $90,000 Kenny was after. ABC director Mark Scott has previously issued a personal apology to Kenny, but tonight’s on-air apology (to be broadcast just before Jonah from Tonga — to ensure no one will be watching?) is very unusual. The ABC had cleared the skit as in poor taste but not in breach of its editorial guidelines. The Chaser team, behind The Hamster Decides, has been banned from commenting on tonight’s apology, with the ABC keen to avoid a repeat of the furore after Scott’s apology, when The Chaser‘s Julian Morrow let his feelings be known …
It is not clear who will read out the apology, which is below:
“The ABC wishes to apologise to Mr Chris Kenny for the controversial ‘The Hamster Decides’ skit run by ABC-TV in September last year and which has formed the basis for legal proceedings. This is further to the apology issued by the ABC’s Managing Director, Mark Scott, on 14 April 2014.
“Having reviewed the issue, Mr Scott, as the Editor in Chief of the ABC, has come to the view with the ABC’s Director of Television that the ABC should not have put the skit to air.
“The ABC apologises to Mr Kenny for having put the skit to air, his depiction in the skit and because it was triggered by his criticism of the ABC. The ABC is sorry for the distress this incident has caused Mr Kenny and his family.”
Correction of the day. Never change, Grey Lady. In a story about Alec Baldwin’s yoga instructor wife, Hilaria Baldwin, The New York Times made mention of a photograph of Hilaria standing on her head in a bathtub, which is featured on her Instagram account …
The original story described Hilaria’s attire in the photo as “her underwear”, but it transpires the yogi was wearing a bikini. And the Times duly corrected the record …
Not exactly dino-mite. We usually love The Daily Telegraph‘s weird and wonderful Photoshop wizardry. But today’s effort to turn Clive Palmer into a dinosaur is just plain odd. Did the digital wizards run out of time, or is a weird half-nose and some stumpy legs the best they had in them …?
And speaking of depictions of Palmer (and we’ve told you, News Corp, enough is enough on the fat jokes), what is going on in John Tiedemann’s cartoon below? One Crikey scribe wondered if Clive was supposed to be a pair of Spanx, or a teapot? But a more elderly colleague (ie over 30) solved the mystery — it’s a take on the famous cover of Germaine Greer’s The Female Eunuch.
This news has got legs. When news breaks, journos have to be ready — even if they’re at the gym. Channel Ten reporter David Woiwod was caught with his trousers down (but his shorts on) by the tumultuous events at Victorian Parliament last night. Ever the professional, Woiwod made his top half presentable for the camera and went about his business …
Wot no dairy, now with extra dairy. We had to chuckle at the food recall notice in this morning’s Age. Food manufacturer Vegan Perfection seems to have been shilling a product that wasn’t so perfectly vegan after all …
Front page of the day. Things are hotting up in Victorian Parliament …
LOL I’m now feeling seriously ancient Crikey.
Clive as the female eunuch was an instant hit in this house.
It’s downright scary to realise that some images aren’t as timeless as I’d imagined.
I know that if ever I’m called on to write to the plaintiff, I’ll be addressing the letter to ‘C D F Kenny’.
This title will follow him to the grave.
I seem to remember a couple of Bill Leak editorial cartoons in the Australian from a few years ago. Politicians depicted as dogs f**king. I think one may have been the Indonesion president. He complained. Was told to lighten up. This is Australia after all.
You dog, Kenny.
Shame, Crikey, shame:
“caught with his trousers down (but his shorts on)”
Do you mean undies, jocks etc?
Shorts are outer wear in Australian language. Why introduce an American term that only creates ambiguity?
It’s as bad as saying “bathroom” when you mean toilet, loo, lavatory, dunny etc.
Sorry, you do mean “shorts”!