Rundle v the world. Bolter sinks the slipper into Malcolm for allegedly plotting a coup, by breaking bugs with the Clivosaurus; Malcolm returns the favour calling Bolt unhinged; Cory sledges Malcolm for sledging the Bolter. Clive, feeling left out, turns fire on Peta Credlin, and blames her as a high-paid professional woman, for the PPL, people rush to defend the delicate flower’s honour etc etc.

Whose fault is all this? Why Teh Leftz, of course! Say what you like about the Oz, its mobilisation round this right-wing so-and-so was full of Dunkirk spirit. Wednesday’s edition featured Bettina Arndt, former daytime TV sexologist and daughter of Cold Warrior Heinz Arndt, going teh Leftz for not condemning Clive for being mean to Peta, and then a news story about how Bettina had said that teh Leftz wasnt defending Peta. Then the next day Bill Leak — who worked for the ABC drunk and for the Oz sober, our loss, and his — had a cartoon about Anne Summers not being mean to Clive about being mean to Peta, proving, that, even if it has now been established that Anti-News Unlimited staffers do not have dogs, we know that Chris Mitchell has a poodle.

What makes this all very funny is that Anti-News currently has less traction for this stuff than Princess Grace on a mountain road. Having decried political correctness GONE MAD for years, they are now complaining that there’s not enough of it. Having tried to sell the budget, and failed, they are now trying to distract from it, and failing. It’s a measure of how limited the power of the tabloids to set, rather than augment, the agenda is — one reason why crazy Uncle Rupert occasionally swings his papers behind Labo(u)r, as he may well do in 2017. If he is not too busy helping the FBI with their inquiries.

These days, one Socialist Alternative banner on prime time has as much clout as ten Daily Tele editorials. Annabel Crabb could not be reached for comment on this, as she had a sponge on the go. Its name is Mark Scott — Guy Rundle

Mag executives lament newspaper taint. Ad revenues are falling faster than subscriber numbers, which might be the result of media buyers conflating magazines with newspapers, Pacific Magazines director Peter Zavecz said in Sydney yesterday. A panel of magine execs comprised of Zavecz, NewLifeMedia’s Nicole Sheffield, Bauer Media’s Matt Stanton and Publisher’s Australia’s Geoff Hird agreed there was still strong demand for magazines — which wasn’t always being recognized by the broader industry.

“We’re one of the few mediums people pay for… the level of engagement is immense,” Sheffield said, adding that some of her titles were seeing increased revenues this year. “Vogue is up 11% year-on-year [in revenues].” And in the homemaker market, adspend and audiences continued to grow, Zavecz added. “We’re growing our audiences exceptionally well. What we’re not doing well is not telling people about that,” Hird concluded. — Myriam Robin

New York, New York for Lachie Murdoch? Consider the following events this week, which suggest the wonder boy of the Murdoch family is looking to cash in some of his Aussie investments. Lachie Murdoch was seen lunching with Kerry Stokes in a hot Eastern Suburbs hotel on Tuesday (as revealed in Crikey). Was Lachie trying to sell the Seven Network owner two radio station networks to go with the TV and newspaper business houses in Seven West Media?

Then there was the results teaser, with reports on how Murdoch junior’s key company Illyria Investments had boosted earnings (via a paper revaluation of the intangible assets attached to the radio stations). Murdoch had bought the stations in two tranches, the second allowing him to revalue the company’s assets — much as News Corporation did when it bought 100% of Fox Sports in the Cons Media takeover 18 months ago.

Then a day after Lachie’s bottom line is exposed comes a report that the Nova radio networks are on the market, sort of. The story seems to confirm why Lachie Murdoch was lunching with Kerry Stokes at the Centennial Hotel.

And the final hint of a possible move. Lachie’s second Sydney home at Bronte, an eastern beachside suburb, is back on the market at a reduced price of around $10 million (for a third time), down from the $13.5 million he was first looking for. Murdoch and his wife and family have moved to the suburb of Bellevue Hill and the $23 million mansion called Le Manior which is currently being upgraded to the tune of another $11.6 million or so. They are currently renting nearby.

So sell the redundant house, sell the radio stations, keep the underwater stakes in Ten (you never know, the family might come along and take that off your hands) and the Funtastic and whatever else is in the company, and relocate to New York to be a full time co-chairman with Dad Rupert. Have I got that right? — Glenn Dyer

Sorry is the hardest word to say. After nearly 12 months of legal battles, the ABC v Kenny defamation stoush appears to be over. Last night the network broadcast an apology to conservative columnist Chris Kenny for a sketch on political satire show The Hamster Decides (written by The Chaser team) which involved a photoshopped image of Kenny getting up close and personal with a dog. Aired just before the tedious Jonah from Tonga, it was the only thing that could entice us to switch on Aunty at that time.

The Chaser boys were forbidden from making public statements which could detract from the terms of the settlement. Did they meet that requirement? Here are a few of their cheeky tweets …

If his tweets are anything to go by, it appears Kenny himself was was pleased and is now happy to move on.