Thursday, November 30, 2006
FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!
Tragically, Glenn failed to land a solid punch:
The annual Walkley Awards for journalism were rocked by an attack on stage tonight at the Crown Casino in Melbourne.
Controversial crikey.com.au writer Stephen Mayne was attacked by Sunday Telegraph columnist Glenn Milne.
Mayne had just finished awarding the best business news report to the Australian Financial Review’s Morgan Mellish when Milne rushed up onto the stage and accosted Mayne, pushing him off the platform and onto the floor.
Milne then began berating Mayne from the stage as the audience, which consisted of a representation of Australia’s top journalists, looked on horrified.
Milne called Mayne “a disgrace” and continued to abuse him from the stage, while the floor manager rushed to restrain him.
Mayne jumped back on stage but Milne almost broke free from the clutches of the floor manager, forcing Mayne to jump from the stage.
Mayne was yards away from his short, cancer-recovering attacker when he was “forced” from the stage. That leap of fright was priceless.
UPDATE. The complete list of Walkley winners. One or two unexpected names among them, massively outnumbered by the usual Walkley crawlers.
UPDATE II. Excellent comments from C.L. and Murph.
UPDATE III. Scared Stephen seeks shelter from his towering foe.
UPDATE IV. Lookit! Mayne v. Milne YouTubed. Watch for Mayne’s raised fists of glory following his victorious running-away. More from Andrew Landeryou.
UPDATE V. A News Ltd. pal emails: “I do think Stephen Mayne deserves more respect. After all, he did found SCARDEYCAT.COM and was a deserved recipient of a recent Big Girl’s Blouse Award.”