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Last updated on July 16th, 2017 at 11:39 am
As requested, Media Watch pursues Phillip Adams’ claim to have been chilled by an interview with Helen Demidenko/Darville/Dale:
One of my most chilling experiences on this program ever was a long interview I did with Helen Demidenko which made my blood freeze.
Never happened, according to Helen:
I’ve never been on Late Night Live. I’ve never been interviewed by Phillip Adams.
Alerted by Media Watch, Adams offered this excuse:
I’ve been involved in so many interviews and so many radio studios over so many years that I got it wrong. I found on checking the encounter was not on this program.
But that interview was chilled – chilled! – into Phil’s memory. Host Monica Attard:
Surely Phillip Adams isn’t seriously saying that an interview he remembered so clearly just a few days ago now may have been just a chance encounter?
But Phil isn’t the main villain of this piece. Media Watch’s crack research team dug further and deeper, and discovered – buried several comments deep in this Catallaxy thread – remarks supportive of Helen from Howard-appointed ABC board member Ron Brunton. This development rated its very own segment on last night’s Media Watch, with Attard concluding:
Well if Ron Brunton is brave enough to rely on the word of Helen Demidenko/Darville/Dale, given her rather colourful history of storytelling, well that’s one thing.
What? Adams has already said he was wrong. (Incidentally, Adams himself has a rather colourful history of story-telling, not that Media Watch ever notices.) Do continue, Monica:
But for a non-executive board member to rush to public judgement of ABC journalists on the basis that he’ll fix it some time later if he’s wrong is worrying.
A non-issue. Brunton was right; Adams was in error. The producer and host of this ridiculous program should resign immediately. Oh, wait …
UPDATE. Outgoing Media Watch executive producer Tim Palmer chats with his journalistic colleagues at The Australian:
He used an unprintable profanity to describe one journalist, and called the editor an “idiot”.
“Your paper …” he said, before trailing off. “You want me to talk to you?”
Palmer refused to speak further unless his conversation was off the record.
Imagine the pressure of producing 15 entire minutes of television every week. No wonder the poor guy is about to snap.
