A Current Affair rocked by nude photo scandal as Nine braces for explosive lawsuit from female ex-producer: INSIDE MAIL has all the details about the TV scoop of the year

In our must-read Mail+ column, Steve Jackson and Peter van Onselen reveal what’s REALLY going on in the worlds of media and politics each week.

A sordid affair at Nine as unfair dismissal case looms

It’s the news show known for uncovering sleaze, but A Current Affair is now at the centre of a scandal of its own with a female producer claiming she was unfairly dismissed from the program for sending a colleague a ‘d*** pic’ as a joke.

Inside Mail can reveal a graphic image of ‘an ugly male penis’ was sourced by the producer from Google then sent to a female colleague as an in-joke a little more than a year ago before it ended up being circulated around the newsroom.

The claim will form part of an unlawful dismissal action being prepared against the network that will also detail damaging accusations about the racism and sexism that allegedly proliferates within the station.

The ACA producer who originally downloaded the image will allege the prank was weaponised and used as justification for sacking her while other members of staff who shared the image got off scot-free.

We have pictured host Allison Langdon in this article for illustrative purposes because she is the face of A Current Affair, but we are not suggesting whatsoever she was aware of the photo or shared it.

The November 2023 incident was listed as one of three official reasons ACA’s then boss, Fiona Dear, gave for unceremoniously sacking the long-serving Nine producer the following month. 

The other reasons relate to a second incident involving the producer showing a different colleague a plastic toy gun which was part of a discount store ‘police set’ that she kept in her desk. 

The producer had bought the toy as a prop for a ‘re-creation’ filmed for one of ACA’s stories – with Nine even reimbursing her for the item. She will claim she was simply offering it to the fellow staffer for use in one of their upcoming stories.

The single mother will allege she was stood down for almost a month as the incidents were investigated before being sacked over Zoom just 10 days out from Christmas for sharing the ‘d*** pic’ and ‘bringing a replica weapon into the Channel Nine building’.

We understand the experienced journalist will claim she searched for an image of a ‘funny looking d***’ on Google before sending it to a trusted friend and fellow staffer, believing it would help relieve the tension during a particularly stressful shift. 

Well-placed sources within Nine told Inside Mail that top network execs were well-aware the ‘d*** pic’ had been shared by multiple staff members within ACA but that the producer who downloaded it was the only one to face disciplinary action. 

We understand that, when one senior staff member was sent the image, they understood it was a joke and did not raise any concerns. However, another Nine employee who received the photo apparently did find it offensive and reported it to Dear. 

The sacked producer will claim that, after being cut adrift by the station, she was left isolated and alone, and that her former colleagues and friends had been specifically warned not to contact her. 

Inside Mail has been told the staffer, who had worked for the broadcaster for more than two decades, will name both Nine and Dear in her lawsuit, and detail off-colour, racist and sexist incidents that she allegedly witnessed during her time at the network. 

She will also claim the network failed in its duty of care and neglected her mental welfare after she became an alleged victim of domestic violence in March 2023.

She will claim that after returning to work in May 2023 in ‘a fragile state’, she was allegedly assured she would not be required to work on any stories relating to domestic violence – only to be asked to ‘chase’ a story about a man who had thrown his girlfriend off a high-rise apartment block in her first week back.

The producer will claim she was sent to work on another domestic violence-related story at Manly Court House the following month – even though it involved sitting in the very courtroom in which she had given evidence regarding her own alleged assault earlier in the year. 

The producer is expected to claim she was left severely traumatised by the task but felt powerless to refuse the work request and instead wanted to appear ‘strong’ and a ‘team player’.

She will also allege she went from being someone Nine management had asked to become ‘a mentor’ to a junior news producer to someone who needed to be marched off the premises after becoming ‘a burden’ to the network.

Inside Mail has refrained from naming the sacked staffer as her domestic violence matters are still before the court. 

Since being fired from her senior role on a six-figure salary, the former ACA producer has been forced to take a part-time, minimum-wage, entry-level job in retail for about $50,000 a year as she struggles to provide for her young child. 

The female journalist this week declined to comment when we asked her about the ‘d*** pic’ matter, the toy gun incident and her impending lawsuit.

Understandably, Nine would not be drawn on commenting on the claims either.

The explosive lawsuit comes as Nine prepares to settle another unlawful dismissal claim brought against the media giant and Dear, who has since been promoted and is now the broadcaster’s top news boss.

Ousted Brisbane news director Amanda Paterson – who is not involved in the ACA allegations – launched legal proceedings after she was unceremoniously sacked by Dear during a seven-minute video call last November. 

Paterson claimed she was told her employment had been terminated effective immediately over three trivial workplace misdemeanours.

They included failing to complete her in-house online ‘training modules’, botching a staffer’s contract extension, and a light-hearted boast to staff that they had managed to remove all the ‘d***heads’ from their newsroom.

Paterson claimed she was ‘humiliated’ when she was marched out of Nine’s Mt Coot-Tha bunker by security after her shock sacking without even being given the chance to farewell stunned colleagues or collect her puppy, Pepe, from her office. 

She immediately retained high-profile employment lawyer John Laxon and sued both Nine and Dear personally, claiming more than $1million in damages. 

A covert audio recording of the moment Dear sacked a clearly stunned Paterson later found its way into the public domain, sparking fears at Nine over what other network dirty laundry could be aired during the lawsuit.

It is unlikely we will ever know all Pato’s gritty allegations, given she last week tentatively agreed to a confidential, out-of-court settlement with Nine following two rounds of mediation. 

Although the parties are yet to officially sign off on the deal, with the paperwork still being drawn up, it is understood it will include an ironclad non-disclosure agreement preventing Paterson from discussing her sacking or time at Nine in exchange for a six-figure compensation package. 

Only time will tell if Nine is equally keen to put a lid on the looming ACA lawsuit brought by a vulnerable single mother as it looks to move on from the damaging culture dramas that have plagued its newsrooms for much of the past year.

Tele staffer axed over ‘UNDERCOVERJEW’ leak

As Inside Mail readers will doubtless recall, there are few things news execs at The Daily Telegraph like doing more than pointing the finger at each other when something goes wrong and conducting ham-fisted internal investigations into their own journos. 

We should know. After all, the masthead’s overexcitable and under-occupied editors have previously conducted fruitless probes into who leaked stories to us… and then into who leaked the fact they were trying to find the leaker… and so on and so forth.

And so far, we’re proud to boast we have a 100 per cent witness protection track record. 

Sadly, the same can’t be said for everyone. 

See, after apparently running out of internal matters to ham-fistedly investigate, the Tele went a little rogue this month and tried something outside its comfort zone – and conducted a rare external investigation. 

Now, don’t worry, it was still typically ham-fisted and far from ‘amaaaaazing’ – even the country’s top spy boss, Mike Burgess, has this week panned the ‘mind-blowingly stupid’ investigation as ‘inappropriate’ and ‘unhelpful’. 

For those living under a rock, the newspaper’s ill-conceived and disastrously executed ‘UNDERCOVERJEW’ operation blew up in the most spectacular style and made headlines across the country for all the wrong reasons after a now-viral encounter outside the Cairo Takeaway restaurant in inner-city Newtown (the full story on that here). 

And it wasn’t just rival media outlets (and apparently some members of the public) who were incandescent with rage. 

The Tele’s own hard-working troops were so incensed by the whole unseemly saga, the masthead’s Holt St headquarters was soon leaking like a listless Titanic after a brief embrace with a North Atlantic iceberg. 

In fact, we noticed several Tele staffers had even gone as far as openly ‘liking’ the venue’s public takedown of their own employer on Instagram. 

Naturally, we got in touch with said Tele types and let them know it would perhaps be best to ‘unlike’ the post before their irate editors spotted it, too.

And just as well we did… 

Because by the end of the week, the Tele’s internal news ‘topic’ on the botched sting had been leaked to media writer and former Holt St scribe Daanyal Saeed, from the niche news blog Crikey.

Cue (you guessed) a trademark Tele internal investigation. 

Unfortunately, this one wasn’t quite as typically ham-fisted and it didn’t take the news sheet’s outraged eds long to pinpoint the source of Saeed’s leak. 

Questions were soon raised about how long the female staffer would survive at the masthead. 

We raised the question ourselves with News Corp on Wedneday in the vain hope that a media company that prides itself on cultivating whistleblowers might somehow overlook this instance of whistleblowing.

Sadly… it would not. 

‘Tonight The Daily Telegraph accepted the resignation of a staff member,’ we were told somewhat matter-of-factly on Wednesday night. 

Crikey! 

Will it be the last head to roll over the debacle? We doubt it – but we will have to wait and see. 

Fake news about Dutton’s trades catches on

It’s never hard to tell which ‘news stories’ are real and which ones are the product of political dirt units doing what they do best in the countdown to an election: feeding the chooks.

After a series of poor opinion polls, Team Albo is hard at it, throwing any mud they can at Peter Dutton to try to tighten the political race. 

This week, two dirt-unit-fed stories stand out: share trades the opposition leader made more than 15 years ago, which were fully disclosed at the time, and investment property purchases that were also disclosed and started more than two decades ago. Hardly breaking news!

Apparently the share trades were ‘unusual’ because they were successful – buying bank shares when they were down during the GFC before selling them when they went back up again. 

Dutton wasn’t even in government at the time, by the way.

The only thing unusual seems to be a politician making a competent financial decision that doesn’t involve a taxpayer handout.

The aim of leaking this ‘information’ was clearly to leave the impression Dutton has done something wrong, perhaps insider trading. 

It’s utter rubbish, of course, but the conspiracy has found a home in the ignorant world of social media where facts rarely matter.

Both sides of politics dig up dirt on their opponents and feed the findings to journalists willing to do their bidding. 

But perhaps there needs to be an unofficial time limit on what gets a run. 

Let’s say a decade?

The secret Jock Zonfrillo tapes buried in 60 Minutes

Two years on from MasterChef Australia judge Jock Zonfrillo‘s tragic death, mystery still surrounds much of his passing… and, indeed, his final resting place. 

Inside Mail’s colleague Stephen Gibbs this month revealed a 16-month inquiry into Zonfrillo’s final hours before his body was found at an inner-city Melbourne hotel on May 1, 2023, would remain forever secret after the coroner decided against publicly publishing the findings.

What’s more, he also revealed many of the Scottish-born TV star’s friends and family – including his elderly parents Ivan and Sarah Zonfrillo – still did not know where he is buried, or the location his ashes were scattered in the event he was cremated. 

Now questions are being asked (mainly by us) about an extraordinary, unaired 60 Minutes interview with Zonfrillo and his wife Lauren Fried that has been gathering dust in the bowels of the show’s archives for more than five years. 

Inside Mail can reveal the weekly current affairs staple spent weeks wooing the couple back in 2018 before filming with them in various locations around the country, including their famed Orana restaurant in Adelaide’s bustling Rundle Mall and harvesting ‘native’ ingredients in the Outback, at great expense. 

As if that’s not exciting enough, the recently retired queen of 60 Minutes, Liz Hayes, conducted several interviews with the late celebrity chef as part of the project, with the chats said to be some of the deepest and most probing of both their careers. 

Apparently Hayes and Zonfrillo struck up such an authentic friendship during the filming process they even stayed in touch up until his death. 

Indeed, the award-winning reporter was among a select few celebrities invited to attend his private funeral, alongside former Australians of the Year Grace Tame and Dylan Alcott, AFL champion Nick Riewoldt, funnyman Merrick Watts, fashion designer Collette Dinnigan and fellow Glasgow-born showman Jimmy Barnes.  

What an amazing connection, right? 

So where can we watch this interview?

Well, we can’t. 

Because for reasons unknown, it never aired.

Reasons unknown? Oh come on, you know us better than that – of course we know the reasons and, what’s more, we’re just about to tell you them.

Despite spending considerable time and money on the project, we hear 60 Minutes was banned from broadcasting the story after the broadcaster’s then-chief executive ‘Hollywood’ Hugh Marks got wind of it.

Apparently he was less than thrilled that the project had ever been green-lit by the show’s top brass given MasterChef Australia was going head-to-head against 60 Minutes on Sunday nights at the time and spiked it. 

Or at least that’s what the hard-working team behind the project were told – and surely no one in TV would just blame the boss, would they?

Either way, knowing how good Hayes’ interviews tend to be, we’re surprised the vision hasn’t been dusted off for a heartfelt special – or at the very least cut into a loving memento for Zonfrillo’s widow and four children Alfie, Isla, Ava and Sofia.

We contacted Nine to find out if 60 Minutes would ever air the vision, or hand it over to Zonfrillo’s family, and mysteriously enough didn’t receive a response. 

Insert yawn here 

Oh yeah, speaking of 60 Minutes, some dudes started a low-budget, Zoom-based interview ‘news show’ on X, formerly Twitter, last weekend and are calling it 69 Minutes and it is hosted by former Channel Nine Footy Show presenter Erin Molan.

Judging by the over-the-top reactions from Nine Newspapers, Crikey and industry blog TV Blackbox, which kept excitedly referring to it as a ‘global’ show (welcome to the information super highway, guys – everything’s global), you’d think it was a big deal. 

It’s not. 

Inside Singo’s secret bid to buy and blow up Nine Radio

It is the deal that all but defined late media mogul Kerry Packer‘s career: selling his prized Nine Network to would-be tycoon Alan Bond for $1.05billion in 1987 – only to buy it back three years later for a mere $250million as the disgraced businessman’s over-extended empire collapsed.

‘You only get one Alan Bond in your lifetime, and I’ve had mine,’ Packer would later famously say of the multimillion-dollar windfall. 

Now, 35 years on, almost-billionaire John Singleton is about to have his own once-in-a-lifetime, Bond-style moment – all thanks to Nine, too. 

The 83-year-old offloaded his 32.2 per cent share in the Macquarie Media radio network to the media giant six years ago for $80million… and now he’s looking to buy back the thing for a fraction of the price.

Word is the former adman is leading a consortium hoping to snap up the struggling Nine Radio, which comprises talkback stations 2GB in Sydney, Melbourne’s 3AW, Brisbane’s 4BC and 6PR in Perth, for as little as $25million.

Chump change for someone like Singo, who is said to worth more than $800million.  

What’s more, we hear he doesn’t just want to take over the struggling business; he’s apparently intent on returning it to its former glory. 

That’s great news, isn’t it? Well, it depends on who you are and what your job is.   

Inside Mail can reveal – and we hope you will pardon the pun because we are going to make it either way – Singo is preparing to go ‘radio-active’ and is already secretly planning to ‘blow up’ the network and usher in his own stable of stars. 

That means some people will be hired – or re-hired as the case may be – while other heads will roll.  

Indeed, rumour has it Singo has already convinced 2GB’s morning show titan Ray Hadley to come out of retirement just months after hanging up his headphones and stepping away from the mic for (supposedly) the last time on December 13.

Not only that, he apparently has had Hadley working the phone and actively recruiting other key players as part of his plot to reinvigorate the network’s struggling stations. 

Of course, word of the masterplan quickly filtered back to us and… it’s a lot to take in. So you might want to sit down for this. 

According to the blueprint we’ve seen, in Sydney, high-rating breakfast show host Ben Fordham is just about the only presenter in the current line-up who could consider themselves ‘safe’ under a resurgent Singo.

In fact, we hear he’s already been worded-up and given a firm undertaking that he would retain his coveted timeslot under the new regime. 

Elsewhere, others are looking a little shakier, with Hadley’s replacement, pineapple pizza fan Mark Levy, already earmarked to make way for the return of the king, while afternoon host Michael McLaren and newly installed drive-time presenter Clinton Maynard are also expected to go under the change up. 

Former 4BC breakfast and drive-time host-turned-A Current Affair head-kicker Neil Breen is rumoured to be tapped to replace at least one of them, with some suggestion one-time 6PR presenter-cum-Seven Spotlight star Liam Bartlett is in the mix for the other Sydney timeslot.

Up north in Brisbane, just about everyone will walk the proverbial plank, according to our sources, with Fordham and Hadley’s shows to be syndicated in the Sunshine State under the plan, with underperforming breakfast host Peter Fegan and journeyman mornings presenter Bill McDonald both bustled out of the studio. 

The line-up would retain a distinct ‘live and local’ flavour after lunch but again that does not necessarily mean any of the incumbents are safe.  

One-time Saturday Disney starlet and current 4BC afternoons host Sofie Formica  would have an almost unwinnable fight on her hands to hang onto her gig under the ownership change, with Olympic golden girl and former Nova breakfast host Susie O’Neill tipped to be brought in to replace her (whether she’s been asked to do so as yet is another story).

The River City’s current drive-time host, Gary Hardgrave, would also be put out to pasture with former shock jock Peter Gleeson likely to make a triumphant return little more than four months after quitting the station to run the newly formed Queensland Greyhound Racing Club.

(Indeed, quizzical glances have already been exchanged within 4BC’s Cannon Hill studio following Gleeson’s surprise announcement he was unexpectedly stepping down from his new greyhound gig just last week).  

Out west, there’s speculation that 6PR could be prised off from the rest of the operation completely and sold off to a local consortium, or local billionaire media magnate Kerry Stokes. 

There is a little sunshine, however, in the otherwise overcast and bleak city known as Melbourne, with their solid line-up of on-air talent predicted to survive the purge.

Behind the scenes, meanwhile, the faceless men running the show would be forced to slug it out in a similar Hunger Games-style fight for survival. 

Now, it goes without saying, this is all just red-hot rumour and innuendo at the moment – and you know what they say about best laid plans…. 

So no one can say for sure how Singo’s bold vision to rebuild the radio business will ultimately play out. 

We will say this though… the first time Singo bought 2GB in 1996 he quickly set about making it the city’s No. 1 talkback station by (you guessed it) going ‘radio-active’, blowing up the network and ushering in his own stable of stars. 

And it worked back then… so why not now? 

Hollywood Hugh learning the ABCs of new gig 

Former Nine chief ‘Hollywood’ Hugh Marks doesn’t officially get his feet under the desk in his new role as the ABC’s managing director until next month – but that hasn’t stopped him for getting across who’s who in the taxpayer-funded zoo. 

Inside Mail’s roving spies spotted the public broadcaster’s incoming top boss having an ‘animated convo about understanding the ABC processes’ with a soon-to-be colleague at the Jersey café in Woollahra on Wednesday morning. 

Of course, we’re a little sceptical anyone could have an animated conversation while discussing something so mind-numbingly mundane – but we’re taking their word for it.

Still, now that Hollywood Hugh’s across all the background on Aunty’s office politics and procedures, he just needs to grab a beige cardigan and he’s ready to roll. 

Good luck, Marksy! 

Minister’s power of negative thinking

Most politicians will try to maintain a healthy optimism about their electoral chances, especially when engaging with supporters.

And while it’s not always a bad thing to claim underdog status, former Liberal polling and strategy guru Mark Textor used to enjoy the saying: ‘You want to be the underdog… as long as you don’t start to just look like a dog.’

In other words, being competitive with a chance of winning is important, lest voters decide your goose is cooked!

Which is why Inside Mail sat up and took notice when we saw finance minister Katy Gallagher’s latest ‘pitch’ to supporters. She doesn’t exactly sound glass-half-full.

‘Sunday’s polling results show that we’re on course for an election defeat.’

Well, at least she’s honest, which is a lot more than can be said about a lot of political communication.

She went on to say: ‘Voters are disengaged and don’t know about Labor’s achievements.’

Hardly a ringing endorsement for the countless media interviews the PM and others have done during three years in government. 

Or the job done by the largest team of media advisers employed by a PM and government in our nation’s history.

We wonder if Katy is going to provide us with equally blunt reality checks throughout the election campaign if things don’t go Labor’s way?

Ten zeroes in on golden oldies in radical new plan

If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em… Or, at least, rock up to where they’re hanging out and mill about their general vicinity in the hope you gradually get invited into the cool crowd.

It’s a slower burn but, hey, it’s the strategy Inside Mail adopted in high school and the one now being equally embraced by the brains trust in at Ten’s Pyrmont HQ.

That’s right – the network that has spent the better part of four decades trying to lure in younger audiences, with hit imports such as The Simpsons and Modern Family, as well as pioneering reality shows Big Brother and Australia Idol, has finally conceded that kids today just don’t watch TV.

At least, not on a TV.

As a result, we hear the channel is looking to divide and conquer by splitting their programming plan of attack.

While the station will continue to chase younger audiences on its streaming services (that kids can and will actually watch on their phones), Ten’s television broadcast line-up will noticeably mature in line with its ever-ageing audience.

It’s a radical departure from the channel’s programmers’ former focus on solely dominating the youth market – but it’s really quite a sensible play, given it allows the country’s perennially third-placed network to actively pursue two starkly different demographics.

Yeah, yeah, yeah – ‘programmers’, ‘demos’, the word ‘sensible’…. who cares, right? 

Why are we even telling you all this???

Well, sorry! 

We’re just saying you can expect to see Ten’s youth-oriented content increasingly go online is all… While the programs on your lounge room’s ‘big screen’ skew towards the golden oldies – and feature more shows like smash hit Matlock, the popular courtroom drama reboot starring Hollywood veteran Kathy Bates.

Of course, we’re not sure where that leaves the channel’s progressive screechfest, The Project.

As far as we can tell, it doesn’t especially appeal to either young or older viewers… 

Which is probably why no one much bothers tuning into the program regardless the platform.

The ABC sure knows how to pick ’em

The PM appeared on Q&A this week for his pre-election one-on-one with audience members. 

If only ‘our ABC’ could just pretend to get a studio audience that reflects mainstream voter concerns, rather than a crowd stacked with political opportunists and activists there to promote various niche agendas…

As the questions rolled in, it became increasingly hard to take the whole event seriously. Inside Mail can confirm that was also the view from within Albo’s camp.

There was a question about citizen assemblies replacing politicians making decisions for themselves from a former Labor Premier of WA, Geoff Gallop. 

Then Albo was grilled about his mishandling of anti-Semitism problems by a woman who turned out to be a Liberal Party campaigner and ran for local council as an ‘independent’ but with Liberal Party backing.

Later, a woman, who point-blank identified herself as a card-carrying Labor member who was going to vote for Labor no matter what, asked Albo an environmental question which seemed to be more about promoting Tanya Plibersek than anything else.

And finally, there was some guy running for the Victorian Socialists, replete with a badge on his T-shirt spruiking the party, who asked a vaguely incoherent question about Band-Aids and gaping wounds he was so proud of that he posted it on Twitter.

His X handle is purplepingers and his bio says ‘I hate real estate agents’ – and he’s not kidding. A few years back he published a list of vacant properties encouraging people to occupy them in protest.

Who at the ABC is picking these people to ask questions? 

It isn’t as though they are surprise questions. All Q&A questions must be submitted beforehand so producers can pick the best ones. 

Can you imagine the questions that don’t get picked! 

Or is this just more evidence of how out of touch the ABC really is?

No wonder the  ratings collapsed when it was moved to prime time before being shunted back to the 9:30pm time slot.

Andrew O’Keefe is all AOK again on social media

Given Andrew O’Keefe‘s ongoing courtroom legal dramas, it’s hardly surprising the former Seven game show host has been keeping something of a low profile of late.

Which is why industry tongues were set wagging this week when his profile actively started attracting attention again – at least, on social media, that is. 

We’re reliably informed O’Keefe’s Instagram profile, Aok Aok – which is followed by Seven’s official account and a host of the nation’s most recognisable stars – was busily making friends and following people on Wednesday. 

And? 

Well, the fallen star has also started describing himself online as: ‘Entertainer. I hope.’ 

Could he be preparing for some sort of career comeback, we wondered? 

So we did what we always do and asked… and we’re still waiting for him to come back to us. 

Dore slams Besser and his ‘little’ Media Watch show 

Inside Mail couldn’t help spluttering on our cornflakes a couple of weeks back after seeing Perth’s local news sheet, The West Australian, towelling up Basil Zempilas in a series of exclusive scoops.

Hang about, we thought, isn’t Zempilas supposed to be Seven’s favourite (former) son? What the heck was going on?

Well, apparently The West spotted the WA Liberal Party attempting to cash in on Baz’s popularity as the Swan City’s lord mayor by holding a fundraiser called the ‘Lord Mayor’s Cup’ ahead of his tilt at parliament in the state election next month.

Which might seem harmless enough to you or us… but the city’s sole masthead – and its contrarian editor-in-chief Chris Dore – reckoned the event’s official-sounding moniker was misleading and they simply weren’t having any of it.

After plastering the story across their front page, the Libs and Zempilas were forced to back down and apologise to following day.

And with that, the short-lived Lord Mayor’s Cup was canned.

As if that wasn’t enough, the following week, Dore was at it again, with his paper roasting Zempilas for using his council-linked social media profile to campaign for the state election.

Indeed, Dore’s coverage seemed so demonstrably at odds with the previous regime’s perceived ‘soft’ handling of all things ‘Basil Faulty’, we even reached out to him two weeks ago to ask, ‘What gives?’

Had the one-time Weekend Sunrise host accidentally cut him off in traffic on his way into WAN’s Osborne Park bunker or something?

Dore’s response? ‘What do you mean? No one gets any special treatment from the West Australian.’

So imagine our surprise when we tuned into Media Watch on Monday to see suggestions Zempilas was getting special treatment from the West Australian.

Indeed, the ABC’s latest self-appointed media boy scout, Linton Besser, dedicated more than five-and-a-half minutes to criticising the West Australian – and Seven – for giving Basil the rails run in the race to Harvest Terrace…

Apparently, it was all part of some sort of clandestine plot by Dore and Co. to secure Zempilas a spot in what’s predicted to be an opposition team so ridiculously small they could all fit in a maxi-taxi and car-pool to the state’s 59-seat lower house.

The motivation?

Well, according to Besser: ‘In his long career, Basil has done it all for [Kerry] Stokes’ media outfits… calling major sporting events, anchoring his annual Telethon… presenting sport on the evening news… and hosting Weekend Sunrise.’

‘Even with the election underway,’ Besser continued, ‘[Basil] continues to enjoy a regular slot on the weekday [Sunrise] show.’

But in typical spoilsport fashion, Dore wasn’t having any of that either.

In the one-line response read out during the Media Watch segment, he described the suggestion his masthead had given Zempilas any favourable treatment ahead of the looming state election as ‘naïve, deliberately misleading and wrong’.

‘In fact, because of the shameless local political and personal agendas gullibly taken up by Media Watch, one could mount a case that despite his obvious newsworthiness and the high public interest, we run fewer stories prominently about him than what might otherwise be warranted,’ he fumed.

Gullibly? Media Watch? Ouch – talk about poking the bear. That’s brave.

Or so we thought… until we read Dore’s full spray online and discovered he had not only poked the bear… he’d basically body shamed it afterwards as well.

Yet somehow his best quips failed to make the show – including the comical, pot-calling-the-kettle-black moment he pointed out Zempilas also enjoyed a regular weekly spot on the ABC, too.

Of course, we’ll save you the time and trouble of looking it up yourself, because these are the best bits from Dore’s fiery rant:

‘I realise it is difficult for you and your Sydney colleagues to get a grasp of the political scene in WA from the east coast comfort of your Ultimo workstation, but Media Watch will not have any legitimate, contextualised examples to support your undergraduate hypothesis,’ Dore raged.

‘On the eve of the election, we splashed the front cover of The West Australian with ‘Basil the B-grader’, Zempilas might even legitimately argue he gets a harder time from us than he does from Nine’s 6PR and from his mates at ABC Radio, where he has a regular weekly guest spot, a very casual and positive forum for him to spruik whatever he wants to talk about.

‘As you should know, he is a high-profile candidate, easily the best-known and most prominent aspirant contesting the election. His activities are newsworthy.

‘Any sensible, unvarnished and unbiased analysis of what comparatively little is published and broadcast about Zempilas in our outlets would conclude our coverage of him is appropriate.

‘In relation to his column, your troublemaking informants, evidently more obsessed with the bloke than we are, should have probably told you that we have matched him up directly against Labor’s most formidable performer – Treasurer Rita Saffioti.

‘Rather than a stand-alone column as it once was when he was Lord Mayor, Zempilas the candidate is now forced to share the page with Saffioti. Both are considered potential future party leaders.’

And…. wait for it…

‘Let me know if Media Watch thinks we should shrink the image of Zempilas down in size to make him the same height as Rita,’ Dore finished up.

‘Just to be more balanced, like your little show. All the best with your segment.’

Dorey, lol! Now how did that line not make the edit?

Arresting evening planned for former top cop

Anyone passing through Glebe in Sydney’s inner-west next Tuesday night would be forgiven for thinking they’ve stumbled on a major crime scene with the number of cops, lawyers and journos about the place.

In truth, they’ll all just be in the ‘hood, for the official launch of former NSW deputy police commissioner Nick Kaldas‘ highly acclaimed autobiography, Behind the Badge.

The soiree, hosted by both Kaldas and his journo wife Natalie O’Brien, will see a star-studded line up of law and order-style guests, including former assistant commissioner Peter Dein, counter-terrorist expert Dr Dave Gawel and silk Margaret Cunneen SC, converge on Gleebooks for the evening.

Former William Tyrrell detective Gary Jubelin – of I Catch Killers (though sometimes I don’t) fame – will introduce Kaldas and host a Q&A session with him during the ‘in conversation’ night.

Sounds like quite the arresting evening.

Kaldas, of course, is one of the country’s most inspirational, true success stories.

He arrived in Australia at age 11 after his family fled his native Egypt via Lebanon in the wake of the Suez Canal crisis and the Soviet-influenced Gamal Abdel Nasser regime before going on to become one of the nation’s most respected officers.

While we haven’t managed to flick through a copy of his book just yet, our true crime colleague Candace Sutton has had a squiz and reckons it’s a rollicking good read.

Indeed, she says it offers a gripping inside look at Kaldas’ career as a homicide detective investigating high-profile cases, including the death of schoolgirl Samantha Knight and the Sef Gonzales family murders, his experiences as a hostage negotiator, and time in the Middle East while seconded to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

Definitely sounds worth a gander.

And finally… 

Before we go, Inside Mail’s most incorrigible half, Steve Jackson, is heading off on assignment next week.

Yes, yes, yes – even he’s allowed to unshackle the chain that tethers him to his desk and venture out into the big, bright world every now and again… just so long as our editors aren’t looking.

That means, barring major earth-shattering scandals (or even decently sized minor controversies), we won’t be coming in hot next Thursday as per usual.

In the meantime, please feel free to send your most scurrilous tips through to the email addresses below.

Remember we have a 100 per cent witness protection track record, after all – and your secrets are safe with us… and our readers!

Until next time, that’s the Inside Mail, off-the-record, on the QT, and very hush-hush.

We love hearing from you, dear readers, so send your most scurrilous media tips to Steven.Jackson@mailonline.com or Peter.VanOnselen@mailonline.com