Today Tonight are picking sides

This came in a Seven media release this afternoon:

Tonight on Australia’s number one public affairs program, Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd opens his home and
sits down with host Anna Coren for an intimate interview.

During the very candid interview, the man who wants to be Prime Minister talks to Coren about his family,
the opinion polls…and what happened when he was stuck on a plane with John Howard last week.

Anna Coren – at home with Kevin Rudd – Today Tonight exclusive tonight, at 6.30pm on Seven.

Make of that what you will (and I’m sure you will).

11 Comments

  1. First it says ‘Australia?s number one public affairs program,’ then it says ‘Today Tonight.’ Some consistency would be nice Mr Meakin.

    Is anyone aware of Kerry Stokes’s political allegiance at the moment? I know Packer was all up Howard in his dying days, so maybe the C7 case pushed Stokes to chuck a tanty and join the Rudd fan club.

  2. I don’t know – personally I still think these shows follow public opinion rather than inform it.

    Like Diamond Joe Quimby says:

    “Very well. If that is the way the winds are blowing, let no one say I don’t also blow.”

    Maybe I am being naive but surely viewers go up by pandering to their whims than by trying to change the government.

  3. They interviewed Kevin Rudd just like they interviewed John Howard a few weeks earlier.

    The only difference is that thay had ‘good guy’ music to go with the Rudd interview. I wouldn’t look into it too much, I’m of the belief most people wouldn’t take Today Tonight’s word for it, I’ve never known somebody who thought it wasn’t a joke of a program.

  4. I find the public affairs show (TT/ACA) lean towards the Liberal Party and are quite conservative.

    Nine itself is usually biased towards the Liberals as well. I reckon Boxcutters should have some discussion about Media Bias in a upcoming episode.

  5. @Mike:
    I find the public affairs show (TT/ACA) lean towards the Liberal Party and are quite conservative.

    It’s that whole Murdoch-reading Southern Cross-listening why-don’t-those-young-hooligans-stop-littering-my-pavement yes-bomb-Iraq-it’s-only-foreigners-anyway racism-is-bad-and-don’t-those-dirty-Vietnamese-smell demographic, so yes, the John Howard fan club.

  6. Fantastic exclusive. Kevin Rudd hasn’t given any other interviews all year. Or all week. Or even on the same day this was going to air.

    Sigh.

    I’ve also given up defending myself when it comes to bias. Being a member of a profession which is clearly peopled with lefty, Howard-hating pinko scum while at the same time clearly being a Howard-arse-licking Nine Network fascist is quite an achievement in contortion.

    Ross, I agree. When it comes to a couple of programmes in particular my feeling is they follow their perception of public opinion rather than trying to form it. A loungeroom sit-down would be driven as much by Rudd’s office as TT. Same principle applies in other areas: just because Howard absolutely refuses to do FM radio doesn’t make those stations left wing just because they get Rudd on.

    And when the election is called – possibly as soon as this Sunday – don’t forget this speck of gold dust:

    Birch Barlow: There are three things we are never going to get rid of in this town. One, the bats in the public library; two, Mrs. McFuly’s compost heap; and three, our six-term mayor – the illiterate, tax-cheating, wife-swapping, pot-smoking spendocrat, Diamond Joe Quimby.
    Mayor Quimby: Hey, I am no longer illiterate!

    God bless Diamond Joe.

  7. I should also add that having to put up with the inane host of Today Tonight in that kind of interview is almost too high a price to pay to become prime minister.

  8. Must you be inane in order to host a show like Today Tonight, or does inanity just happen?

    I’m aware that only a certain type of person would host your modern public affairs show, but I’m also aware that jobs like that (and therefore exposure like that) are like hens’ teeth.

  9. catbrain says:

    Yeah, Jimbo – given the opportunity, would you host ACA, without any change to its current format?

  10. I loved to see that!! It would be great watching Jimbo lauding miracle weightloss cures and virtual Bonds adverts through gritted teeth.

    I’m sure he would do it with complete professionalism, but there would always be that underlying possibility he could just snap…

  11. Catbrain, Ross is right… it could well be D-FENS on the ACA set!

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