Media Observed
Seven Network’s Spotlight goes all in with Bruce Lehrmann
Sam Buckingham-JonesMedia and marketing reporterNetwork Ten’s Lisa Wilkinson came in for plenty of scrutiny before Federal Court judge Michael Lee in the past week, as Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation proceedings against the broadcaster continued.
Among the things of interest to Lehrmann’s legal team, led by Steven Whybrow SC and Matthew Richardson SC, was whether Wilkinson believed Brittany Higgins’ rape accusations against the former Liberal Party staffer before The Project broadcast them in February 2021 – and whether the journalist coached Higgins ahead of the interview.
Anthony Koletti is Bruce Lehrmann’s hairdresser. James Brickwood
Then there are the close connections on the other side of the television divide, at the Seven Network. Already, the defamation hearing has revealed Lehrmann’s lucrative deal with the Kerry Stokes-controlled broadcaster which paid handsomely for an exclusive interview and his side of the story.
What was unnoted was some of the finer details about the personal relationships between Lehrmann – accused of raping Higgins, his former colleague, an allegation he denies – and various senior figures at Seven’s Spotlight program, which aired the exclusive interview.
On April 15, for one, Spotlight executive producer Mark Llewellyn took his wife to the races at Royal Randwick. With them? Lehrmann. Less than a week later, on April 21, he signed his exclusive deal.
And where was Lehrmann on the night the interview went to air? At Llewellyn’s house, with Whybrow and Margaret Cunneen SC.
The interview with Lehrmann was nominated for a Walkley Award. After the Federal Court heard Lehrmann’s rent had been covered for a year in exchange for exclusive access, the nomination was revoked.
It was not the first time Seven’s chequebook journalism left a journalism award body unhappy. Last year, the Kennedy Foundation said it would review entry guidelines after another exclusive interview, with Melissa Caddick’s husband Anthony Koletti, won scoop of the year. It was later revealed Koletti was paid $150,000.
Koletti, a hairdresser, found himself at the centre of a media storm when his wife, a self-styled financial adviser, stole up to $30 million through an investment scam and disappeared. A shoe containing her decomposed right foot washed up on a beach three months later.
And who has provided his coiffeuring services to Llewellyn’s wife? Koletti. Actually, he’s also provided them to another member of Llewellyn’s social circle: Lehrmann, just in time for his on debut on Seven. Those at the network insist it had nothing to do with the interview.
After all, a good hairdresser is hard to come by these days.
In other news…
Rough: Pour one out for the media sector this Christmas – especially the free-to-air TV players. Early SMI data shows metro television is back 14.7 per cent in the 11 months to the end of November in 2023, and things aren’t improving. They were 16.9 per cent back in November alone. December ad tracking is at 71.5 per cent of last year, which, in classic UBS understatement, is “below usual levels”. In total, the ad market was down 6.1 per cent over those 11 months, which included a 13.6 per cent jump for outdoor advertising (like billboards) and declines everywhere else. UBS analyst Lucy Huang reckons the free-to-air ad market will fall 7.5 per cent in the 2024 financial year.
Downsize: It’s been carnage across the media this past month or so. We’ve been able to confirm cuts to headcount of varying sizes at Nine, Private Media, JCDecaux, Mumbrella, Forbes, Southern Cross and Spotify. ARN is also prepping for some early in the new year, insiders say.
Introducing your Newsfeed
Follow the topics, people and companies that matter to you.
Find out moreRead More
Latest In Media & marketing
Fetching latest articles