Media Watch (TV Program)

''Media Watch'', formerly ''Media Watch: The Last Word'', is an Australian media analysis and political opinion television program currently presented by Paul Barry for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). The program focuses on critiquing the Australian media together with its interconnections, including with politics.

In 1999, ''Media Watch'' played a key role in revealing the unethical behaviour of radio talkback hosts, which became known as the " cash for comment affair" and was the subject of an investigation by what was then the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA).

Format

''Media Watch'' is a 15-minute program which identifies, investigates and examines instances of what the program determines to be failings in news coverage by Australian media outlets. The series features a single host speaking directly to camera, detailing a mix of amusing or embarrassing editing gaffes (such as miscaptioned photographs or spelling errors) as well as more serious criticism including media bias and breaches of journalistic ethics and standards. Over the years, the program's emphasis has shifted towards the latter.

Although most episodes of ''Media Watch'' focus on any recent incidents of media misconduct, episodes sometimes focus on a single issue of particular importance (for instance, news coverage of a recent election).

Presenters

Stuart Littlemore was the inaugural host of ''Media Watch'' and remains the longest-running host to date. Following his nine-year tenure, various other journalists have hosted the program. Paul Barry, who previously hosted the program in 2000 and for a brief period in 2010, resumed hosting duties in 2013.

* Stuart Littlemore (1989–97)
* Richard Ackland (1998–99)
* David Marr (2002–04)
* Liz Jackson (2005)
* Monica Attard (2006–07)
* Jonathan Holmes (2008–13)
* Paul Barry (2000, 2010, 2013–present)
* Jeremy Fernandez (2021; guest host)
* Janine Perrett (2021, 2022; guest host)
* Andy Park (2022; guest host)

Notable pieces

"Cash for comment"

In 1999, ''Media Watch'' revealed that influential talkback radio hosts Alan Jones and John Laws had been paid to provide favourable on-air comment about companies such as Qantas, Optus, Foxtel and Mirvac without disclosing these arrangements to listeners. It also persistently criticised the then Australian Broadcasting Authority (superseded by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, or ACMA, in 2005) as impotent or unwilling to regulate broadcast media, and to properly scrutinise figures such as Jones and Laws. The revelations won ''Media Watch'' staffers Richard Ackland, Deborah Richards and Anne Connolly two Walkley Awards: the Gold Walkley, and the Walkley for TV Current Affairs Reporting (Less Than 10 Minutes). In 2004, ''Media Watch'' played a major part in forcing the resignation of ABA head David Flint after it was discovered that Flint had sent Jones admiring and effusive letters at a time when the ABA was investigating Jones concerning further cash for comment allegations. The reports won ''Media Watch'' another Walkley, TV Current Affairs Reporting (Less Than 20 Minutes) to staffers David Marr, Peter McEvoy and Sally Virgoe.

''60 Minutes'' 1995 massacre at Srebrenica story

In 2002, Channel Nine ''60 Minutes'' reporter Richard Carleton sued ''Media Watch'' over allegations of plagiarism. The judge found that the allegations were untrue and declined to award any damages. The ABC World Today reported on 18 December 2002: "The veteran reporter was horrified to see ''Media Watch'' accuse him of plagiarising a BBC
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