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Top Media Watch contender gets a chance in hot seat
By Calum Jaspan
Veteran broadcast journalist Janine Perrett will fill in for Paul Barry in the Media Watch hot seat this month as the ABC continues its search for the program’s next permanent host.
Perrett, who has filled in for Barry twice before, will host three episodes – starting September 16 – while he’s on leave. While this latest stint is not a formal audition, Perrett is widely considered a top contender to replace Barry.
Barry, who will host the show until the end of the year, confirmed his departure in June. The ABC has yet to settle on a permanent replacement for the high-rating 15-minute weekly slot but has made a number of informal approaches, internal and external, to high-profile journalists.
Janine Perrett will stand in for Paul Barry for three weeks.Credit: ABC
Externally, the ABC’s early approaches included sounding out the former editor of The Age, Gay Alcorn, The Sydney Morning Herald’s chief investigative reporter, Kate McClymont, and former Four Corners and 7.30 executive producer Sally Neighbour.
Internally, the net has been cast far and wide, according to three sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, due to the ongoing process to appoint a new host.
“They’ve considered every person who’s been on air,” one joked.
Perrett said she was just filling in for Barry and did not view her three-week stint as an opportunity to pick up hosting duties permanently.
“What happens next year is not something I am worrying about or focusing on. I’m really chuffed to get a chance because I love the program,” she said.
In June, former Media Watch host Monica Attard suggested Perrett for the role, saying she brings gravitas to its demanding nature.
“There may be people who think it would be great to have somebody younger, but a young journalist wouldn’t have the necessary experience to bring the gravitas the program needs,” Attard said.
Perrett has worked in journalism for more than four decades, at The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald, Nine Network, Sky News Australia, and the ABC as a stand-in radio presenter.
Media Watch is also looking for a new executive producer, with the incumbent, Tim Latham, leaving at the end of the year. The search is being led by the ABC Content division’s managing editor for standards and compliance, Sashka Koloff. The program is also potentially in line to move to a new studio at the ABC’s new Parramatta offices in 2025.
The shake-up at Media Watch is one of several looming changes at the ABC after managing director David Anderson flagged his intention to step down in the new year after six years in the role.
Anderson and ABC chairman Kim Williams attended the ABC’s annual strategy meeting which was held at its Ultimo headquarters this week and brought together senior leaders from across the country.
David Anderson and Kim Williams in August.Credit: ABC
Williams also delivered the 2024 John Monash Oration in Sydney on Wednesday evening, using the speech to urge the ABC and Australian media to recommit themselves to objectivity and trust.
Tempting as it may be for journalists to take sides, Williams said, media and cultural institutions must “resist”, he said..
“Trust is the crucial issue. Once the media compromises its absolute commitment to the truth, how can the people be expected to trust what it reports?
How can anyone be certain about any fact? How can they safely put any faith in their leaders? How can they believe something as straightforward as who won an election? How can the peaceful handover of power be guaranteed?”
“To put it another way: When the truth is relative, democracy is imperilled. In my view, objectivity must never be compromised in any media organisation, especially in a publicly owned one like the ABC,” Williams said.
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