Media Flash - We're Back! - Feb. 26, 2001

Media Flash and Australian Media Job Directory

Australia's Media Independent Weekly E-Newspaper

The Latest Media News: Monday, February 26, 2001

For full graphics, click on at www.mediaflash.com.au

E-Mail: mediaflash@yahoo.com J Phone/Fax: 1-800 231 311

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We're Back!

* ASH LONG, Media Flash Editor, writes: 'Your Media Flash returns today - full of energy and news for the year ahead. We have been off-air for almost two weeks, and there's no need for any bullshit in telling you why. Last November, I was frank with Media Flash readers and revealed that I had accumulated $85,000 in debt, mainly in establishing this popular business ... part of that was a large Telstra bill which at one point had been more than $67,000. The 'phone bill from hell' (see below) has now been PAID IN FULL, and we are now free to get on with our service. Over the coming weeks, we are installing new technology that will allow faster super-speed transmission of your weekly Media Flash and even faster updates. This will be a big, successful year for Media Flash ... thanks to our loyal readers and advertisers, as we have worked our way through the hard yards.

And Now ... The Long Awaited Book

* AT LAST! The much-awaited 304-page Long Shots book by ASH LONG will be released this coming week. Delivery is expected to take place on Tuesday (March 6), and copies will be expressed immediately to those who have already placed orders. The book has hundreds of advance orders, and is already financially 'in the black' prior to publication. Some statistics: 304 pages, 63 chapters, 1851 people written about, 183 photographs.

* CHECK OUT the complete, final index for the book. Click here.

Get Your Own Copy - On Release Day

* ORDER YOUR COPY NOW! Long Shots is a life story about controversial media man ASH LONG. It covers his sensational newspaper, radio and TV award-winning career. It will be the talk of the media industry. Take out a $50 Media Flash annual subscription (which includes a weekly copy of the subscriber-only Media Flash Confidential) ... and we'll rush you a FREE COPY of Long Shots (RRP $49.50). BUT HURRY, THIS SPECIAL OFFER EXPIRES 5PM THIS FRIDAY, MARCH 2. Order NOW with your Credit Card at the Secure Payment site: www.mediaflash.candela.com.au

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Latest Radio Ratings

* SYDNEY: 2DAY, (Survey 1/01) 14.7, (Survey 8/00 14.1). 2UE, 11.7 (13.1). MMM, 10.9 (13.5). MIX, 10.4 (92.). 2WSFM, 8.2 (7.8). ABC702, 7.5 (6.5). 2CH, 6.4 (6.6). 2JJJ, 5.5 (6.0). 2GB, 3.9 (3.5). ABCFM, 2.7 (3.1). 2KY, 1.7 (2.1). 2NEWS, 1.5 (1.3). 2RN, 2.1 (1.6). 2SM, 0.9 (1.0).

* MELBOURNE: FOXFM 16.0 (13.4). 3AW, 12.9 (14.1). TTFM, 12.0 (9.4). ABC774, 11.6 (104.). 3MMM, 11.1 (12.3). GOLD, 7.1 (7.1). MAGIC, 5.9 (6.8). 3JJJ, 4.6 (5.7). 3MP, 3.7 (3.0). SPORT, 1.9 (2.7). ABCFM, 1.7 (2.5). 3RN, 1.3 (1.8). 3NEWS, 1.4 (1.1), 3AK, 1.4 (0.8).

* BRISBANE: B105, 24.2 (25.3). FM104MMM, 16.3 (15.7). 4KQ, 12.0 (11.2). ABC612, 9.2 (7.6). 4BC, 7.8 (7.8). 4BH, 7.0 (9.5). 4JJJ, 7.0 (8.1). ABCFM, 3.3 (2.4). 4RN, 1.4 (1.8). 4NEWS , 1.4 (0.7).

* ADELAIDE: SAFM, 27.3 (26.0). 4ADFM, 14.4 (18.7). 5MMM, `12.7 (10.4). 5AA, 11.1 (11.7). 5JJJ, 8.3 (10.4). ABC891, 7.7 (6.5). 5DN, 6.9 (6.4). ABCFM, 3.0 (2.9). 5RN, 1.3 (2.0). 5NEWS, 1.1 (0.7).

* PERTH: MIX94.5, 19.1 (19.6). PMFM, 13.7 (15.7). 96FM, 15.7 (14.1). ABC720, 11.7 (10.7). 6JJJ, 11.3 (12.0). 6PR, 7.0 (8.5). 6IX, 6.5 (6.4). ABCFM, 3.3 (1.6). 6RN, 1.8 (1.6). 6NEWS, 1.7 (1.0).

Spy vs Spy (Well, Bob Hart Anyway)

* LAWRENCE MONEY, Age SPY columnist, is firing one over the bow of much less-interesting Herald Sun daily columnist BOB HART. 'BLOB', as he is nicknamed over town, often fills his column ('Additional Reporting: CHRISTINE CAULFIELD') with puffery, simply tacking on an 'Ahem', 'Ah yes' or 'Hmmm'. HART actually did have a good yarn this week with an additional report that MONEY and The Sunday Age copped a $100,000 defamation judgement in favour of breast implanter DR COLIN MOORE in the NSW District Court: 'A bid to prevent MONEY'S name from being included in the report was also lost by the Sunday Aged (sic) and again, costs went against the newspaper,' wrote HART.

* LAWRENCE MONEY was asked for comment, and told Media Flash on Saturday: 'Spy is the only column in Australia to have won two Quill Awards. In fact it was the inaugural winner when the 'best columnist' ward was first introduced. Spy pushes close to the edge; that's why it is so well read and that is why we are going to cop one occasionally. Happily for BOB, he'll never have that problem: recycling press releases and PR puff is a pretty safe way to go. The only thing BOB pushes is his pudding bowl for extra helpings. His column was kicked off a face page a few years ago and hidden away down the back. Apparently even his own paper thought his column stinks.'

* HART, an ex Courier Mail scribe, started his column on the Hun's Page 17. More recently, it's on Page 22. Sydney Confidential, it's not!

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FEATURE STORY OF THE MONTH

AK Ambush: Let The Games Begin

* RADIO 3AK changed ownership this month, signalling a full-scale commercial war in Melbourne against talk radio leaders 3AW headed by Southern Cross Broadcasting CEO TONY BELL and GM GRAHAM MOTT. Although 3AW are the AM-band market leaders, and 3AK are currently a ratings disaster, the takeover sees the removal of serious impediments to the challenger's ability to compete for AW's lion share of the $120 million Melbourne radio advertising market. This time last year, 3AW rated 15.4 in the first survey for the year; the first 2001 ratings has seen a 2.5 per cent drop to 12.0 (the lowest ever in 12 months).

* DERRYN HINCH, 3AK's morning broadcaster, has already received a claim from TONY BELL'S lawyers, claiming the AW CEO was defamed by HINCH on AK. Only two months ago, BELL'S company sacked HINCH (lowest rating 10.4) from the Nightline shift, just resumed by BRUCE MANSFIELD and PHILIP BRADY (current rating 8.4).

* HINCH has further inflamed the tensions by appointing a regular correspondent to 3AK, who works under the pseudonym 'VOICE OF THE SUBURBS'. The woman is CATHY JAMES ... wife of 3AW weekend presenter DARREN JAMES. The JAMES family's loyalties are being viewed with much interest by fellow 3AW staffers.

* JOHN JOST, one-time Age political reporter, then ABC and commercial broadcaster, has been appointed as a Director of 3AK. In recent years, he and his late brother MACK JOST, have operated a network of small Tasmanian radio stations. JOST'S experience in the 1980's as an Age executive, with responsibility for the network of Melbourne suburban newspapers, will be important. It is hoped he will be able to direct the building of a direct advertising sales team (similar to the suburban papers) that relies little on radio ratings, but exploits the personality pull of presenters HINCH, GREG EVANS and DOUG AITON.

* MAL GARVIN, long-time Chairman of 3AK (pictured), was forced to surrender the 50 per cent control of the station held by Fusion Media Pty Ltd (a subsidiary 'Christian community service group', Fusion Australia), in a week-long boardroom showdown earlier this month with new 50 per cent owners Data and Commerce Limited.

* GARVIN sobbed in front of staff who had confronted him, and other Directors, in the 3AK boardroom, as they demanded long-standing wages that were owed to them. GARVIN offered an exhaustive speech; but staff were sick and tired of GARVIN bullshit.

* Presenters who work under contractor arrangements have not been paid for months. These include firms associated with sportsman SIMON MADDEN, restaurateur IAIN HEWITSON, food man STEPHEN DOWNES plus broadcasters ANNETTE ALLISON and YVONNE LAWRENCE. Breakfast presenter-newsman ROB HICKS is still owed $18,000.

* Under GARVIN and Fusion Media Company Secretary MICHAEL CLEARY, the station has been losing millions of dollars for some years. 3AK cheques were bouncing, wages were late, and staff superannuation payments were not made for months. As one station insider put it: 'They had no money and no idea.' The question of whether the business was trading whilst possibly insolvent - and legal obligations relating to superannuation payments, are understood to now being addressed by corporate authorities.

'No Money, No Idea'

* GARVIN still remains on air with his turgid Nightside quasi-religious programs from 10pm-1am Monday-Thursday, and Sunday nights. GARVIN generally broadcasts these from studios at Fusion's village at Poatina in the Tasmanian hills (over which 3AW reportedly held a mortgage).

* GREG FLOOD, 3AK CEO, reportedly told his Drive presenter DOUG AITON'S program last week, that GARVIN'S weeknight presentations may soon finish. New owners Data & Commerce are keen to steer the station away from an image that it is run by people who DERRYN HINCH has labelled as 'Godbotherers'.

* GREG FLOOD told yesterday's Sunday Herald Sun that he had been told Fusion Media almost sold the station at the last minute to Vietnamese interests

'Real Radio, Real Owners'

* KEVIN CAMPBELL, Chairman of Data & Commerce said: "The decision to take full ownership, is based largely on the response we received to our initial investment and on our realisation of the station's value as we continue to work through the due diligence process. To prosper this station needs strong focussed management to be applied now."

* "Under the recently appointed Chief Executive Officer GREG FLOOD, DCL believes that 3AK has exciting prospects and future opportunities in the radio market and emerging digital broadcasting sectors."

* "Aggressive changes initiated by MR FLOOD in recent months, including the appointment of DERRYN HINCH as host of 3AK's morning program, cost-cutting measures and the transfer of 3AK's signal to 1116 to expand audience reach and improve signal strength, has given 3AK an opportunity of future profitability and to become a serious competitor to Melbourne's other talk stations," said MR CAMPBELL.

* "The market response and the 3AK audience and advertiser response to our initial involvement has also been encouraging, added MR CAMPBELL. "It is an investment that dovetails perfectly with our strategy, as outlined in our prospectus of September 2000, to take equity in broadcast interests as a source of revenue and as an opportunity to deliver digital broadcast technology."

* "Under DCL's ownership, MR FLOOD now has the flexibility necessary to aggressively develop the station, and will be well supported by additional appointees and DCL's strong experience in successful radio station management with director, Mr KIAN PENG SEAH being CEO and operator of the two Radio Heart stations in Singapore," said MR CAMPBELL.

* "3AK delivers DCL an important entry for wireless datacasting in Australia. Datacasting, the broadcast of data over a wireless network, is the forerunner to the delivery of digital audio broadcasting."

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'Age' Circulation In Strife

* GREG HYWOOD, new Publisher of The Age, is putting on a brave face to the newspaper's 14,597 circulation loss of its Saturday edition from 324,075 to 309,478 (Dec. 99 - Dec. 00), in the ABC figures released this month. The paper's Saturday circulation dropped from 330,247, in the June 2000 audit. 'Mr Hywood said that the decline in The Age's Saturday circulation reflected the national trend which saw the majority of Saturday newspapers lose sales,' said a press release issued by BRUCE WOLPE, chief Fairfax spinner.

* STEVE FOLEY'S Sunday Age sales dropped from 196,234 (June 2000) to 190,121 (Dec. 2000).

* PETER BLUNDEN'S Herald Sun Saturday sales increased 2150 to 504,150, at a time when HYWOOD said of The Age: 'The decline could be partly attributed to the historical correlation between employment growth and circulation declines when some people, in times of high employment, do not purchase newspapers to look at job classifieds.' Why then boast of more than 4000 jobs on the front-page?

* ALAN HOWE'S Sunday Herald Sun sales rose from 526,200 to 553,000 over 12 months.

* MICHAEL GILL'S Australian Financial Review Weekend Edition buyers rose by 4418 sales; The Sunday Telegraph posted a 10,083 gain to 721,092 over the year; and The Canberra Times' new tabloid Sunday edition registered 824 extra sales (38,938). So much of historical correlations.

MX Wins Over Express

* JULIAN CLARKE'S free daily MX commuter tabloid has won an impressive first month victory over FRED HILMER'S Melbourne Express poor imitation. Both 32-page papers were launched on February 5, but the Herald and Weekly Times Limited's extensively planned and colorful MX appears to have delivered a February knockout over a dreary Spencer Street copycat.

* ANDREW HOLDEN, Production Editor of The Age, was drafted to edit Melbourne Express, under Sydney Morning Herald Associate Publisher MERILYN 'MEL' WHARTON as Publisher. The Monday-Thursday editions are being printed at The Age, with the Friday edition printed at Rural Press at Ballarat. Both print runs were set originally set at 60,000.

* At Media Flash's local outlet, Melbourne Express delivered 400 copies - on extremely low-grade newsprint - to the Eltham Railway Station on Day One. By Day Two, the quantity to Territory Manager MURRAY HUGHES was cut in half to 200. First editions resembled early-day cobbled copies of the Melbourne Sunday Press from the mid-1970's.

Last Time This Happened ...

* DERN LANGLANDS was the last to try a free daily newspaper in Melbourne. The Postscript Daily (also known as the Melbourne Daily Mail) cranked out from new offset presses in Melbourne in the 1970s, with deliveries made by a fleet of mini-skirted women in orange Morris Mini Minors. The paper lasted eight weeks, and lost about $800,000. It helped sent LANGLANDS broke.

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And Only In: Media Flash Confidential

Our Subscriber-Only Confidential Newsletter, E-Mailed Direct To You.

Annual Subscriptions Are Just $50.

Subscribe Online now at: www.mediaflash.candela.com.au

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BREAKING NEWS

Channel 31 Doubles Signal

* FILOMENA PALARIC of Sydney's Channel 31 says the station doubled its signal this month from 10kW to 20kW. Adjustments were made to the transmitter atop the Optus Tower in North Sydney. The channel's viewers measure 240,000 weekly (6 per cent of the Sydney market), according to AC NIELSEN surveys (Nov. 1999). Channel 31 Sydney this week started broadcasting live greyhound races from Wentworth Park. Application has been made to Daily Telegraph Editor-in-Chief COL ALLAN and Sydney Morning Herald Editor-in-Chief ALAN REVELL for the station's program listings to be published daily, similar to The Age and Herald Sun in Melbourne, and the Courier-Mail in Brisbane.

Renaissance TV Begins

* WAYNE ROGERS, CEO of Renaissance TV, confirms that his 'station' begins next week (Monday, March 5) on Melbourne's Channel 31. TONY BARBER (ex-Sale Of The Century) has been hired as one of the public faces of the channel, as have identities such as PAUL CRONIN and ARTHUR HIGGINS. Renaissance TV will broadcast 8am-4pm weekdays, and target the over-55 market. The station is owned by Prime Life Corporation, which runs a large number of retirement villages in Australia. It is understood that early discussions have been held in extending the Renaisaance TV concept to the Channel 31s in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.

* DISCLOSURE: Ash Long Media, publisher of Media Flash, produces The Sydney Report which airs three episodes a week on Sydney's Channel 31; and also produces The Brisbane Report which airs two episodes a week on Brisbane's 'Briz 31'.

Metro News

* THE MELBOURNE TIMES and associated newspapers are back in the hands of long-time chiefs, SHANE HIGGS and GLEN ROHAN. 'The new publishing company behind Emerald Hill Times is Metropolis Media Pty Ltd, solely owned by SHANE HIGGS, one of the founders of Emerald Hill Times in 1978 and its publisher until the late 1980s,' announced this past week's edition.

* HIGGS and ROHAN wasted no time in firing a parting shot at former owners, APN News and Media, where BRIAN STAGMAN had headed the division: 'For the past six and a half years, the paper has been owned by Melbourne Independent Newspapers, a subsidiary of the foreign controlled APN News and Media. We like to think that, being Melbourne people, we have a better understanding of the need for fair accurate reporting of local issues.'

* KATE WILLIAMS and JEWEL TOPSFIELD make up the EHT reporting team. AGOSTINO GIRAMONDO is Ad Manager, assisted by KIRSTY McEWAN and STACEY KATELIS.

* ROHAN has dropped the allegiance with ERIC BEECHER'S Melbourne Weekly Magazine, which last year licensed its content to the Emerald Hill Times. A miniature Melbourne Weekly masthead previously appeared on both the EHT and the now defunct Southern Cross - Bayside Edition.

* METRO NEWS' January 24 issue was just 16 pages. The Melbourne Times was 24 pages. The amalgamated February issues have been around 48 pages with 22 pages real estate advertising ... presumably at the 'right rate'!

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Isaacson, 80, Returns

* PETER ISAACSON has purchased the This Week group from the O'REILLY FAMILY'S APN News & Media. ISAACSON and partner COLIN RITCHIE (former owner of New Hobsons Press) would produce the six monthly titles, as well as expanding into Adelaide and Perth. The titles were part of the PETER ISAACSON PUBLICATIONS group sold to APN in 1993. The new group systemically sold off most titles, or closed other such as the half-century-old Southern Cross newspapers. APN also sold off its printing presses to MARK WAITE'S Enterprise Web (later taken over by the McPHERSON FAMILY of Shepparton News). SHANE HIGGS of Metropolis Media purchased The Melbourne Times, Emerald Hill Times and The City Weekly earlier this month (see item, above).

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Bolt Out Of The Blue

* ANDREW BOLT performed some watershed reporting on Friday with his Herald Sun exclusive that indigenous leader LOWITJA O'DONOGHUE admitted she had had used the words stolen child 'loosely at times'. Then came the media avalanche: STUART RINTOUL of The Australian said 'a weeping MS O'DONOGHUE attacked the way her comments were reported, calling it 'simplistic, sensationalist, misleading and mischievous'.' MICHAEL BACHELARD of The Weekend Australian wrote: 'MS O'DONOGHUE responded to BOLT'S stories yesterday saying she was 'very angry and upset at the selective way in which some of my comments have been reported ... I deeply regret that some subtle distinctions I made in a lengthy and manipulative interview have been taken out of context and distorted by ANDREW BOLT and the MURDOCH press.'

* MICHAEL GORDON, National Editor of The Age, led the broadsheet coverage: 'Let's, for just a moment, take LOWITJA O'DONOGHUE'S so-called 'shock confession' that she was not a member of the 'stolen' generation on face value. So what?'

* ANDREW BOLT had a 20-par column piece in Saturday's Herald Sun: 'Yesterday I learned that telling the truth is a crime against morality in Australia. He said ex-PM MALCOLM FRASER had called him 'irresponsible'; ABC presenter JON FAINE asked whether BOLT should be taken to the Press Council; and Labor's BOB McMULLEN termed him a 'bully'.

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Steve Price Seeks Injunction

* STEVE PRICE, 3AW Program Director, is seeking a Victorian Supreme Court Injunction against STEPHEN MAYNE and the Crikey Internet site. First Court mention was on Friday, February 16. MICHAEL WEST, The Australian's 'Margin Call' columnist used an almost-verbatim description from MAYNE'S dot com site to say Southern Cross Broadcasting lawyers Corrs 'is now injuncting MAYNE'S website Crikey from writing anything about Melbourne shock jock STEVE PRICE.' Earlier this month, Crikey published a malicious piece (now withdrawn from the Internet) detailing PRICE'S private life. PRICE'S amended claim to the Supreme Court of Victoria also includes the submission that MAYNE has allegedly been in contempt of court with his web postings since the Writ was served.

* MARK DAY of The Australian's Media section commented: 'MAYNE is clearly hoping his battle with PRICE will be elevated to a proper debate about defamation and free speech and along the way he'll get enough publicity to drive his website towards break-even, or even profit. It's a canny, if not noble thought, but it is unlikely to happen ... There is a benefit in characters like MAYNE, wild cards pricking the pompous and having a larrikin go at the status quo. The world would be dull without them. But I am afraid, if my experience with defamations and contempts is any guide, MAYNE will discover to his considerable consternation that the law tends to look only at the matters before it, and resists any entreatyto debate wider issues. That could be a very costly mis-judgement.'

* ODD SPOT: The Werribee Banner, edited by SEAN CALLANDER, this month features a full back-page ad. with STEPHEN MAYNE warning a trader not to break the law. That MAYNE is 'Town Planning Liaison and Enforcement Officer' of the Wyndham City Council.

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Price Apologises To Hanson

* STEVE PRICE, 3AW Program Director and Drive host, apologised on air to One Nation leader PAULINE HANSON on Friday. 3AW had taped and broadcast a private conversation that MRS HANSON had with a Party staffer, relayed by a mobile phone also used in a PRICE - HANSON interview just moments earlier. HANSON was unaware that the mobile phone had not been switched off properly.

* PRICE - in the apology given just after the 4pm news - said he was wrong to broadcast the private conversation without checking with HANSON: "If I caused MRS HANSON any embarrassment or damage I'm sorry for that ... It was not done with any malice but with a view to giving an insight into the real MRS HANSON.'

* In the original broadcast, PRICE mocked HANSON: 'She can't even hang up a phone!' PRICE told callers that 3AW had not received any complaints about him broadcasting the conversation. He said he did not know of any complaints to the Australian Broadcasting Authority or other authorities.

* The Telecommunications Act provides penalties for people who distribute the content of telecommunications of other people, without their consent.

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Say It Ain't So, Joe

* WILLIAM VERITY, Editor at the Fairfield City Champion (Fairfax, NSW), went out on a limb for local politician JOE TRIPODI last year. The MP featured in well-publicised sex allegations after a Parliament House party last September. The local Editor supported him in print, saying he'd believe a Court, but not Daily Telegraph or Sun-Herald articles. (Click here for original column.) VERITY tells readers that the Independent Commission Against Corruption reveals Labor MP CHERIE BURTON covered up for friend TRIPODI: "It also revealed beyond any dispute that there was some pretty heavy sexual activity going on between MR TRIPODI and his accuser, MS C. If I was caught doing the same thing in my office, I would face instant dismissal. No questions, no excuses. It seems to me that if MR TRIPODI is serious about rehabilitating himself with his electorate, it's about time he fessed up. Something like: 'What I did was not evil, not illegal, but foolish in the extreme. I am sorry.' And if those three words - 'I am sorry' - are beyond him, then maybe he should seriously consider exiting public life to a place where his private life will remain private.'

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More Losses In Melbourne

* FRED HILMER'S half-year report for John Fairfax Holdings indicates that the 12-month profit result will log in around $170 million. JANE SCHULZE, currently media writer at The Age, repeats that Fairfax coupled its Melbourne industrial problems and its Olympics coverage to indicate a special $25 million loss. Insiders say the weekly letterboxed Melbourne Property Guide project (now claiming a 170,000 circulation) will lose just below $2 million for the year, and The Express daily commuter paper could lose up to $4 million for the year. The f2 division is expected to lose around $40 million, partly offset by the sale of sold.com.au to yahoo.com

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Asia-Pacific Wire

* MARK FORBES, Age Foreign Affairs Correspondent, reported on Friday that 30 police descended on Fiji TV's Close Up Forum threatening to arrest any panelists who took part in a debate on the nation's leadership. One of the panelists was the Police Commissioner ISIKIA SAVUA. RICHARD BROADBENT, Fiji TV Head of Programming attacked the action as 'muzzling tactics by the interim government.' SUPT. ROMANU TIKOTIKOCA said the program required a permit to take place as more than three people would publicly discuss issues of national interest.

Overseas Desk

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Sydney Siders

* DAVID LOVEJOY, Consulting Editor at The Echo (Byron Bay - Mullumbimby), has included an impressive 12-page self-standing Southern Cross newspaper (for the University of the same name) in editions this month.

* JAI DEO PRASAD has moved his Indian Radio Madhurima 24/7 FM station to Liverpool CBD. RONALD SINGH of the Liverpool City Champion (Fairfax) says PRASAD has experience from Fiji and Auckland, and quotes the owner to say: 'I am getting heaps of foot traffic here, and that's good for advertising dollars and people passing on information and news relevant to my audience.' PRANESH NAGESHWAR wrote in an earlier Liverpool Leader (News) article: 'To listen to the radio people must buy a receiver to tune into the stations.'

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Quadrant

In the latest Quadrant magazine:

Mark Latham MP on Globalisation's optimists and pessimists - Greg Melleuish reviews Blainey's History of the World - Alan Gill on Britain under the Jackboot: occupied Jersey 60 years ago - Sean Regan on our post-modern Pilger - Peter Ryan defends the reputation of the judge who sent Ned Kelly to the gallows - the final instalment of Keith Windschuttle's analysis of Aborigine massacres, and the lies of the missionaries - Sophie Masson on Harry Potter - new poems by Les Murray and others.

Quadrant is a magazine that has always been identified with searching out the truth, making sure that one orthodoxy is not mistakenly replaced with another. One of the great roles of Quadrant has been its questioning of political correctness. And when I reflect . on the idleness of so many in academia and, despite some notable and well-known exceptions, on the shameful assault on the reputation of Geoffrey Blainey, you will have in mind the sorts of things that I think are relevant to the role of Quadrant. - John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia.

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Melbourne Memo

* STEVE PERKIN - son of the legendary Age Editor GRAHAM PERKIN - has been sacked as Executive Producer of the Nine Network's Melbourne-based Footy Show hosted by EDDIE McGUIRE and SAM NEWMAN.

* CORRIE PERKIN, currently a 40-something Contributing Editor of The Age and The Sunday Age (and arguably its first female football writer), has returned to the broadsheets after leave, where her columns were filled by WENDY TUOHY. What's the chance of a book - or even an Age extended feature on the fantastic PERKIN family? What would GRAHAM PERKIN be like as Editor of The Age in 2001? What would The Age be like if G.P. were Editor? Probably little chance of such analysis, as new Age Publisher and Editor-in-Chief GREG HYWOOD seeks to put his own stamp on the paper.

* PAUL THOMAS' South-Eastern Real Estate News (Vic.) has just returned a 64-page edition. The weekly 140,000-circulation full-color tabloid (also carried as an insert in the Berwick News and Cranbourne News) is printed in Canberra. Commercial opponent, Dandenong Journal is running its real estate sections at 56 pages weekly ... whilst its fledgling 40-page Frakston-Peninsula Flier includes a 12-page section edited by ALICE ARCHER. FELIX GANDER'S Mornington Mail has been posting 80-page issues.

* TIM FLETCHER, real estate agent and high-profile media user, has cut all advertising from Leader's U Magazine, previously free-standing, but now an insert in Stonnington Leader and Progress Press. He now runs just 2½ pages of ads weekly for his new Doncaster office in Leader's DT News. FLETCHER continues his Melbourne Weekly Magazine schedule. That publication, managed by ANTHONY McDONALD, registered a 120-page issue last week, with a 41-page EGN section. Property agents Jellis Craig took 16¾ pages of ads.

* FELIX GANDER'S Independent News Group is aggressively taking on the advertising leaflet market. 5000 leaflets, printed and distributed (artwork not included), are offered for $125 per 1000 through ALAN WALKER at the Letterbox Promotions subsidiary.

Queensland Quips

* JOHN COWLEY'S Courier-Mail included a good-looking 16-page A4 Private & Independent Schools Guide in Saturday's edition (Feb. 24). Further editions are planned.

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West Wire

* RICHARD COURT'S 'Premier In Print' column in WA Business News looks set for the chop.

* DENNIS COMETTI, Seven footy commentator, and BASIL ZEMPILAS (also Basil's Footy Show) are 'essential to the network beyond the 2001 football season', says Seven's Director of Corporate Development, SIMON FRANCIS, as quoted by WA Business News. 6PR's BRAD HARDIE is joining the Nine sports program, State Of The Game.

* GLENN DARLINGTON is putting together Internet TV news bulletins together from his East Perth house for Sydney-based sites and TheRide.com. DARLINGTON, former State Manager for the ABC, and GM of TVW Entertainment, is achievement broadcast quality with the equivalent of 27 Pentiums. Presenter KEVIN NEWMAN tapes a 10-15 minute segemnt at 8.30am, using a teleprompter, and the post-produced segment is edited, compressed and delivered to go on air by 9.30am.

* COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS is including its brand with Bank West for a new 13-PAID service that allows small businesses to process credit card payments to their firms, without having EFTPOS facilities. www.13PAID.com.au

South Aussie Snips

* DIANA CARROLL, General Manager - SA of Media Monitors, writes in her Mediaweek column of The City Messenger, about the Express-MX commuter papers: 'We should be so lucky here in Adelaide!'

* RAY MARTIN, TV carpet stroller critic, was filming in spots in Adelaide on Friday. PATRICK McDONALD and EMMA KIBBLE in Saturday's 'Tiser say that the filming included the Adelaide Oval, where the special about SIR DONALD BRADMAN had been shot.

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* BYRON BAY FOLLIES: THE BYRON SHIRE ECHO is an independent locally-owned free weekly covering Australia's most sophisticated rural market.

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Press Gang

* WAYNE PHILLIPS, Eltham (Vic.) MP, says he cannot reveal the names of two publishers who wish to take on The Kennett Ascendency. PHILLIPS has collected $85,000 in pledges from supporters to buy the manuscript and publishing rights from STEVE BRACKS' Victorian Government. PHILLIPS told CAROLINE GONZALEZ of the Diamond Valley News that he was still awaiting a reply from Arts Minister LYN KOSKY. PETE STEEDMAN wrote: 'In a letter to the DV News (June 14, 2000) I unkindly suggested that this was a publicity stunt from a lacklustre politician who needed to get his name in the paper and it was all a con. I believe for the sake of the public record and his own credibility, he should give us a progress report on the story that kept his name in the papers way back then.'

* IAN WELSH, Publisher of the monthly national Collectormania tabloid, is introducing a mid-month e-mail newsletter from March, covering functions that missed the current issue, but would be over or stale by the following issue. Clubs and dealers are invited to submit information for this newsletter by e-mail. 'This will effectively double our coverage of news and events,' WELSH tells readers. WELSH started the paper in February 1995, and promotes the publication with a regular segment on 3AK.

* TONY WHITING'S Border Mail is organising sponsorship packages for the Albury Gold Cup on March 23. $600 buys you a 'Winners' Paddock' deal with 10 guest passes, gourmet lunch for 10, and security personnel. Phone ROBYN DICKENS or BRENDA THOMPSON to book.

Cash For Comment Dept.

* DON GUNN, Kyneton Guardian Editor (Elliott Midland Newspapers), leaves readers in no doubt about his feelings about cash for comment with the past week's front-page par: 'Remember all the fury about the so-called 'cash for comment' affair on radio. Many people would ... some hope it has all been forgotten. The editor received a call from a shipping company offering him a return trip to Tasmania as part of their 'Visiting Journalist' program. What was the catch? Well, they expected the editor would write a story about the experience. Where would the story be published? In the editor's paper. We asked had they heard of the 'cash for comment' matter? Yes, they had, but this wasn't cash (or freebies) for comment. This was just writing about the experience and they wouldn't tell you what to write ... and besides, many others other journalists and editors had taken up the offer.'

* DON GUNN concludes: 'We explained there was a basic difference here. When we looked in the mirror every morning, we had nothing to be ashamed of. Others could answer for themselves. End of conversation.'

Cash For Comment Dept. - Extra

* PROFESSOR DAVID FLINT'S Australian Broadcasting Authority brought down its requirements for Current Affairs presenters' disclosure, effective January 15 this year. 'Current affairs program' means a program a substantial purpose of which is to provide interviews, analysis, commentary or discussion, including open-line discussion with listeners, about current social, economic or political issues'. Stations must keep a register of agreements between sponsors and presenters, making the register available at the station premises during business hours for inspection free of charge upon request by any member of the public. 'A licensee must publish the register on any website operated by or on behalf of the licensee and must link the register directly to the home page of that website.'

PR Department

* APA PUBLISHING, Murrumbeena (Vic.), has had success with the third of its A4 36-page Living in Yarra & Darebin promotional booklets. www.apapublishing.com.au

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Air Waves

* NICOLE CHVASTEK, Seven News reporter in Melbourne, is on stress leave, after an argument with News Director ROB OLNEY. CHVASTEK argued with her boss about new fellow reporter LOUISE PENNELL presenting a report about hot weather, standing in a pool, wearing T-shirt and shorts. OLNEY issued a statement on Friday: 'This is a non-issue. No journalist in the Seven newsroom has or would be required to dress for work in inappropriate or uncomfortable clothing.'

* PROFESSOR DAVID FLINT'S Australian Broadcasting Authority has led its February ABA Update issue with the yarn - 'TV Reception In Coastal Areas Distorted By Natural Phenomena'. It says this summer problem is a 'sporadic interference caused by two natural phenomena'. One is a weather pattern that causes layers of air that trap radio signals. The other is sunspots. 'This can cause television signals, particularly uin the low VHF channels, to bounce back to earth between 1000 and 2000 km from where they originated.'

* ARTHUR HIGGINS, currently hosting the 6pm-10pm gig at 3AK (top fella, but how long will he have this shift?), spoke of the residential street address of drive host DOUG AITON in one of their changeovers this month. A unique approach in Australian radio history. AITON seemed a little taken aback ... in fact, he was speechless (and not happy).

* DERRYN HINCH is using a fascinating technique on his new morning 8am-11am radio time-slot on 3AK. He usually refers to his station simply as '1116' (with few mentions of '3AK'), but makes constant reference to his days at 3AW. With the 1116 frequency so close to the old address at 1278, could a listener be confused to think they were listening to the market leader?

Community Broadcasting

* BRETT RAMSEY, Producer of In Pit Lane motor sport program (Channel 31, Melbourne), says the Ten Network plans to restrict his show's access to this year's Shell series. The program's accreditation application has been refused, with access only available on Fridays. 'The move to restrict In Pit Lane and other electronic media raises a number of serious issues regarding freedom of the press, restraint of trade and the public's right to receive independent media reporting and criticism. No one denies Ten needs to protect their substantial investment in the rights to broadcast the events but should that give them the right to restrict other media from reporting important national events, several of which are now substantially funded by taxpayers - I mean it;s hardly as if we're a threat to them.' Telephone call for PROFESSOR ALAN FELS ...

* KEVIN TRASK last week presented the first of three parts about the 10-year history of 3INR-FM. BRUCE SKEGGS has headed the station since its test transmission days on 1987. The station took on 3AW in a legal battle to broadcast AFL Collingwood matches in 1994. NATALIE ROBERTSON of The Heidelberger newspaper says the station currently has a membership of 500 people. She says the station's licence has just been renewed until 2005.

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Your ABC

* MARCO BASS, ABC Melbourne, requires a News Journalist for the Wodonga office. AVJ108086.

* NATHAN ZWAR, former 3AK producer, former 3AW work experience guy, has reportedly been recruited by the ABC Melbourne.

* PETER McEVOY, former Media Watch Executive Producer, was listed as a Producer for last week's Four Corners report presented by LIZ JACKSON.

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Big Names Dept.

* DALE PETERS, Banyule Observer proprietor and City of Banyule Mayor, 25, says he is not seeking a second year to his political post. He will resume his position as Electorate Officer for ANDRÉ HAERMEYER, Victorian State Police Minister. 'I'm not going to stand and I don't know who is interested,' he told GLENN MORLEY of Leader Newspapers. 'My time as Mayor was really great, but I've got a career and I have to go back to work, so I'm not re-contesting.'

* JOHN RIMMER has finished as a Member of the Australian Broadcasting Authority. he is now CEO of the National Office For The Information Economy.

Smaller Names Dept.

* DERRYN HINCH, 3AK morning man, notes in pre-recorded commercials that he is driving a City Saab. HINCH does not say whether he pays for the car or whether it is part of a commercial arrangement. The station has yet to include any commercial arrangements of its broadcasters at its web site, although the Australian Broadcasting Authority standards soon require that such interests be declared on station web sites by all those that publish them. A requirement is that the Stations provide a reference point to the Commercial Registers from the Index page.

* Meanwhile, WAYNE GREGSON, Bendigo Advertiser Editor, is including HINCH as a midweek columnist. MARK TUOHEY, Addy rep, this week celebrates Issue 52 of the midweek Country supplement that is also mailed direct to 4000 farms in central Victoria.

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Movers And Shakers

* BUNTY AVIESON, New Idea Editorial Director, 'who took a six month sabbatical, would not be returning', reports ANNETTE MADJARIAN of B&T Weekly. JENNIFER GILBERT is 'New Editor'.

* SARA SPELLER has joined the advertising sales team of the Nillumbik Mail, Eltham (Vic.).

* JIM MAHER, Seven News NSW State Reporter, becomes adviser to Treasurer MICHAEL EGAN. CHRIS MAHER (no relation) leaves 2UE for Seven.

* TONY PHILLIPS has been appointed as MD of George Patterson Bates, 'Australia's largest communications agency'.

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The Local Report

* KERRI-ANNE KENNERLEY of 2GB has featured in a series of TRIMit ads in News Limited Community Newspapers across Australia. The szchedule has both full- and quarter-pages. The product 'contains an extract from a rare Asian tamarind fruit often referred to as 'the fat fighting fruit'. A one-month supply costs $54.95.

* JIM and WYN HATTWELL, founders of The Waverley Gazette (Vic.), were remembered in the paper's 40th anniversary issue this month. The paper started as The Glen Gazette in 1961, and re-launched by the couple in December the same year. It is now part of the Leader Newspapers group headed by SYLVIA BRADSHAW. Nostalgia features aren't what they used to be: the celebration was just three pages.

* NEIL COLLYER of Fairfax Community Newspapers (Vic.) has introduced a 'Mates and Dates' classified advertising page across 17 of his Melbourne titles. Week One has 105 listings. Advertisers can have up to five lines free. Respondents dial a 1-900 number, and pay 2.14 per minute. Co-respondents probably pay much more!

* GENE SWINSTEAD'S News Limited Community Newspapers have introduced full color availability on every page of the Fairfield Advance and Liverpool Leader (Cumberland Newspapers, NSW).

* NINI LAXAMANA, Blacktown Advocate (News, NSW), has initiated an 'Our School' full-page feature each week: 'A Review Of Local Schools From Then 'Till Centenary of Federation'. The feature is sponsored by the paper and the Blacktown City Council.

Glass House

* TONY PAYKEL'S agency asks 'Don't They Know You're Name Yet?' (The Australian Financial Review, Feb. 20). Until TONY'S people find out the difference between YOUR and YOU'RE ... we'll stick with the agencies that know how to spell.

* CRAIG TREWEEK at Rural Press' Inpress street paper (Vic.) is red-faced. His ANNA KOURNIKOVA e-mail was sent out to stacks of people - including Media Flash. It contained a wicked computer virus. At the Office of the employment Advocate, an employee has been 1 per cent of salary for distributing pornographic e-mails. Meanwhile, commercial opponent ROB FURST'S Beat magazine now carries the strapline: 'Victoria's Biggest CAB Audited Streetpaper'.

* NEIL COLLYER'S Fairfax suburbans' 'house ads' in Melbourne boast they reach 563,000 potential customers in Melbourne's East/South-East. Obviously by being close to the communities they serve 'from Healsville to Portsea'. That being so, best to spell them correctly. Healesville, pah-leese!

* MICHAEL GILL'S Australian Financial Review carried an apology this month to Torson Group Inc for using a musculo-skeletal photograph on a front-page last year. The paper admitted that it did not have permission to use the image.

* AL 'CHAINSAW' DUNLAP - one-time KERRY PACKER cost-cutter - has overstated Sunbeam's accounts, according to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The 104-year-old company filed for bankruptcy this month.

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FIRST MULTI-NATIONAL E-BOOK A South African computer expert and an Australian writer have published what they believe is the world's first multi-national electronic book. The free book, "Life Begins at Eighty ... On the Internet" by veteran Sydney journalist Eric Shackle, is posted on Barry Downs's Kimberley Web site, http://www.bdb.co.za/shackle/ebook.htm linked to other sites in the United States, England, Scotland, Australia and Bangladesh. Articles from the various sites cover a grab-bag of topics: the world's biggest turkey and largest hailstones, computer-generated anagrams, mysterious lights in Texas and Queensland, 15 towns named Rugby, Global English, and how to cultivate a herb said to ease arthritic pains. "Like most of my generation, I used to regard the Internet as a fearsome monster rapidly devouring the world we knew," 81-year-old Shackle says in the introduction. " Then at the age of 79, I bought my first computer, studied David Pogue's hilarious book The i-Mac for Dummies, and began a new life. Captivated by the magic of the World Wide Web, I began writing freelance articles about my discoveries. Some of them have been published by the New York Times, the Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada), the Straits Times (Singapore) and the Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) ... "Read some of my articles [which] I hope will inspire other retirees to join the world's largest library, and share its magical allure."

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Editor's E-Mail

* RICHARD PARNELL e-mails with news of the merger between Robert Walters and Dunhill Management Services. Dunhil was formed in 1990 and has a strong presence in the recruitment of media staff throughout Australia. CLIFF STONEMAN of Dunhill last year formed a communications agency subsidiary called Raging Media Pty Ltd. PHIL KERRY, Dunhill Joint MD, says there will be no reduction in staff numbers.

Stix And Stones

* STEVE STICKNEY, Editor at The Manly Daily, looks at the whoa, woe, wow & wooohh-hhhh-hh

* 'The protesters were quickly broken up'' and all the King's horses and all the King's men couldn't help the protesters who threw woodchips at the PM during a visit to Mandurah, WA . News anchorman IAN ROSS. Channel 9 News.

* 'Unfortunately we were hosting a number of potential sponsors at the time' - Northern Spirit general manager COLIN MITCHELL, embarrassed by exploding flares, racist taunts and vicious brawling at North Sydney Oval as his side tumbles to a 2-1 loss against soccer strugglers Sydney United. Manly Daily.

* 'This had nothing to do with racial stereotypes or fears that if black men went naked in front of white women, white men would feel `out-gunned' - delicately-phrased rejection of allegations of racism levelled at the proprietors of a new whites-only naturist retreat, Jane's Jungle, at Mthunzini in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province. The Times (South Africa).

* 'In my day the word `orgasm' wasn't even in the dictionary, and if anyone accidentally had one, they would have been rushed to hospital' - DAME EDNA EVERAGE decries the intrusion of sex into our daily lives. Vanity Fair magazine (US).

Pasquarelli's Politics

* JOHN PASQUARELLI wrote on February 11: 'The proverbial has hit the fan in WA and watch for a repeat in Qld next Saturday. PAULINE HANSON is back with all guns blazing and will prove that a souffle can rise thrice! The Big Boys have still not realised that ordinary Australians are still gunning for them and with a real vengeance. HANSON'S do or die tactic of putting the sitting member last has just made MR GALLOP Premier of WA and KIM BEAZLEY will owe his Prime Ministership to the Redhead but will never be able to admit that. He will get booted out pronto if he doesn't listen to the concerns of ON and all the other independents and minor groups. Australian politics is set to be turned on its' head in a very dramatic way.'

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Long Shots

By Ash Long, Publisher, Media Flash

* JULIAN CLARKE'S new MX daily paper for The Herald & Weekly Times Ltd has a full-page ad in Ad News telling would-be advertisers to dial-up all the details at www.mxnet.com.au Does it work for you?

* GREG HYWOOD wrote a letter to Age readers this month with a frank retreat from an earlier decision to make Education Age an opt-in publication only. The matter was handled well by the Melbourne broadsheet CEO, and probably wins an unexpected readership bonus for the weekly section. But the headline of the article to readers was 'From The Publisher and Editor-in-Chief' ... it's a title that is probably a little pretentious for 2001. We admit the nomenclature is no different to that used by STEVE HARRIS, and even from Long Shots in his not-so-humble days on the 'locals'. But is this a reader-friendly title for the E-era?

* Is PAULINE HANSON'S party planning a newspaper called One Nation Review?

* ERNIE SIGLEY, 3AW afternoon man, had a phone interview with athlete RAELENE BOYLE about ovarian cancer. Caller HELEN, explaining she had terminal cancer, spoke with SIGLEY who handled the matter sensitively. ERNIE, the eternal optimist, wrapped up the interview, wished her well, and sais he hoped things picked up for her.

* TOM WINTERBOURN, Editor of the Hill Shire Times (News, NSW), has initiated a campaign where readers phone a 1-900 number to 'tell BOB CARR what you think about Windsor Road'. Some 250 callers phoned in the first week. A CD with the caller's messages are being passed on the NSW Premier.

* GLEN ROHAN'S Emerald Hill Times (Vic.) puts it this way: 'Trust that wacky mob at community radio 3CR. They have taken the critical mass of hordes of people riding through the city, mixed it with International Women's Day and come up with Clitoral Mass. God bless 'em.'

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What The Papers Say

* ANNETTE SHARP of yesterday's Sun-Herald (Sydney): 'KERRY PACKER'S helicopter pilot 'rascal' mate and organ donor NICK ROSS, is poised to buy a Sydney waterfront mansion. ROSS, who in a recent ABC interview again emphasised he had received no financial compensation from PACKER for the kidney donation, hqas gone house hunting and recently inspected a property worth $2.5 million.'

* RICHARD ZACHARIAH used his Sunday Telegraph column yesterday to take a swipe at The Age for not including latest AFL footy results in a Melbourne CBD edition: 'If I lived in the bush, I would have forgiven them because of the pressure of early deadlines, but not in a city edition delivered in the heart of a football-mad city. My old editor, the late GRAHAM PERKIN, would turn in his grave: his successors are hopeless.'

* PAUL BARRY publishes 'Sydney's High Fliers' in today's Sydney Morning Herald (Monday, Feb. 26). It is promoted: 'They earn six-figure incomes but are not paying taxes. They go bankrupt but still enjoy assets in the name of a spouse. They are living the high life.'

Going Rates

* $129,815 - $152,525 for the Director of Public Affairs position at the New South Wales Department of Education and Training. Talk to TRISH KELLY, Director of Personnel Programs, (02)9561 8428.

* $155,000 for the Director of Media Relations gig being offered by a Sydney-based financial issues management company. Speak with AMANDA BURKE, Management Recruiters Australia. sydney@mgtrecruiters.com.au

Media Money

* $25,000: former NSW MP FRANCA ARENA has agreed to pay $25,000 to settle a defamation case brought against her by Special Minister of State, JOHN DELLA BOSCA, reports GABRIEL FOWLER of The Manly Daily. 'A verdict and judgement were entered in DELLA BOSCA'S favor in the Supreme Court and the figure agreed on by both parties was inclusive of MR DELLA BOSCA'S legal costs.' MRS ARENA later dropped cross claims against John Fairfax, ABC and Nationwide News

* $1 MILLION: the Showtime cable TV station has cancelled a $1 mil. marketing push with Austar, according to The Fin's LUKE COLLINS. Showtime's Hollywood-based owners, The Premium Movie Partnership, was reported to say it would 'immediately cancel all marketing, promotion and publicity that concerns Austar'.

* $30 MILLION: price of online auction site sold.com (JOHN FAIRFAX), sold to Yahoo.com

Bottom Line

* ISSUE NUMBER 100 - for Juice magazine on March 7. Editorial Director is TOBY CRESSWLL. SAMANTHA CLOSE is current Editor.

* 5 PER CENT pay rises, plus retrospective 2 PER CENT lump sum payments, are on the way for senior exceutives at the ABC.

* 22 PER CENT: Profit rise for REG GRUNDY'S RG Capital Radio. Up to $4 million on $30.3 million revenue for the half-year. Chairman TIM HUGHES says: 'Our business is really 75 per cent local advertising, so we're not as dependent on national sales as other media outlets are.'

* 26 PER CENT of Captive Media outdoor advertsiing company has been bought by APN News & Media ... with options for the whole shootin' match.

The Last Word

* FRED HILMER'S different divisions at John Fairfax Holdings are finally cross-promoting. A quarter-page ad for ICPOTA (The Age Classifieds) appeared this month in the Melbourne Fairfax Community Newspapers ... we guess it's at least a start for a company to use its products to promote its other products.

P.S.

* JULIE UPSON'S Western Times is advertising a 'Melbuy' group advertising buy, where 38 per cent discounts are available, in conjunction with Leader Newspapers. It is a similar name to the 'Multibuy' introduced by NEIL COLLYER'S Fairfax Community Newspapers in 1999.

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Australian Media Job Directory

Employment

* JACKIE FRANK, Editor, Marie Claire Australia, wants an 'energetic, pro-active and tireless go-getter' Features Director to lead a team of four. mclaire@mm.com.au

* 'LOWITJA O'DONOGHUE need not apply'. After the past week, will they be the thoughts of some in regard to the Media Adviser's job (up to $60,726) advertised by the National Native Title Tribunal's Brisbane office. hrjobs@nntt.gov.au

* SIOBHAN GREENWOOD at NWS9 Adelaide is taking applicatioons for Agency and Direct Sales Representatives to join the station, owned by TONY BELL'S Southern Cross Broadcasting.

* DI KAZAKOFF at long-established Croft & Partners advertising agency in Blackburn (Vic.) is recruiting a Typesetter/Mac Operator to prepare color and mono real estate ads. PO Box 580, Blackburn, 3130.

* KATE HARMON at the City of Onkaparinga (SA) wants a Specialist Desktop Publisher/Administrative Support Officer. $38,875 - $41,769. evepol@onkaparinga.sa.gov.au

* BRENDAN MOO, TCN9 Publicity Manager, is advertising for a part-time Publicist 'to work on an exciting new drama series being filmed in Adelaide', April-mid October. publicity@nine.com.au

* KATIE ALLEN, Murdoch Magazines, is hiring Ad Sales Account Managers in Sydney for Better Homes and Gardens. katiea@mm.com.au

* VANESSI VECKI at Fairfax advises of a vacancy for a Real Estate Advertising Sales Representative to market space for the St George and Sutherland Shire Leader (NSW).

* YVETTE SALEM circulates news of an Account Manager vacancy at The Sydney Morning Herald and Sun Herald. An Account Manager - Special Publications is also required, as is an Agency Sales Cadet for the SMH. Rep vacancies are also listed for Real Estate, Entertainment and Special Reports. ysalem@mail.fairfax.com.au

* PHIL OSBORN at EMAP Australia is hiring an Ad Sales Exec for Australasian Dirt Bike, ADB Roost and Outdoor Australia mags. phil.osborn@emap.com.au

* FEDERATION PRESS, Annandale (NSW) is recruiting a Production Editor. info@federationpress.com.au

* $50,000 is offered for an Editor for a 'leading Japanese publication'. Suite 308, 220 Pacific Highway, Crows Nest.

* FELICIA MARIANI is fielding enquiries (until Wedesday - Feb. 28) for a contractor (3-4 people) to implement a marketing plan ($4 million budget) for Melbourne's transport operators. Credentials need to go to BOB ANNELLS by close of business, Wednesday. FMarioani@connexmelbourne.com.au

* KAREN WRIGHT at Rip It Up Publishing (SA) wants a Ad Sales Executive, also to work on Onion magazine. Another exec is wanted for Attitude magazine. karenwright@ripitup.com.au

* SKYE LOVELL at Michael Page Sales & Marketing is recruiting a Sydney-based Public Relations Account Director and Account Manager for 'a market leader in the PR industry'. syd.marketing@michaelpage.com.au

* VIVIENNE SCAVONE is answering questions about the several Policy and Program Officers positions being offered by the Broadcasting and Intellectual Property Division - Teleecommunications Division of the Department of Communications Information Technology and The Arts. Imagine that on your business card! $45,707-$52,504 is offered for the policy advisers, who will work on 'issues facing Government in relation to the development of the national (ABC and SBS), commercial, pay TV and community broadcasting sectors, broadcasting and online content and intellectual property (including the impact of digital technology)'. positions.vacant@dcita.gov.au

* PETER REITH, Federal Minister, wants a Hastings (Vic.) based Electorate Officer for $38,207 - $40,206. The applicant must have 'a courteous and efficient phone manner' ... although it is not stated whether this involves the landline or a Phone Card. PETER HENDY on (02) 6277 7800 is taking applications. Probably better to write rather than phone!

* NICOLA O'HANLON at ACP Custom Integrated Media wants a Deputy Editor for Optus Television Magazine. nohanlon@acp.com.au

* GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE requires a Sydney based Communications Directorate journalist. 242 Cleveland St, Redfern.

* THE MEDICAL OBSERVER wants a general news reporter. St Leonards (NSW). editor@medobs.com.au

* KAREN ROGERS, Rural Press Sales, st Leonards (NSW), is hiring an Advertising Sales Support and Assistant Sales Support staff for the Agricultural Publishing Division. 'Business school graduates would find this the ideal opportunity to get a 'foot in the door' of an exciting industry with a company that offers many career opportunities.' gm.rpsag@ruralpress.com

* DAVID UREN, 6/85 Queen Street, Melbourne, is calling for Cvs from Junior Business Journalist candidates for Management Dialogue.

* DEB HENDERSON of Greenpeace Australia Pacific advertises for a Media Officer. $44,000 pa, plus Super. Deb.Henderson@au.greenpeace.org

* TRAFFIC REPORTER: North Sydney based. jennyd@legioninteractive.com.au

* BHP wants a Senior Public Affairs Officer (Print and Web Publishing) for its External Affairs - communications and Corporate Marketing in Melbourne. 'A Bachelor degree in journalism, public affirs or communications' is essential. Melbourne.Hrs.Recruitment@bhp.com.au

* YVETTE CHEGWIDDEN at Next Media (Redfern, NSW) is accepting applications for the Deputy Editor's position at Soap World. yvettec@next.com.au

* JOHN POLITIS at Streamline Press, Collingwood, wants a Journalist for a new publication.

* THE MIRROR, Foster (Gippsland, Vic.), is hiring an all-rounder journalist ('Football skills an advantage' - playing or reporting?) www.promacom.com.au/themirror

* SUE BOURKE at Hamilton James & Bruce requires a Communications Manager for its client, a service-oriented organisation. mmarsh@hjb.com.au

* JEREMY LIGHT at Yaffa Publishing seeks a Junior Reporter. jeremylight@yaffa.com.au

* ATHENA KARAMOSHOS of State Library Victoria wants a part-time Editor, for print production (brochures, advertisements, promotional material and web text). Three-year term, $37,456 - $51,503.

* ALAN ASHMAN and STEWART WHITE at the Australian Communications Authority are links for the executive positions (up to $78,051 and $64,471 respectively) being advertised for the Radio Frequency Planning Group.

Work Wanted

* Advertise your 'Work Wanted' notice in Media Flash. We'll print your 'Work Wanted' ad for free. Simply E-Mail it to us by 5pm Friday at mediaflash@yahoo.com

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