The late News Ltd cartoonist Bill Leak(left) who died suddenly at the age of 61 was farewelled in a memorial service today at Sydney's Town Hall.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and wife Lucy were there along with former PM John Howard. Media personalities who attended included broadcasters Richard Fidler and Wendy Harmer, dozens of Leak's former News' colleagues and comedian Barry Humphries who was a long time pal of Leaks.
Humphries drew a round of applause when he claimed the only memorial service he'd like to attendwas one for the Human Right's Commission which had been locked in a battle over some of Leak's more controversial cartoons. President of the Commission Gillian Triggs (pictured above) has held her ground while under a sustained attack by the right side of politics.
Whispers found Leak's cartoons a tad on the old fashioned side but we enjoyed his many Archibald portraits which we have included below. Leak never won the main prize but he did win the Packer's Prize once.
All part of life's rich tapestry in Sydney's never dull social life.
arriving at the memorial: Barry Humphries & Lizzie Spender * Malcolm & Lucy Turnbull
Bill Leak Archibald portraits : Sir Les Patterson * Paul LePetit * Bob Hawke * Graham Richardson * Dame Edna Everage
Finally the seriousness of the Bondi Bender is sinking in as it dawns upon the mainstream media just how serious the street brawl between two Australian corporate giants is and why it's a little more than a disagreement between pals. Malcolm Farr in the Telegraph was the first to point out the obvious : James Packer has just been awarded the opportunity to make a fortune with his proposed casino complex at Barangaroo with relaxed licensing laws. This opportunity was given him by former NSW premier Barry O'Farrell who dramatically resigned a few weeks ago after mis-leading the ICAC. O'Farrell had also just legislated tough new laws with stiff penalties for street brawling after several deaths and restricted alcohol sales in Kings Cross while also announcing that Packer's Barangaroo casino would be able to operate 24 hours 7 days a week. Yesterday the police have gone from "not investigating" to now calling for witnesses to the dust-up. Trials are under way in the UK with numerous News Ltd employees accused of hacking mobile phones with serious questions about 'fitness' to run broadcasting networks. David Gyngell heads the Nine Network that ironically, was once owned by James Packer. How could it have come to this : 2 men who have been life long friends- as were their fathers Kerry Packer and Bruce Gyngell- now find themselves on the front pages for all the wrong reasons? Waverley Police are now calling for witnesses to come forward, If the 2 fighters were to be charged - as law experts now say could happen-that also brings into question the payment for photos of the affair.
How could we not mention our favourite media mogul Rupert Murdoch who tweeted just yesterday his distress that New Yorkers had the temerity to elect a Democrat mayor and that the city was now being run by "leftie incompetents" !. Fortunately Rupert still made it to the Oscars with a new flame on his arm-Juliet de Baubigny who was named by Vanity Fair as 2013's as 'Silicon Valley's Most Stylish Person'!.One Big Question : Murdoch's News Ltd newspapers ripped into Cate Blanchett when she made some global warming comments last year. Will they still interview her now she has picked up the movie world's top gong ?
Oh dear- just as it was all going so swimmingly well for the UK Daily Mail & MailOnline newspapers as our stories below indicate.
Now the world's trashiest most widely read tabloid has had to apologise for 'lifting' an supposed interview with James Bond star Sir Roger Moore. The interview and excerts from it swept the world but alas- it was a phony and after Sir Roger complained, editors back pedaled like crazy
You can read the tale here in The New Statesmen.
But there are Aussie culprits in this saga : the media agency Australian Associated Press ( owned by Fairfax Media & News Ltd) picked up the fake story and syndicated it around the world as an original article.
One thing you can be sure of : tales picked up by the Mail from the social shuttle ( as they regularly are) are accurate and genuine.
When the esteemed Aussie publication Woman's Day burst into print with the claim from a "good friend" that billionaire James Packer "was dating" supermodel Miranda Kerr, Aussie social writers were out of their starting blocks claiming 'exclusive exclusive ! and presenting the tale as their own discovery.
By the day's end at least one notable scribe (who has made a habit of attacking the Shuttle) was
expressing reservations, oddly only hours after we poured scorn on the tale. We know who James is actually (occasionally) dating but she isn't a 'name'. How do we know?. Directly from a Packer family source who confirmed the fact but asked us not to name the lady.
And just as one of New York's top society snappers confirmed 3 weeks ago that Miranda is also occasionallydating a handsome male model and because that model was a friend of the snapper's, he requested we not name him. Despite that, a New York newspaper has now confirmed that Miranda has been out on the town with the young chap after spending Christmas with Orlando Bloom and family.
Other bloopers of the season : the bizarre tale re-printed faithfully around the world by those who should know better : the claim begun by a satirical website and picked up by a dodgy Chinese 'news' outlet that a former North Korean politician had been "fed to the dogs".
Even more alarming is this tosh published by tabloids and noticeably many News Ltd outlets : a claim that British police "know who had kidnapped Maddie McCann" and that Portuguese police were preventing them from arresting the perps.
This is dangerous stuff and the fact that the sad case of the disappearance of Madelaine McCann should be used to flog newspapers is a disgrace.
The UK police merely identified some new "suspects" in the form of 3 burglars who were operating on the night the girl was taken. They join a growing list of suspects that number in the dozens. And the blatant racist attack upon the Portuguese police helps no-one : under EU laws British police can request the extradition of any suspect they believe may have committed a crime.
In the end, the pleadings of superstar Russell Crowe couldn't save Australia's first female Prime Minister Julia Gillard from the combined attacks from Kevin Rudd and the chorus line of media hacks at News Ltd, Fairfax and the ABC.
Here is Julia Gillard's elegant resignation speech. But following is her real speech- the one she wanted to say channeled by comedienne Jackie Loeb.
With a report that Russian oligarch David Traktovenko (left)has slipped into town for Summer, the Shuttle hears a former KGB spy has his eyes set on Australia.
Alexander Lebedev worth a reputed $3B owns Russia's largest bank, a third of Aeroflot, and the UK Independent and Evening Standard newspapers. The Shuttle reported last year that Lebedev and his son Evygeny who runs the families UK interests had cast their the attention on Australia's media.
Evygeny &Alexander Lebedev
That was put on hold when the Huffington Post re-launched it's new UK & USA on-line newspapers which have become a roaring success, and mooted plans for a Southern hemisphere edition based in Australia. The Aussie version didn't eventuate.
Apparently Lebedev has re-newed his interest and a representative has been in town for 2 weeks based at the Park Hyatt Hotel, holding meetings with a number of people including several well known media figures and meeting with local banks.
Could this be a lifeline for workers of the ailing Fairfax empire that appears to be stumbling badly ?. Last week it's reported Fairfax laid off 29 employees in Melbourne including 18 photographers. News Ltd is also planning large redundancies.
Lebedev subsidies his UK newspaper businesses which don't make a profit but he enjoys the power that comes with being a media mogul while son Evgeny is a fixture on the London social circuit.
On-line newspapers will be the future of publishing. The Global Mail with it's unique reading format is going from strength to strength and attracting quality writers while crikey has just re-launched it's new website. A recent competitor Independent Australia is quickly gaining a reputation for breaking stories. It's been way ahead of both News & Fairfax in the HSU scandal and been publishing exclusive stories, even trumping both with a scoop about the imminent arrest of the former HSU boss Michael Williamson . The 2 major Australian publishers have lagged in coming to grips with digital and they could now have a well heeled competitor with solid media links on the other side of the world.
A nice group photograph from today's Sunday Telegraph of recipients at News Ltd's in-house Oscars-the News Awards- given to journalists and photographers from publications around the country.
Who was the smiling gent almost obscured from view in this snap taken by top social photographer Richard Dobson?. Yes it is he-the world's most powerful media mogul Rupert Murdoch who slipped quietly into town last week to attend the gongs at a lavish dinner at Sydney's State Theatre on Friday.
The old Darlinghust Gaol built in 1840 must have been a foreboding thought for those sentenced to be housed there by thenearby Darlinghurst Criminal Court where the more sensational murder cases are still conducted today.
Being banged up in the tiny and claustrophobic cells for life (for those who avoided the gallows) would have been a mind destroying experience.
These days the Gaol hosts a variety of schools in the arts and catering fields and it's a lively place of learning. Last week the National Art School housed there held a fundraiser attended by a number of leading artists including this year's Archibald winner Tim Storrier and, as Rupert Murdoch's top selling Daily Telegraph put it : "revered artistJohn Olsen".
Accompanying the story is the above photo with the caption "Ros Packer and Tim Storrier." For the record : this is artist Tim Storrier ( the artist above is John Olsen) at the right :
..and at left is Ros Packer (at the Bulgari party 2 weeks ago). Both feature often in the Shuttle. (they should read us more often as some leading UK newspapers do to source their stories)
Rumours are flying thick and fast that a major staff crunch is coming at News Ltd in September and the fear and loathing at the Holt Street HQ is palpable. Perhaps they may re-think the notion of out-sourcing their sub-editing.
Melissa Hoyer is one of the most respected, well liked and experienced commentators on Australian television covering fashion and celebrity.
Now she has joined the news.com.au team, and will contribute a weekly column and celebrity news stories. as their show business 'editor at large' which signals another step forward as News Ltd gears up to eventually put all their top selling titles behind pay walls.
The Herald Sun in Melbourne has been experimenting with pay per view for several months and although it's had an 18% drop in print sales it still flogs a healthy 343,103 copies daily and it's website and that of Sydney's Daily Telegraph have picked up visitors steadily over the past 5 years.
Hoyer worked originally as a fashion and society scribe for News' top selling Sunday Telegraph before heading over to pay tv's Foxtel to host her own showtitled Fashion (launched by the great man himself-Rupert Murdoch). She currently comments on fashion on Ch7's Morning Show and today filed her first news.com.au story: an exclusive interview with Justin Bieber.
Read Melissa's interview with Bieber here and check out her new websitehere.
We sat this one out as we watched the world's media breathlessly report the Twitter words of Wendi Deng supposedly responding to hubby Rupert Murdoch's odd witterings on the weird site Twitter (admittedly to which we belong) that brings you second by second the thoughts of hundreds of millions of folks in the first sign that the world is plunging into an era of information overload.
The Shuttle had already unmasked the phony Wendi and it really wasn't too difficult. If a staff of two part-timers and one dyslexic cat can do it, why can;t some of the world's most experienced media?.
Yesterday we hinted that the Deng Twitterer was a fake despite newspapers around the world claiming that News Ltd had .confirmed' she was for real. Read more in today's SMH.
It almost brings a tear to your eye. I'm sure they deserved it. The Sunday Telegraph has won the Newspaper Of The Year Award.
The award was presented to Sunday Tele editor Neil Breen by Rupert Murdoch in the annual News Ltd Awards.
The great media baron is reported as saying "he had enormous pride in the great examples of the quality journalism rewarded by the judges."
Irrelevant / Irreverent Facts : News Ltd & The Daily Telegraph are both owned by..err..Rupert Murdoch. It's the thought that counts.
Sadly, no posthumous award for the News of The World.
19th January 2011James Murdoch Chairman News International speaking about the phone hacking scandal at the News of The World newspaper :
"You talk about a reputation crisis – actually the business is doing
really well. It shows what we were able to do is really put this problem
in a box."
There he is in our snap-John Hartigan the boss of Rupert Murdoch's News Ltd empire in Australia.
He'll be sleeping rough tonight at Luna Park (motto : Just For Fun) along with over 200 other CEOs to raise awareness and cash for Sydney's homeless which is reaching epidemic proportions.
In a city where one house (Altona) just went on the market for an estimated sale price of $60 million, there are families living rough in caravans, cars, on church steps while hundreds of young people sleep rough at train stations and so on.
The Mathew Talbot men's hostel in Woolloomooloo, just a stones throw from the Finger Wharf with some of the countries most expensive restaurants and the penthouses of Russell Crowe and broadcaster JohnLaws, accommodates around 35000 people a year and serves 600 meals a day.
So far the combined CEOs have raised over $1,230,000$3,326,064 but aim to quadruple that overnight. Hartigan, who reckons he can "sleep on barbed wire " is the biggest fundraiser to date.
You can go to the website of the CEO Sleep out 'Rise To The Challenge' and donate in the name of your favourite CEO (if you have one/) or register to sleep-out with them
tSS agrees and nothing demonstrates this more than today's Galaxy poll conducted for the Murdoch Sunday Telegraph about the new premier of NSW, American born Kristina Keneally.
Keneally's rise to the top has given her a 73% approval rating with the punters, as opposed to state Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell-now into his 6th year in the job and floundering at 42% approval. Significantly-70% of Coalition voters approve of Keneally. In other words, they, as tSS has been saying for yonks-haven't warmed to their own party leader.
Keneally and Deputy Premier Carmel Tebbutt tSS outdid all other news outlets-television, radio and print by predicting Keneally would be Premier by November-she was on the 3rd December. At the time of the prediction one well know political pundit said at a party we were 'batshit crazy" .
Following Keneally's election in a party-room spill both News Ltd and the normally sane FairfaxNewspapers went on a crazy rampage-accusing her of being a "puppet premier" to Labor powerbrokers Eddie O'Beid and Joe Tripodi .
Both newspaper outlets ignored the fact that the Federal Coalition dumped their best chance at scoring a hit against PM Kevin Rudd by sacking the only man who-given time-would give him a run for his money, the extremely clever ex-merchant banker Malcolm Turnbull. Turnbull was dumped via the influence of right-wing Coalition power brokers like Nick Minchin who seem determined to lead their party to oblivion with the 'Mad Monk' Tony Abbott (right) in charge.
That's power brokers on all sides of politics guys-just like it's always been and will be ever after.
Even the pompous Peter Harvey of Channel Nine news tonight pontificated that a certain percentage of voters perceive Keneally as a "puppet" !. Yes Peter-you have been one of the dingbats pushing the line since she was elected but get a grip-the majority of the state's voters aren't buying that line. Political journalists like Harvey have completely lost their way once they repeat tosh from tabloids.
Both newspapers ran bizarre 'people's petitions' demanding an immediate election seemingly oblivious to the fact that 4 year fixed terms are now mandatory and could only be changed by a referendum in 18 months time at the next state election and the end of the err.. current 4 year term.
The tone of these 'people's petitions' changed slightly after about a month when both newspapers changed tack and began demanding Keneally and Labor visit Governor Marie Bashir and offer themselves up for election (still an impossibilty under current law) .
The Fairfax Sydney Morning Herald's law expert RichardAkland, who describes NSW politics as "some of the nastiest on the planet" finally felt obliged to point this out to his own colleagues.
If an 80 year old social snapper, a 6 a day G&T drinking blogger and a useless sub-editor cat at tSS can get these things right, as opposed to some of the oldest and most established news outlets on the planet, what hope is there for the printed media that cannot perceive that the great unwashed public just isn't interested anymore in their attempted machinations of public opinion ?.
In 2007 Kevin Rudd made a conscious decision to ignore Murdoch's hysterical political pundits who were out to destroy his election campaign-furious that he wasn't paying the appropriate homage to them. Murdoch's pride and joy The Australian leapt into the fray with gusto reporting in shock and horror a lunch Rudd attended with lobbyists Brian Burke and business partner Julian Grill . Burke was a former WA Labor premier who had served a jail term.
The Australian thought it was on a winner until ex-Labor PM Paul Keating-himself the victim of a vicious News Ltd smear campaign stepped in to describe Burke ( right )and Grill as the "Arthur Daley and Terry of West Australia politics", delightfully trivialising the whole affair. The only victim was then Murdoch favoured PM John Howard who had huffed and puffed with outrage at Rudd, but then had to accept the resignation of one of his own ministers who had also lunched with the pair.
Again they came up with the startling story that Rudd, as a diplomat , had visited a New York strip club with New York Post editor and Murdoch favourite Col Allan ( in the USSR it used to be called a honey trap). It backfired badly-the church attending Christian Rudd was just seen as a bit more human-his approval ratings dramatically rose.
Then came the great 'utegate" scandal when Malcolm Turnbull-supplied with dodged up emails by a News Ltd hack, accused Rudd of attempting to assist a car dealer friend. The resulting damage winded Turnbull but The Australian political writers leading the charge were mortally wounded-their credibility shot.
President Barack Obama deliberately sidelined Fox News in his campaign. He was vindicated. Only Britain is still enthralled by the tabloids as both PMGordon Brown and Conservative Leader David Cameron fling themselves at the feet of tabloid writers and in particular, grovel for the affection of the Murdoch clan.
Unfortunately one important matter is being lost with the plunging credibility of tabloids and newspapers. Real investigations. To their credit it was Murdoch's Australian journalists who perservered and uncovered the appalling fibs and illegal activities of the Australian Federal Police who had incarcerated the innocent Indian born Dr Haneef after the Glasgow Airport bombings in 2007.
Next Wednesday sees the first Australian singing appearance of Tallulah Rendall-the daughter of 'Christian TheLion' author John Rendall and London publicist and star of 'Ladette to Lady'Liz Brewer.
The Vanguard,a small venue in the very alternative suburb of Newtown says the night is already a sellout with a 100 booked for dinner. Expect Rendell to pull out all the stops for Tallulah's gala appearance with guests like Lady Sonia McMahon and her pal Glen Marie Frost along with Lady Atwill. Presumably John, flush with cash will deliver Tallulah in the vintage Roller he has just had shipped from London.
For those who have already forgotten the Christian the Lion saga-here is the youtube clip that made Rendall and partner Anthony 'Ace' Bourke famous. (It's a vicious rumour a camera assistant was standing behind the pair waving a hunk of raw meat.) Followed by a piece on Ivana Trump with Tallulah's mum LizBrewer.
Former Labor Prime Minister Paul Keating has weighed into the controversy swirling around the claim his daughter Katherine allegedly abused a News Ltd photography at a Halloween party to promote a vodka brand last week at the State Theatre at which British singer Paloma Faith was a guest.
The Sunday Telegraph claimed Ms Keating had threatened the snapper after she was ambushed at the event. Those who know Katherine Keating says it's not within her nature. We tend to agree.
The Shuttle had it's own photographer there and as usual, he never takes a snap without asking the subject first. It's a hard and fast rule we stick by and always have. Our cricket mad Canon wielder let Katherine "go through to the keeper" as he puts it, knowing she isn't too fond of the media.
Paul Keating has called for new privacy laws which the Federal government is already considering. Something along the lines like those in France which has the strictest media laws in Europe.
The Sunday Telegraph has form here. They published the ridiculous photographs of a supposedly nude Pauline Hanson just before the Queensland state election this year . The snaps turned out to be from a Russian web dating site. A mutually agreeable settlement was reached out of court when Hanson threatened to sue.
In England the Royal correspondent on one of their newspapers was jailed a few years ago after it was revealed the paper had commissioned a private eye to tap the mobile phone's of Princes Harry & William.
The Murdoch UK newspaper The Sun dubbed Keating the "Lizard of Oz" when he was snapped putting a protective arm around HRH The Queen when she was on an official tour. Another proclaimed "Hands Off Our Queen !" (apparently forgetting she is actually the Queen of Australia as well).
Paloma Faith (above)
It's a continuing battle that has seen the Murdoch press in attack mode before and after the election of Labor's KevinRudd in late 2007. Each attempt seems to backfire badly including the hopelessly botched fake email scam recently that involved a senior public servant and an alleged favour to a car\dealer on Rudd's behalf. Federal police are now investigating the email but News Ltd tabloids were badly burned by the experience.
They are taking the line that as the party Katherine Keating was at, was a product promotion it should be a free for all. Perhaps. But the high morale ground being taken by Murdoch newspaper bosses rings hollow and the usual "freedom of expression" etc excuses are trotted out as new younger journalists produce pieces that often reflect personal opinion.
Fact checking is becoming largely redundant as newspapers feel the bite of the "new media".News Ltd publications are as guilty of most in their relentless promotion of parties where their journalists get favours or gifts. The animosity felt amongst photographers who also attend but don't receive the same gifts is common knowledge.
Basically there are no rules or conventions despite the infamous "cash for comments" scandal a few years ago where all publications pompously quoted their regulations about protecting their worker's integrity where they must declare gifts received when publishing an article. It was all forgotten within months.
It looks like Keating has struck the first blow in a war that may see the tabloids regret their intrusive behaviour.
The late News Ltd cartoonist Bill Leak (left) who died suddenly at the age of 61 was farewelled in a memorial service today at Sydney's Town Hall. 
Humphries drew a round of applause when he claimed the only memorial service he'd like to attend was one for the Human Right's Commission which had been locked in a battle over some of Leak's more controversial cartoons. President of the Commission Gillian Triggs (pictured above) has held her ground while under a sustained attack by the right side of politics.
