All,
It's not football-related I know, but should help you explain why Sydney-based Rugby League Journo Rebecca Wilson has been getting away with her tripe against our code for so long, she is sleping with the CEO of News Limited.

I'm sure the mods will move this to another section, but I want to highlight it first.

http://www.theage.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/pillow-talk-has-a-place-but-not-in-newspapers-20100430-tzev.html

Pillow talk has a place, but not in newspapers
GREG BAUM
May 1, 2010

IN A column in the Herald Sun this week, Sydney sports journalist Rebecca Wilson damned The Age for its coverage of the Melbourne Storm salary cap humiliation. Ordinarily, no one here would make mention of it; least of any newspaper department should the sports section whinge about a bit of argy-bargy between rival publications.

But early in her piece, Ms Wilson discloses that she is the partner of John Hartigan, chief executive of News Ltd, owner of the Herald Sun, owner of Melbourne Storm, part-owner of the National Rugby League, part-owner also of Fox Sports, the NRL's broadcaster. You might think that any self-respecting editor would have recognised the impossible conflict and spiked the piece then and there. You might also think that the editor of the Herald Sun had no say in it.

Ms Wilson, having primped up the pillows in the Hartigan home, complains because Age reporters Andrew Rule and Tom Reilly found and interviewed Brian Waldron, the elusive former chief executive of Melbourne Storm, repeatedly branded by Hartigan as the ''architect in chief'' of the salary cap rort. ''Waldron should not have been given the oxygen to say a word by anyone in the media,'' fulminated Ms Wilson.

In 2008, Hartigan won a Walkley award for journalistic leadership because of his advocacy of good journalism and the public's right to know. In the Melbourne storm, Waldron's was the one, crucial voice that had not previously been heard. The Age neither endorsed nor indicted Waldron. It reported his views, setting them against those of Hartigan and NRL chief executive David Gallop.

It was good journalism; it honoured the public's right to know. It can only be concluded that Ms Wilson was aggrieved because Waldron's much-dwelled upon account appeared in the The Age, not News Ltd's papers. Ms Wilson understands better than most how much News dislikes to be second with the news.

Besides, when it comes to providing oxygen to the famous and infamous alike, News Ltd has its own hyperbaric chamber. It makes the Herald Sun a formidable rival - ventilating all viewpoints is the foundation of journalism - but it also means it ought not to moralise about who The Age speaks to. Yesterday, for instance, the Herald Sun oxygenated Roberta Williams. Whatever wrong Waldron committed, no one died in the process.

Waldron's most serious and startling allegation is that salary cap cheating is endemic in rugby league. Ms Wilson demands he present his evidence to separate inquiries by the NRL, the police and News Ltd. The NRL can be expected to be thorough. The sanctions it imposed on Storm show that it means business, and the scandal has become too big for it to try to sweep anything under the carpet now. Gallop impresses with his zeal.

But as of yesterday, no complaint had been made to police to prompt an investigation. And News Ltd already has made up its mind, to judge from the words of the partner of the chief executive.

''[Waldron] might well drag a few others with him on his path of shame, but the fact remains that this disgraced administrator is the so-called 'chief rat' [a form of words agreed over breakfast, perhaps?] and he will be brought to account for his actions as a result of current investigations,'' she writes.

But it is improbable that Waldron is the only culpable figure at Melbourne Storm, improbable that he is the only ''chief rat'' in rugby league. With each passing day, it becomes clearer that there is much more still to come. It begs the question posed between the lines of Ms Wilson's column: why is News Ltd so desperate to scapegoat Waldron and leave it at that?

The answer, I'm afraid, is apparent. However much Storm is diminished by this wretched business, so is News Ltd. However much rugby league is diminished, so is News.

Ms Wilson says Fairfax media has ''gone feral'' to uncover links between Storm and the ''highest echelons'' of News Ltd. Not really: the links could not be any more plainly established than they are. News owns Storm, which is why at every fresh turn in this story there appears on television a man from the very uppermost echelon of News who Ms Wilson presumably recognises even when he is wearing something more business-like than pyjamas.

What Ms Wilson's column highlights, what the Melbourne Storm story highlights, is what uncomfortable bedfellows media companies and sporting organisations make, and how hopelessly compromised each or both sometimes become under their shared sheets. It highlights the certainty that when the hand that feeds belongs to the same beast as the mouth that bites, how can anyone feel comfortable?

Ms Wilson's partner illustrates this: in that extraordinary media conference to announce Storm's punishment in Sydney last week, and in other appearances since, it was never clear who he was speaking for: News, or the NRL, or Storm? It still isn't. But it is clear who Ms Wilson is speaking for. News knows this: for some time, it has been manoeuvring to extract itself from its shareholding in the NRL. It was also said to be looking to sell out of Melbourne Storm, until the salary cap scandal trashed Storm's worth and obliged News to make a commitment to its future: anything else would have looked like the abandonment of a stricken rugby league club by the code's chief promoter and financier.

Nothing will change. Nothing can. For better or worse, media companies fund big-time sport now, lavishly. It makes a lot of people rich, and a lot of people squirm, and sometimes they are the same people.

This week, it led to the extraordinary pass in which a sporting organisation found itself embroiled in a massive scandal, and the partner of the boss of its media patron assailed a rival media company for its coverage, as if she was somehow independent, and we ended upon the sharp end. Oh well, we're big enough to take it. In the meantime, we look forward to more of Ms Wilson's pillow talk next week. Not.

As I said on an earlier thread, this Storm cap rorting story really IS football-related, because these are the same media people who have been trash talking football for a generation. This is why we cannot get football on free-to-air TV, this is why we get a crap PAYTV deal with Murdoch, this is why huge swathes of the Australian population think "soccer" is a game for sheilas, wogs and pooftas.

Did anyone see the news about the riot at an NRL game this weekend? This is from the Fairfax media:

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/nrl-clash-marred-by-brawling-arrests-20100501-tzz1.html

The Herald Sun match report, of course, does not even mention it:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/parramatta-eels-beat-canterbury-bulldogs-26-10-in-nrl-round-seven-match/story-e6frfgbo-1225860818014

Imagine if that were an A-league game!

Scum, the lot of them.


Edited by GazGoldCoast: 1/5/2010 09:13:47 PM

You're right Gaz, imagine if this happened at a football match....

You'd think the CEO of a huge company could find someone to screw who doesn't look like a man.

Seven people arrested, 15 ejected, with "more arrests outside the stadium" - you think that's nothing?

[-(

I just agreed with you mate...:-k

Ah, OK. I thought you were sarcastically highlighting the sore thumb... Sorry.

Agreeing with me. It's never happened before, no wonder I was shocked! ;)

Fkin ck skn mthr fkn, cross country wrestlers, thats what there game is cross fkn country wrsetling

Hey, I was shocked myself...:lol:

Karma is the sweetest thing ever.

every time i read anything written by rebecca wilson, it makes me want to head but either my computer screen or the paper

Maybe she has talents which we are all missing?

I love it.:cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool:

Given that Murdoch/Fox also control (through the TV deal) SANZAR it's no wonder that Waldron was given the bum's rush at the Melbourne RU franchise.

These people really are corrupt - it's no surprise, honestly. When they talk like they are bed fellows with the sport, it's no surprise they often are, and this one literally.

She, like Channel Seven with the NSL coverage, goes to such lengths to denigrate our game - it takes alot of effort and such effort is fueled because they see an advantage gained from within their quarters, from where they fester. It's all brownie points, gold badges from those that pat their back, after people like her have rubbed theirs, aswell as spitting sideways at our game.

Media whores, as in, tarts for the NRL, or AFL, certainly. But 'in bed' with them aswell, well, just shows how committed to the cause they are!

These people are 25 hour NRL, or AFL, people and they're supposed to be 'Sports' journalists. Why aren't they just called 'NRL' or 'AFL' 'propagandists' which they so clearly are - as that's all they love, because that's all they know!




Lol, let's please NOT go there, she makes us sick enough as it is - we've long been sick of her!

Infact really, I don't even know who she is - It's more an 'Eastern States' thing I guess. I 'vaguely remember' her from that old show, 'The Fat,' and know from somewhere that she was the sister of another sports reporter, Jeff Wilson, but that's it. The only time I ever hear OF her, is from 'football people' like on here and I rarely hear stuff FROM her, or from where she lurks, generally.

Ignorance is bliss I guess.

BTW Maybe our (And even SBS') 'outrage' when she 'says stuff' is partially why she does it - because it gives her 'more press' and maybe even 'more views/readers,' where otherwise she wouldn't. So by responding/actually reading her crap, we are fuelling the monster. Don't feed the monster. Pay no attention to it and the monster may disappear, atleast for those of us who chose this philosophy, world view. The Monster only exists because of the attention we give it.

Edited by GloryPerth: 1/5/2010 10:45:20 PM

That's the first thing i thought when i read it, but really if you think about it, it's probably just Bill Clinton syndrome: When a powerful, yet very busy man wants to get some on the side he opens the door to his office and summons the first woman to walk by..

But i'd much rather Monica Lewinski and an impeachment than fornicating with that idiot.

I'll second that !!!!
Rebecca Wilson looks like she shaves with a cheese grater ...

Good work MDM, this is definately football related!

The Offsiders took her to task this morning about her lack of credibility.

Undercover player? :-"

Great article from Greg Baum. He's definitely treading the moral and intellectual highground in their ongoing battle.

I always wondered how Rebecca had a job there. And a job that simply toes the News LTD line. She doesn't do any reporting, she's just given a free reign to comment on anything and everything.

We all suspected it, now it's been proven.

Baum does a good job. Word is that ABC's Offsiders gaver her a public and open grilling about this on TV this morning, good on them if true.

Think u can watch the segment here:
http://www.abc.net.au/sport/offsiders/content/2010/s2888061.htm
I'll be interested to watch it but cant until later tonight.

Good catch, j_pav. Worth a watch!

Ms Wilson boasts that she's not a reporter anymore, after 30 years in the business, she gets paid for opinion and that's what she's doing. Obviously, the fact that she sleeps with the News Ltd CEO has nothing to do with it! Then she completely refuses to acknowledge any suggestion of conflict of interest, without realising that nobody actually cares what she's saying about the Storm issues because she's clearly conflicted.

There's a segment before that with four guests on the panel, three of which slam News and the Storm. Then Ms Wilson says this is the biggest sports story since Ben Johnson, and things are clearly worse than News Ltd pretended, but it's still somehow all the fault of the "chief rat".

http://www.abc.net.au/sport/offsiders/content/2010/s2888050.htm

Let's be honest - the Chief Rat is Rupert Murdoch.

Her, News Ltd, the Daily Telegraph agenda and the NRL administration got ripped a new one this morning

Now we're getting somewhere. This is the time to bring down News Limited and its bias against our code, step on it, they've been exposed, now let's finish them off.

I just had a look at the blogs over at The Roar, thinking they would be all over this, but it's strange that nobody seems to be talking about it. Seems the NRL folks are either swallowing the News Ltd version hook, line and sinker, or burying their heads in the sand.

Mind you, I did get a laugh out of this:


Haha! FUBAR, much??!!!

Hah that offsiders clip is hilarious, watching the articulate and well balanced journo from The Age talking to the rough retarted redneck Rebecca Wilson from News Limited, they really epitomise their newspapers. I just wish the presenters went for the throat a little more, RW got off pretty lightly I thought.

Ms Wilson is so tough, anyone shagging her would have to scrape the barnacles off before commencing proceedings.

I just hope FFT readers realise that this cozy NRL media monopoly is just one small example of how Murdoch's agenda has gone unchallenged across a wide range or major issues - including the Iraq War, Australia's support of Israel, and our kow-towing to US empire - over the past decade and more.

It's the same dynamics at work here.

Gideon Haigh is the guys name I think...a very good journalist and a bit of a cricket nut I believe. I think he might actually be a Pom.