Obscure Box

Too often these days you call an organisation looking to speak to someone for a story only to be told you’ll be sent a media release. Sometimes the protesting works and you get to speak to a human being, sometimes it doesn’t and you are left with a statement that claims to be the words [...]

The ABC’s Media Watch television show is always keen to highlight the blunders of the media, so nice to be able to return the compliment. Last night’s episode on ABC1 brought the ABC audience up-to-speed with the rest in its coverage of the Kyle Sandilands saga – the shock jock who’s sparked outrage by a [...]

I will begin with a confession. My early years in journalism included working for one weekly newspaper where as a poorly-paid and overworked junior hack I would also have to file the odd piece for the advertising department. These advertorials usually began with a phone call to whoever was paying for the advertorial, where I [...]

The poor soul following the G20 summit in London for the ABC got a bit confused over what’s English… and what’s not. On radio in Trouble at the G20 meeting in London, PM’s presenter Mark Colvin asked reporter Lyndal Curtis about a meal cooked up by a celebrity chef and served to the G20 leaders. [...]

Nice to see Tom Cruise actually sitting on a sofa this time as he chats with US talk show host Oprah Winfrey. But it is not Cruise’s antics that are a cause for concern. It’s Oprah. She’s inventing words as she chats with the actor. The interview was recorded in May 2008 at Cruise’s home [...]