2GB touts ‘Ben Roberts-Smith day’ as Fordham interviews alleged war criminal | Weekly Beast

“It’s Ben Roberts-Smith day!” 2GB host Ben Fordham declared on Thursday, followed by forward sizzles for stories about gender-neutral language being used about breastfeeding and Bogong moths.

And so it was. About 250,000 people had watched the two-and-a-half-hour long interview between the shock jock and the alleged war criminal by Friday morning.

That was plenty of time to hear all about Roberts-Smith the soldier, the father, the lover, the “proud warrior” (Fordham’s words). Time to hear about the man who’s here to do his duty, to talk about his missions, his heroics, his meeting with the Queen, his naivety when the war crime allegations began, and his denials of wrongdoing. There was even enough time to learn that he had to put Y-fronts over his eyes to block the light while he was in prison.

And to admire the Epic 1 Two logo across his chest, his old call-sign now part of his new activewear range “for the underdog who refuses to stay down” (slightly unfortunate wording for the war-inspired range).

Roberts-Smith has strongly denied all charges.

The Nine newspapers, which published a series of award-winning investigations into Roberts-Smith, did a handy factcheck on the chat.

And if too much BRS was barely enough, News Corp ran exclusive interviews with Roberts-Smith and his girlfriend, Sarah Matulin.

Fordham asked him why he was doing the interview now, with “a really serious trial coming up” (effectively answering his own question).

It’s about putting “facts on the table”, Roberts-Smith said.

The interview ended with Roberts-Smith saying he doesn’t know how they’ll find “a jury that hasn’t already to some degree formed an opinion”.

“Can there be a fair trial? I can’t answer that question,” he said.

Mug’s game

The continuing riots across Europe began with young people protesting about the state of schools, and has escalated to encompass cost-of-living concerns. Others who “destroy, ransack and loot”, in French president Emmanuel Macron’s words, have joined in and fuelled the violence. There, the far right have linked it – without evidence – to migration.

Nevertheless, Pauline Hanson and a host of One Nation-adjacent folk insist mass migration is behind the European riots and Australia could be next.

Not to be outdone in the hunt for a one-dimensional explanation, the Daily Telegraph found a different culprit – the Minns government’s planned ban on single-use coffee cups.

“Now might not be the best time to adopt an idea that began in riot-torn France,” the Tele’s editorial said, adding that instead of reusable coffee cups the French would now “be better off carrying fire extinguishers and medical kits”.

France brought in a range of bans on single-use items more than a decade ago, although not all of the bans are yet in force. And it did cause some consternation among restaurant owners about who would foot the bill. But widespread, violent riots? You’re milking it, sugar.

Eye of the beholder

Like the Rorschach test, people found their own meanings in the social media feed of Brendan Nugent, the man who allegedly attacked independent MP Helen Haines.

The Tarrawingee man’s posts on X (formerly known as Twitter) sparked a frenzy of political point-scoring as Haines lay in a critical condition in hospital.

Some saw an old, seemingly sarcastic post about “Dame Pauline Hanson” as proof he was a One Nation acolyte.

One News Australia, formerly the One Nation Supporters Network, called him a “radical, green activist”.

News24 (formerly Sky News) revealed a Greens “link” – that leader David Shoebridge had unfollowed him in the wake of the attack.

The Australian Jewish Association labelled him an “anti-Israel extremist”.

So far, no one has taken particular umbrage at his handle – @notLaoTzu – to furiously accuse him of hating the Daoist Chinese philosopher, but it’s probably just a matter of time.

Also missing in the maddened finger-pointing was the logical end point – if he allegedly carried out the attack due to his views on climate change and Gaza, why on earth did he go after Haines, a progressive independent?

Many so-called “mainstream” media outlets took care to look at the nuance of Nugent’s history and to mention that, at this point, we don’t actually know of any motive behind the alleged attack.

Getting upfront

Southern Cross Media – which merged with Seven West earlier this year and includes Seven, TripleM, the West Australian and more – unveiled its lineup for next year at its Seven Upfront 2027 event on Thursday night under the Big Top in Luna Park.

Hopefully the razzle dazzle wasn’t undermined too much by the ABC’s report on Wednesday about sexism and bullying allegations.

Reporter Paddy Manning got hold of the secret 2024 review of Seven West Media’s “diabolical” company culture and the story came out just in time for the big party.

Keeping it in-house

Anthony Albanese backflipped on the idea of a royal commission into antisemitism after heavy pressure from the victims of the Bondi attack, Jewish community groups, the Coalition and his own caucus.

This week’s 22nd annual News awards also credited “11 straight front pages” in The Australian for the move, which won it the title of state/national campaign of the year. The broadsheet also won brand of the year.

The Daily Telegraph took out the best coverage of a major event award for its Bondi terror attack reporting at the in-house awards.

Diving in

Now here’s a journalist who deserves an award. ABC reporter Will Murray saved a man from drowning in flood waters on Thursday.

The man was trapped in his sinking car at Morayfield when Murray made the call to swim out to him, and he and another man were able to pull him out and to safety.

“All three of us gave each other a big hug and were just so relieved,” Murray said.

“It was very scary, but happy everyone is safe and relieved it is OK.”

BBC’s ‘big move’

You have to wonder if it will change the tone when the BBC World Service moves some of its operations from overnight in London to daytime in Sydney.

The broadcaster has been forced to make a number of cuts due to its dire financial situation.

The shift for the radio bulletins, the Newsroom program and the Global Newscast comes as part of the Beeb’s “Follow the Sun” strategy. The “big move” is about “building a multi-platform operation in Sydney to fulfil our output commitments when London is asleep”, according to an internal briefing.

“This means the current UK night shift for both teams would end [while] media operations roles would remain in London.”

Twenty-six jobs will be lost in London and 19 created in Sydney.

The BBC already has a bureau in Sydney to cover its websites in Australia’s daytime hours.