In this year’s final On Background, Boris forgives an old target, scuttlebutt of succession planning in Guardian Towers, a clampdown on Christmas misbehaviour, Seven swings the axe and Global Roaming’s expansion continues.
Sky News boss’ rose-tinted eulogy
Sky News boss Paul Whittaker has a lot to be grateful to Graham Richardson for. But maybe not for the reasons you’d think.
In fact, the late Richo played a role in Whittaker landing his first Walkley Award in 1995, only a short time into his career of more than 30 years in journalism. Boris (Whittaker) is so thankful that he was one of the few to deliver a eulogy for the former Labor powerbroker on Tuesday, saying he “will forever be remembered as a giant of Australian politics”.
Whittaker made his name in Brisbane breaking the story about Operation Wallah, a secret investigation into the then-Labor Senator and Cabinet Minister Richardson’s alleged corruption. The scoops and multi-year investigation revealed an AFP investigation into corruption allegations against Richo and a major bust-up between the Federal Police and the Criminal Justice Commission (CJC) over the handling of the operation, according to media reports from three decades ago.
Richo had allegedly accepted $4000 worth of prostitution services from a Gold Coast businessman in exchange for potentially using his position to help sell missile technology to the Chinese government from defence contractor McDonnell Douglas.
The two first crossed paths in the mid-1990s, with Whittaker a young reporter on The Courier Mail and Richardson a recently retired Parliamentarian draped in scandal.
“As a plucky journalist, those interactions were sometimes adversarial, but always respectful with Richo’s disarming trademark wit and charm always evident,” Whittaker told the St James’ Church attendees
“Adversarial” is certainly one way to put it, as several attendees hastened to point out to On Background.
So serious were the yarns by Whittaker that an inquiry was held into how he got the documents and who leaked them to him. Boris sent Russell Hanson QC, who led the inquiry, barking mad by refusing to answer 400 questions relating to his sources during a state CJC inquiry into the Operation Wallah leaks, which directly linked Richardson to corruption allegations.
And in December 1995, two weeks after winning his first Walkley for his reporting on the case, the AFP raided Whittaker’s home because of his refusal to give up his sources.
Whittaker believed he was destined for jail time, which he narrowly escaped, despite the recommendations of Hanson for his refusal to comply. Good on you, Boris!
He was praised for sticking by his sources, a reporter’s most cardinal rule by one of media law and journalism’s finest wordsmiths at the time, Richard Ackland.
“Not to draw too fine an analogy, the journalist and the source are in it together, rather like the prostitute and the client,” Ackland wrote in the Australian Press Council News.
As the story goes, Boris was given quite a send-off by his Courier Mail colleagues, including a survival kit inclusive of condoms, lipstick and stockings as he prepared to spend time behind bars. Oh, the ’90s.
Still on the story years later, Whittaker’s 1999 freedom of information requests and a years-long campaign allowed him to finally uncover the previously suppressed details of how Richardson “enjoyed sexual favours from prostitutes paid for by a Gold Coast businessman at least twice”, in 2001.
“Brief backs Richo sex-romp claim” the story splashed.
It was only a few years later that Richo began his time as a columnist for The Australian while Boris was editor. Richo joined Sky News in 2011, Boris joined him later in 2018 and the rest is history! We asked Boris when and how the pair patched things up … but like in 1995, he declined to answer the question. Make that 401?
Successor anointed at Guardian Australia?
You had to squint to see it, but white smoke has been seen at Guardian Australia in the last week as news of a major promotion sent staff into overdrive, with suggestions editor Lenore Taylor’s successor may have been selected.
Taylor is one with the Guardian brand in Australia, its gun hire at its inception in 2013, and has edited it since 2016. She’s the longest serving editor in Australian media, so naturally, there’s been speculation for some time about when she’ll have had enough.
While she told this masthead this year she’s still happy and there’s “more work to do here”, the question has always been about who’s fit to fill Taylor’s shoes.
Now it seems we may have an answer. One of Taylor’s most loyal lieutenants, Bridie Jabour, has been given a two-year secondment as “multimedia transformation editor” at the Guardian’s British HQ, with the move announced to staff by London-based editor-in-chief Katharine Viner herself last week. Portentous!
The job is in The Guardian’s Berger Team, a project aimed at innovation in response to audience habits and AI, pushing the masthead’s output to be more visual, digital and experimental. This includes more staff being hired to focus on social media, graphics and video content. The team is run out of the UK, but also has involvement from its US and Australian teams.
The working theory among the Guardianistas is that Jabour’s hand-picked secondment by Viner is an opportunity for her to get a close-up view, potentially preparing Jabour for a grand return to edit the Aussie outpost. It could also serve as a canny way to promote Jabour on return with minimum fuss and potentially not bending any noses out of joint.
Jabour is head of multimedia down under but has held almost every job since 2013, including reporting roles, news desk editor, opinion editor and her current gig. On Background contacted everyone involved and a Guardian spokesperson said the outlet was delighted by Jabour’s secondment and the greater collaboration between the three international newsrooms that will follow.
A very Sky Christmas
Speaking of Whittaker, he was on hand this week to warn his own plucky young staffers not to stray too far off the straight and narrow (or replicate any Richo-like behaviour) as the broadcaster joined News Corp’s Christmas celebrations.
After the escapades of Chris Smith gave Sky unwanted headlines in 2022 and prompted a cancellation of the Christmas party the following year, Boris was sure to make clear what his expectations were in an email sent out on Monday.
“Please remember the event remains a workplace setting, and everyone is required to conduct themselves in a way that supports a positive, safe and respectful atmosphere.
“Behaviour that falls short of this, including any form of harassment, unwelcome behaviour or comments about others that could reasonably cause offence or embarrassment will not be tolerated.” As far as we’ve heard, everyone behaved themselves.
Roaming globally
Fresh off its Waleed Aly-snub (detailed last week), one of the ABC’s top podcasts, Global Roaming, has appointed Latika Bourke as its new, third host, while former foreign correspondent Kylie Morris has joined as fourth host.
Bourke is a writer-at-large for Kerry Stokes′ The Nightly, while Morris is already at Radio National. The pair will join Hamish Macdonald and Geraldine Doogue in 2026 as they begin pumping out an episode every weekday.
It will probably be a rotating cast – reminiscent of the popular British podcast The News Agents.
Hopefully, there is enough news to service such an intense schedule.
Seven Network’s early Christmas present
After Nine’s 50 job cuts dominated headlines last month, it is now seemingly Seven’s turn to hand their staff an early Christmas present in the form of 40 employees being made redundant.
A spokesperson put the cuts down to the ongoing advertising market conditions, a line becoming far too familiar for media companies.
“We sincerely thank those impacted for the contribution they’ve made to Seven,” the spokesperson said.
Thanks for reading On Background in the second half of 2025. The column will return in 2026.
Calum Jaspan is a media writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based in Melbourne. Reach him securely on Signal @calumjaspan.10Connect via Twitter or email.
