Media Mafia Hits New Low

Many will remember Channel Nine under Kerry Packer.

Packer was a hard-nosed businessman who operated in a protected environment, but at least you knew where he stood. He backed Australia, and Nine News was something people could actually trust.

But today?

How low can Channel Nine go?

This week's 60 Minutes wasn't journalism. It was a calculated, brazen act of jury tampering that has torched any hope Ben Roberts-Smith has of a fair trial.

Once someone is charged, the rules are simple: report the bare facts. No spin. No narrative-building. No opinions, no embellishment. No poisoning the well.

Nine smashed straight through that line.

They didn't just report. They prosecuted. They editorialised. They pushed a loaded, anti–Roberts-Smith narrative about how a jury should view the case before a jury is even sworn in.

And then came the real deception.

They spliced real SAS combat footage together with staged, Hollywood-style reenactments, actors, fake blood, dramatic music, the whole cheap theatre package.

They blurred the line deliberately.

Viewers weren't told what was real and what was fabricated. These manufactured scenes were not properly distinguished from real-life SAS operations. The segment was broadcast without a single clear acknowledgement of what was staged and what was real. It was a hit piece.

No proper disclaimers. No honest separation. Just a manipulative blend designed to leave a lasting emotional imprint. That's called psychological conditioning.

To air such prejudicial material after a person has been arrested and is awaiting trial is an absolute disgrace. Those images are now burned into the minds of potential jurors. That damage is done. It cannot be undone.

This is an abuse of a broadcasting licence on a scale that should trigger immediate consequences, but won't. Because the bureaucrats at ACMA are spineless, unless a journalist questions climate change or COVID dogmas, and everyone knows it.

This is one of the most dishonest, cynical attempts to contaminate a trial you'll ever see. And it goes to the core of justice.

You don't have to like the man. You don't have to support him. You may hate the Australian military and want to see Ben Roberts-Smith jailed with half the SAS. But if you believe in the rule of law, then you should be outraged.

Because if the media can do this to him, they can do it to anyone.

Never forget Martin Niemöller’s poem: “First they came for ... and I did not speak out.”

So, where is the outrage from politicians?

Labor, silent.
The Teals, silent.
Liberals, silent.
Greens, silent.

Not one of them has the backbone to call it out.

Not content with prejudicing Ben Roberts-Smith's trial with fabricated scenes, Nine then followed up by giving a platform to the Taliban in prime time, just over a week out from Anzac Day, to besmirch Australian servicemen.

What type of organisation gives a prime-time platform to the Taliban to smear Australian soldiers just days out from Anzac Day?

This isn't journalism. It's a disgrace. A betrayal of every Australian who has ever worn the uniform. A betrayal of our nation.

Kerry Packer wouldn't recognise this network. He'd be disgusted by how far it's fallen. He would be rolling in his grave at the depths of disgrace to which Nine is now prepared to stoop as it pursues its anti-Australian agenda.

And Nine isn't alone. The other networks are not much better.

Seven "News" delivered its own masterclass in manipulation, this time targeting Jackson Warne in a cheap, nasty hit designed to ridicule him while running cover for Pfizer and the government.

A grieving son raises questions, legitimate questions backed by science and evidence and the opinions of some of the world's leading cardiologists surrounding his father's death.

And instead of treating that with basic decency, Seven lines him up and knocks him down to make him look like a fool.

Seven arrogantly declared that “doctors are adamant” Shane Warne's death had nothing to do with the COVID vaccine, presenting this as an unquestionable, settled fact. Case closed. No debate. No nuance.

That's not reporting. That's propaganda. Fake news. Disinformation.

Because there are doctors, highly credentialed cardiologists such as Aseem Malhotra, who have raised concerns about COVID vaccine-related cardiac risks. But Seven didn't explore that. They buried it. They constructed a narrative and forced the facts to fit it.

Then came the predictable red herring: Seven smugly stated that Warne did not die from myocarditis or pericarditis. As if that single point magically ends the discussion, intentionally ignoring broader cardiovascular risk from the vaccines entirely.

To top it off, Seven presented as an expert, not a cardiologist, but an epidemiologist, who claimed there is “no evidence,” conveniently ignoring dissenting medical opinions.

Then it turns out that the expert Seven fed up the nation had long links to the World Health Organization and was a spruiker of the COVID injections. But viewers weren't informed about those details.

The precise causes of Shane Warne's death will remain a matter of conjecture, with different medical opinions. But for Seven to falsely present the issue as completely closed, without acknowledging debate and different opinions, is deeply misleading.

This segment wasn't just biased. It was a smear. It targeted a grieving son and attempted to humiliate him for expressing concerns. To paint him as a misguided conspiracy theorist. Ultimately, their hit job was designed to silence him.

The children of our sporting legends deserve far better than this kind of treatment.

It's ugly. It's cowardly. And it's exactly why public trust in the media is collapsing.

Then we had Anthony Albanese effectively admitting that his regime has been bribing the legacy media, pouring $20 million of taxpayer dollars into the government's latest advertising to tell us how great Albanese is, and to give sage advice like “take the roof racks off your car,” money dished out to the legacy media to prop up their declining advertising revenue.

And suddenly, surprise, surprise, the same networks are pulling their punches.

Instead of scrutinising his Malaysia trip for the embarrassing fuel-wasting farce and publicity stunt that it was, after having pocketed the cash, Seven rolled out a soft-focus puff piece, parroting lines about a crucial mission and fuel security most likely written by the PM's office.

No challenge. No edge. No independence. Because when the money flows, the criticism dries up. That's the reality.

The legacy media isn't holding power to account. It's feeding off it. That's how totalitarian states operate, not democracies.

And Australians can see it. That's why trust isn't just falling in the legacy media, it's in freefall.

““The press was to serve the governed, not the governors.”
– Hugo Black