It’s a depressing time for those who care about the quality of journalism in this country.

In the ongoing “omnishambles” of the Lehrmann defamation case against Network Ten, we have seen most media organisations engaged in a kind of truculent mediocrity.

Confusingly, most of the journalists thought they were doing their best work. Even now they deny or fail to see their own shortcomings.

Some were well motivated. Lisa Wilkinson of Channel Ten’s The Project aimed to give voice to the voiceless – to defend the victims of sexual assault.

Others, such as the team at Channel Seven’s Spotlight, acknowledged no other imperative than that their interview with accused rapist Bruce Lehrmann should be, in words attributed to Spotlight producer Steve Jackson, “the most amazing thing on Australian TV ever”.

In pursuit of that aim the station was prepared to pay for the living costs of a credibly accused rapist and cover its conduct in entering the resulting story for a Walkley award. And that is before you get to the disputed allegations involving cocaine and “massages”.

Not under examination by Justice Michael Lee was the conduct of The Australian, but in the wider Lehrmann imbroglio, we have seen its columnist Janet Albrechtsen become a player, rather than a mere reporter. She is accused of “infecting” the head of an inquiry with bias.

And now, while accepting Lee’s finding that on the balance of probabilities Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins, she is seriously suggesting that this young woman, the victim of a traumatising crime, should be referred to the National Anti-Corruption Commission over the money she received from the commonwealth by way of compensation.

The headline on Albrechtsen’s piece says that Lee had “put all parties in their place”. He didn’t put her in her place – but I suspect only because her conduct was not relevant to the matters he had to decide.

Ten won the case because Lee found that........

© The Guardian