The ABC’s resident monitor of the Australian media sector, Paul Barry, is almost out the door, and his departure leaves open the tantalising prospect of the public broadcaster shaking up the 15 minutes of TV dreaded by journalists and editors across the country.
Media Watch, which remains one of the ABC’s highest-rating shows, has been dishing out the pain to the sector for decades and Barry’s exit, revealed by this masthead, potentially opens the door for the public broadcaster to hand over the reins to someone outside the so-called media bubble.
Past and present Media Watch hosts (left to right): Richard Ackland, Paul Barry, Stuart Littlemore, Monica AttardCredit: Monique Westermann
Given the controversial nature of the role, the profile of the next host is already a topic of debate among Media Watch’s current and former hosts.
Stuart Littlemore, a barrister and the program’s founding host in 1989, said the next host of Media Watch should not be a journalist, or at least someone who does not seek to continue as a journalist after their stint is over.
“The person who’s going to do it really must be somebody who knows a great deal about journalism,........