History Series / Mediawatch

* DocumentaryOfLies: Tabloid TV segments covered by ''Media Watch'', especially the beat ups, amount to this:
** One of the most infamous examples was the "Barcelona Tonight" incident, which revealed that ''Today Tonight'' reporter David "Sluggo" Richardson had faked his pursuit of disgraced Australian businessman Christopher Skase. Richardson had presented footage purporting to be a vehicular pursuit of Skase through the Spanish island of Mallorca, with dirty cops setting up roadblocks to aid Skase's escape. In reality, the footage was shot in Barcelona (with Barcelona landmarks and car plates clearly visible) and the "roadblocks" were set up to direct traffic flow.
** ''A Current Affair'' nabbed an exclusive when a Creator/NineNetwork helicopter happened to rescue stranded U.S. backpacker Robert Bogucki. The raw footage obtained by ''Media Watch'' found that not only did ''ACA'' edit their encounter with Bogucki out of sequence for dramatic effect, but also indicated that the Nine crew (which bragged in front of Bogucki how this would help them beat Seven in the ratings) did almost nothing to help Bogucki seek immediate medical attention even though he has been in the desert for 43 days and was dangerously undernourished.
** Not even the ABC is innocent. ''Media Watch'' critiqued a ''Catalyst'' documentary on heart disease which suggested -- despite overwhelming evidence -- that it is not caused by cholesterol and that statins are a racket to drive up drug sales. Not only did ''Catalyst'' parrot quacks who had way more screen time than mainstream health specialists, but one of those specialists claimed that ''Catalyst'' cut down his two-hour interview to a four-minute soundbite. The ABC admitted that they had ''Catalyst'' include said mainstream specialists because ''even the ABC'' saw how one-sided the documentary was.

** Another episode, aired 13/4/15, had four bizarre stories - "Man volunteers for world first head transplant operation", "'Best sex ever'. Emma McCabe plans to marry a tree named Tim", "Doctors discover man's mystery headaches are caused by a dozen maggots... which saved his life by eating infected tissue after a botched operation on his skull in Vietnam" and "Mosque proposal for Hay: ...Mr. [[SdrawkcabName Yad Sloof Lirpa]] said negotiations were also underway for a small-scale abattoir on Sidonia Road" - and asked viewers to spot which one was an AprilFoolsDay hoax. The first three were eliminated based on their dates of publication even before Paul Barry pointed out the Backwards Name. Notably, Paul gave no guarantee the other three stories were actually true"

** Not even the ABC is innocent. ''Media Watch'' critiqued a ''Catalyst'' documentary on heart disease which suggested -- despite overwhelming evidence -- that it is not caused by cholesterol and that statins are a racket to drive up drug sales. Not only did ''Catalyst'' parrot quacks who had way more screen time than mainstream health specialists, but one of those specialists claimed that ''Catalyst'' cut down his two-hour interview to a four-minute soundbite. The ABC acknowledged that they had ''Catalyst'' include said mainstream specialists because ''even the ABC'' saw how one-sided the documentary was.

** Not even the ABC is innocent. ''Media Watch'' critiqued a ''Catalyst'' documentary on heart disease which suggested -- despite overwhelming evidence -- that it is not caused by cholesterol and that statins are a racket to drive up drug sales. Not only were ''Catalyst'''s "experts" certified quacks who had way more screen time than mainstream health specialists, but one of those specialists claimed that ''Catalyst'' cut down his two-hour interview to a four-minute soundbite. The ABC acknowledged that they had ''Catalyst'' include said mainstream specialists because ''even the ABC'' saw how one-sided the documentary was.

** In 1999, ''A Current Affair'' nabbed an exclusive when a Creator/NineNetwork helicopter happened to rescue stranded U.S. backpacker Robert Bogucki. The raw footage obtained by ''Media Watch'' found that not only did ''ACA'' edit their encounter with Bogucki out of sequence for dramatic effect, but also indicated that the Nine crew (which bragged in front of Bogucki how this would help them beat Seven in the ratings) did almost nothing to help Bogucki seek immediate medical attention even though he has been in the desert for 43 days and was dangerously undernourished.
** Not even the ABC is innocent. ''Media Watch'' critically reviewed a ''Catalyst'' documentary on heart disease which suggested -- despite overwhelming evidence -- that it is not caused by cholesterol and that statins are a racket to drive up drug sales. Not only were ''Catalyst'''s "experts" certified quacks who had way more screen time than mainstream health specialists, but one of those specialists claimed that ''Catalyst'' cut down his two-hour interview to a four-minute soundbite. The ABC acknowledged that they had ''Catalyst'' include said mainstream specialists because ''even the ABC'' saw how one-sided the documentary was.

** Another episode, aired 13/4/15, had four bizarre stories and asked viewers to spot which one was an AprilFoolsDay hoax. The correct answer was arguably the least bizarre, only immediately recognisable as a joke due to featuring a comment from someone called, "[[SdrawkcabName Yad Sloof Lirpa]]". Paul Barry noted than he gave no guarantee that the other three stories were any more legitimate.

* AnimalPlanet

** Not even the ABC is innocent. ''Media Watch'' critically reviewed a ''Catalyst'' documentary on heart disease which suggested -- despite overwhelming evidence -- that it is not caused by cholesterol and that statins are a racket to drive up drug sales. Not only were ''Catalyst'''s "experts" certified quacks who had way more screen time than the mainstream health specialists, but one of those specialists claimed that ''Catalyst'' cut the majority of his two-hour interview in favor of a four-minute soundbite. The ABC acknowledged that they had ''Catalyst'' include said mainstream health specialists because ''even the ABC'' saw how one-sided the documentary was.

** In 1999, ''A Current Affair'' nabbed an exclusive when a Creator/NineNetwork helicopter happened to rescue stranded U.S. backpacker Robert Bogucki. The raw footage obtained by ''Media Watch'' found that not only did ''ACA'' edit their encounter with Bogucki out of sequence for dramatic effect, but also indicated that the Nine crew (which bragged in front of Bogucki how this would help them beat Seven in the ratings) did almost nothing to help Bogucki seek immediate medical attention even though he has been in the wilderness for 43 days and was dangerously undernourished.

** In 1999, ''A Current Affair'' nabbed an exclusive when a Creator/NineNetwork helicopter happened to rescue stranded U.S. backpacker Robert Bogucki. The raw footage obtained by ''Media Watch'' found that not only did ''ACA'' heavily condense their encounter with Bogucki on national TV, but also indicated that the Nine crew (which bragged in front of Bogucki how this would help them beat Seven in the ratings) did almost nothing to help Bogucki seek immediate medical attention even though he has been in the wilderness for 43 days and was dangerously undernourished.

** In 1999, ''A Current Affair'' nabbed an exclusive when a Creator/NineNetwork helicopter happened to rescue stranded U.S. backpacker Robert Bogucki. The raw footage obtained by ''Media Watch'' found that not only did ''ACA'' heavily condense their encounter with Bogucki on national TV, but also indicated that the Nine crew (which bragged in front of Bogucki how they beat out Seven) did almost nothing to help Bogucki seek immediate medical attention even though he has been in the wilderness for 43 days and was dangerously undernourished.

** In 1999, ''A Current Affair'' nabbed an exclusive when a Creator/NineNetwork helicopter happened to rescue stranded U.S. backpacker Robert Bogucki. The raw footage obtained by ''Media Watch'' found that not only did ''ACA'' heavily condense their encounter with Bogucki on national TV, but also indicated that the Nine crew did almost nothing to help Bogucki seek medical attention even though he has been in the wilderness for 43 days and was dangerously undernourished. ''ACA'' also removed any footage of the ''West Australian'' photographer they stranded in the desert in Bogucki's place.

** One of the most infamous examples was the "Barcelona Tonight" incident, which revealed that ''Today Tonight'' reporter David "Sluggo" Richardson had faked his pursuit of disgraced Australian businessman Christopher Skase. Richardson had presented footage purporting to be a vehicular pursuit of Skase through the Spanish island of Mallorca, with corrupt cops setting up roadblocks to aid Skase's escape. In reality, the footage was shot in Barcelona (with Barcelona landmarks and car plates clearly visible) and the "roadblocks" were set up by Barcelona police to direct traffic flow.

** One of the most infamous examples was the "Barcelona Tonight" incident, when the show revealed that ''Today Tonight'' reporter David "Sluggo" Richardson had faked his pursuit of disgraced Australian businessman Christopher Skase. Richardson had presented footage purporting to be a vehicular pursuit of Skase through the Spanish island of Mallorca, with corrupt cops setting up roadblocks to aid Skase's escape. In reality, the footage was shot in Barcelona (with Barcelona landmarks and car plates clearly visible) and the "roadblocks" were set up by Barcelona police to direct traffic flow.

** One of the most infamous examples was the "Barcelona Tonight" incident, when the show revealed that ''Today Tonight'' reporter David "Sluggo" Richardson had faked his pursuit of disgraced Australian businessman Christopher Skase. Richardson had presented footage purporting to be a vehicular pursuit of Skase through the Spanish island of Mallorca, with corrupt cops setting up roadblocks to aid Skase's escape. In reality, the footage was shot in Barcelona (with Barcelona landmarks and license plates clearly visible) and the "roadblocks" were set up by Barcelona police to direct traffic flow.

* ProductPlacement: The show increasingly highlights how newspapers, becoming increasingly desperate for advertising revenue, are printing what are basically commercials that look like editorial content.

* ArchEnemy: Radio personality Alan Jones[[note]]picture BillOReilly with a worse temper and without people taking him seriously[[/note]] is perhaps the most frequently covered media entity on the show of late, [[DanBrowned and for good reason]]. For his part, Jones [[HePannedItNowHeSucks doesn't think at all highly of Media Watch and derides it at every opportunity]]... much to current host Jonathan Holmes' amusement.

* ArchEnemy: Radio personality Alan Jones[[note]]picture BillOReilly [[TheSameButMore with a worse temper]] and without people taking him seriously[[/note]] is perhaps the most frequently covered media entity on the show of late, [[DanBrowned and for good reason]]. For his part, Jones [[HePannedItNowHeSucks doesn't think at all highly of Media Watch and derides it at every opportunity]]... much to current host Jonathan Holmes' amusement.

Media Watch is an [[TheABC ABC]] television news program which focuses on analysing and dissecting [[AustralianMedia the news media in Australia]]. [[MoodWhiplash It swings between]] covering the [[MoralEventHorizon appalling]] and the [[{{Narm}} hilarious]]. It covers lies, discrepencies and ethical violations by all of Australia's major networks, papers, radio stations and other outlets, [[BitingTheHandHumor and it certainly isn't afraid to aim at the ABC itself should the situation call for it]]. It follows up on quotes, demands citations and explains how the stories get written.