Today Tonight
| Today Tonight | |
|---|---|
| File:Todaytonight.JPG Program logo | |
| Starring | Anna Coren (Summer) (East Coast) Leigh McClusky (South Australia) Monika Kos (Western Australia) |
| Country of origin |  Australia |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx 25 mins (plus commercials) |
| Original release | |
| Network | Seven Network |
| Release | 1995 – present |
Today Tonight is an Australian television current affairs programme, broadcast on the Seven Network every weeknight at 6:30pm in direct competition with A Current Affair on the Nine Network (see Australia's 6.30 Current Affairs Ratings War).
There are three different versions of the programme: Leigh McClusky is the longest serving anchor and fronts the South Australian edition of the show. Monika Kos is the presenter in Western Australia. Naomi Robson presented the show that is networked to Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney (East Coast Edition) until she left the programme on December 1 2006. Anna Coren is the show's anchor for the summer months.
The Sunday Telegraph reported on December 17 that Seven was considering poaching A Current Affair host Tracy Grimshaw from the Nine Network to take over as Robson's permanent replacement. It quoted an unnamed network executive as saying the network was not sure Coren was "up to the task full-time". It claimed Grimshaw's contract with Nine expires in March 2007.
History
Today Tonight evolved from Real Life, which was hosted by Stan Grant. At the beginning of 1995, the programme was replaced by Today Tonight, with local editions for each mainland state (Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria). The idea of 'Today Tonight' was a similar to the past programme, State Affair which aired in the mid 1980s, and was produced by each Seven Network station.
Melbourne edition (1995-2001)
The programme was originally hosted by Melbourne based journalist/columnist Jill Singer. During a broadcast in 1996, Singer collapsed and was taken to hospital. Singer subsequently took 'leave' for a period of months and was replaced on-air by Naomi Robson. Singer would return in late 1996 but was unceremoniously dumped by early 1997 in favour of Robson - who has remained on the programme ever since. The Melbourne-only programme concluded in 2001.
Sydney edition (1995-2001)
The Sydney programme was presented by a myriad of presenters in its six year stint. Presenters included Stan Grant (twice), Helen Wellings, Neil Mercer, Peter Luck and Melissa Doyle. Stan Grant, who had hosted the programme in its early days, returned following the departure of Peter Luck in 1999. In 2000 there was controversy when Grant was sacked by the Seven Network after it was exposed he was engaging in a relationship with another then Seven Network personality, Tracey Holmes. Grant was replaced by Melissa Doyle, who fronted the local edition until its amalgamation with the Melbourne-based programme.
Brisbane edition (1995-2003)
The Brisbane edition of TT was fronted by three different presenters in the course of its 7-8 year run; these included Lexy Hamilton Smith and Michelle Reiken. The programme was axed in 2003 after Michelle Reiken went on maternity leave.
South Australian edition (1995-)
Since the programmes inception in South Australia in 1995, Leigh McClusky has remained to front the South Australian edition of the programme, only taking leave over summer and to give birth to her son in 2002 (John Riddell filled-in) and to have a daughter in 2006 (Rosanna Mangerelli filled in). As far as ratings go, Adelaide's 'TT' caught on with viewers a lot better (and sooner) than it had in the East Coast markets. The programme peaked in 2001–2003, enjoying average audiences of 200,000+, and a 80,000+ lead over rival ACA. In the last two years the programme has remained in front, but finds itself in a much closer battle with A Current Affair.
Western Australian edition (1995-)
The Western Australian edition of the programme is hosted by Monika Kos. It had formerly been fronted by the Seven Network's current weekend newsreader in Perth, Yvette Mooney.
East Coast edition (2001-)
Melbourne/Sydney (2001-2003)
The first East Coast Edition was broadcast over summer from Monday, 4 December, 2000 until 26 January, 2001. In previous years, Melbourne and Sydney had run the same summer edition, but in the summer of 2000/2001, Brisbane was included for the first time. For the first three weeks - until 22 December, 2000 - the programme came from Melbourne with Fazza, then moved to Sydney with Elise Mooney and Melissa Doyle. The three state based editions returned after summer.
Then in March 2001, Sydney's compere, Melissa Doyle, went on maternity leave, and the Melbourne edition version with Robson was broadcast into Sydney for the first time during the ratings period. This was supposed to last only 12 weeks, but Melbourne's version rated just as well in Sydney as the local version (despite the fact that for the first few nights they left "Melbourne's Today Tonight" on the screen behind Robson for all Sydney viewers to see). This led to Seven Network executives axing the Sydney edition in favour of an East Coast Edition. Doyle returned at the end of 2001 to present the summer edition.
Melbourne/Sydney/Brisbane (2003-)
On December 9 2002, Michelle Reiken, host of the Brisbane edition of Today Tonight, went on maternity leave over the summer non-ratings period. During this time, the Melbourne/Sydney edition was broadcast. When the 2003 ratings period commenced, Seven Brisbane continued to air the Melbourne/Sydney edition instead of returning to a local version with an alternate presenter. Seven Network announced that a local edition would return when Reiken returned from maternity leave; however this never happened. In May 2003, Seven Brisbane officially axed its local version.
In November 2006 host Naomi Robson announced she would be leaving Today Tonight to pursue other projects. Anna Coren was reported to be the front runner to replace Robson, although an unnamed Seven Network source was quoted in news reports on December 17 claiming the network was seeking someone else as the permanent host because of dissatisfaction with Coren's interviewing ability.
Criticism
Like A Current Affair, Today Tonight is notorious for its sensationalist reporting similar to Inside Edition, and is an example of tabloid television where stories rotate around sensationalised community issues i.e. diet fads, miracle cures, welfare cheats, shonky builders, negligent doctors etc. For this reason the programme is constantly under criticism and ridicule, especially by satirical groups such as The Chaser.
Christopher Skase controversy
ABC TV's Media Watch programme revealed that Today Tonight had fabricated much of a report about disgraced Australian businessman Christopher Skase. Today Tonight sent producer Chris Adams and reporter David "Sluggo" Richardson, along with a camera crew, to pursue Skase who was claiming that his health prevented him from being tried. Richardson alleged that because the Today Tonight crew's videos showed that Skase was in good health, Skase used his connections to the Mallorcan authorities in order to establish police roadblocks to seize the Today Tonight crew's videotapes. The only support for these claims was a video of Dave Richardson driving past police, exclaiming "Roadblocks! Let's get out of here". Media Watch proved, through examining the broadcast report, that this footage was in fact shot in Barcelona, not on the island of Mallorca. The "police" that Richardson was passing were in fact Spanish urban guards, who use roadblocks to control traffic flow in the centre of the city.[1]
Dole Army hoax
On 4 February 2002, Today Tonight and their main rival A Current Affair both broadcast stories about a so-called "Dole Army" operating from Melbourne's subterranean stormwater drains, and recruiting for an organised effort to defraud the Australian government of unemployment benefits. The next day, an anarchist group claimed they had sold both programmes a hoax story, and due to lack of research and a desire to vilify the unemployed, both networks had fallen for the elaborate prank.[2]
The "Serial Single Mum" controversy
On 18 July 2004, Today Tonight screened a report by David Richardson about "Australia's Serial Single Mum". The report was about a single mother named "Mary-Anne", a private citizen who lives in suburban Sydney. The programmeme asserted that Mary-Anne "had five children to five different men and pocketed tens of thousands in welfare" from Centrelink. It was later revealed by Media Watch that Mary-Anne was working full-time and had the children to four fathers not five. Media Watch described the exchange between Richardson and Mary-Anne as an "appalling attack", and "Another offensive beat up from Dave 'Sluggo' Richardson".
Contempt of court allegations
In 2004, Today Tonight picked up on a story published in Melbourne's Sunday Herald Sun about a boy allegedly "divorcing" his mother. Today Tonight's story was subsequently discussed on Seven's Sunrise programme. In 2005, journalists, editors and producers from all three media outlets were taken to the Sydney Magistrates' Court for breaching the Children and Young Persons Act 1989 for allegedly naming the child in question. Host Naomi Robson was found not guilty of contempt of court, as the magistrate found she did not have editorial control over the story, but producers of the show were fined.[3][4]
The "Wa-Wa" controversy
On 13 September 2006, Naomi Robson and a Today Tonight crew were detained by Indonesian authorities in Papua for working as journalists despite entering the country on tourist visas.[5]
The Seven Network claimed that its team was sent to the region to do a story on Wa-Wa, a young boy who was apparently in danger of being ritually killed by his tribe, the Korowai (according to a 60 Minutes story on the Nine Network some months earlier). Seven also claimed that their rivals at Nine had sabotaged their story and their mission to "rescue" Wa-Wa from his tribe (who are believed to practice cannibalism), by informing the Indonesian authorities of their visa arrangements. Nine refuted Seven's claims and threatened legal action. Seven alleges that a Nine reporter offered about $100,000 to a guide not to help Seven with their story. Seven's director of news and current affairs, Peter Meakin said "There is evidence to support the claims that, in particular, this man Cornelius was offered $100,000 not to rescue the boy." "I think the phrase was 'name your own price'", he said.[6]
Defamation of Mark McGaw
On 2 November 2006 the Supreme Court of New South Wales awarded former Gladiator and rugby league star Mark McGaw $385,000 for a defamatory story Today Tonight broadcast in June 2003. The Supreme Court jury found that the story made two defamatory imputations: that McGaw was "a man of dangerous domestic violence", and that he "bashed his lover so severely that she was hospitalised with horrific injuries".[7]
References
- ^ Media Watch: Sluggo in Baghdad Tonight, ABC TV, 31 March 2003.
- ^ Lateline: Group owns up to media hoax, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 5 February 2002.
- ^ Burrow, Vanessa: Court fines journalists, The Age, 17 May 2006.
- ^ Media Watch: Journos divorced from the courts, ABC TV, 3 October 2005.
- ^
Hawthorne, Maria (2006-09-13). "Robson detained in Indonesia". News.com.au. Retrieved 2006-09-15.
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"Robson may return to Papua". The Age. 2006-09-15. Retrieved 2006-09-15.
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"Today Tonight hammered for $385,000". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2006-11-02. Retrieved 2006-11-02.
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