But now, let’s go to other matters and check in with the News Corp photo desk, which has come under fire:
News Corp Australia papers labelled 'sexist' and 'toxic' by former staff photographer at media inquiry
- The Guardian, 12 March, 2021
That former staff photographer is Anna Rogers, who worked for News Corp for 30 years on newspapers like The Australian, The Courier-Mail and most recently the Cairns Post.
And 10 days ago she offered a fascinating insight into News Corp culture, telling the media diversity hearing in Canberra:
ANNA ROGERS: … I was told by the acting picture editor that they did not want any photos of, quote, ‘pigs in lipstick’.
When I was employed at the Cairns Post I was encouraged to take photos of attractive women, with instructions like, ‘get a photo of a yummy mummy’ or ‘get a photo of a pretty backpacker’.
- Watch Parliament, Senate inquiry into media diversity, 12 March, 2021
Yes, yummy mummies, good; pigs in lipstick, bad.
And according to Rogers, the decision to publish stories or put them on the spike is often made on the attractiveness of the female talent:
ANNA ROGERS: Even the selection of which court stories to cover is now based on applying the subscriber page view model at News Corp. Former colleagues have told me that they are told to ignore the charges and instead look out for attractive women appearing in court. They check their social media following and lift their photos off Facebook.
- Watch Parliament, Senate inquiry into media diversity, 12 March, 2021
Back in 2019, News Corp introduced subscription targets for its staff which forces them to chase clicks and subscribers and puts reporters, photographers and editors under intense pressure to find stories that drive revenue.
And one way to get the numbers, according to Rogers, was to scout around for hot women appearing at court:
ANNA ROGERS: If the women are attractive and have more than a thousand followers then it is much more likely that they will run the story online as it’ll get more page views.
- Watch Parliament, Senate inquiry into media diversity, 12 March, 2021
Which means, it’s less about the crime and more about the looks.
So do her claims stack up? Our investigation suggests they do.
Take this former Playboy model who had minor drug and traffic charges yet landed this story in the Gold Coast Bulletin:
Model Azzra Hughes faces Southport court for drug and traffic offending, plans to become prime minister
- Gold Coast Bulletin, 17 January, 2021
And here’s “glamour model” Lara Dior, who was snapped by a News Corp photographer for drug driving — complete with racy photos lifted from her Instagram.
And here’s a vegan swimwear model who was charged with stealing six piglets from a farm, with one, two, three, four photos of her in lingerie and bikini.
All women with minor criminal charges. So why are they in the paper? I think you can guess.
And here’s more glamorous crims facing more serious charges, in the Gold Coast Bulletin and Melbourne’s Herald Sun, both with additional sexy shots.
And if you’re a regular viewer of Media Watch you’ll remember how we highlighted this story in the Townsville Bulletin last year:
Townsville’s ten hottest criminals of 2020
- Townsville Bulletin, 8 October, 2020
Two months after that another News Corp title, Gladstone’s Observer, brought out its own top 10.
And it’s not just the crime desk where attractiveness is a prerequisite.
While she was at the Cairns Post, Anna Rogers took many photos of young, attractive women to illustrate stories.
About reef safety and sun safety, the weather and even a story about a proposed eco-resort got the bikini treatment.
Rogers says she was obliged to take these photos to keep her bosses at News Corp happy:
ANNA ROGERS: … if we were told to go and get weather, a generic I’d say, you know, a weather photo, a budget story, family about something, it would always be an attractive woman, a cute kid. Never an attractive man but particularly attractive women were always emphasised ...
It was a directive to get attractive people to fit, that met the standards of beauty, I guess, by the male hierarchy at News Corp.
- Watch Parliament, Senate Inquiry into media diversity, 12 March, 2021
And she was not the only one following such orders.
One former News Corp journalist told Media Watch:
I once went out on three consecutive days to get a picture for the same story because the woman we shot each time wasn’t white or attractive enough.
- Email, Former News Corp journalist, 18 March, 2021
News Corp is not the only newspaper — or indeed media outlet — that uses scantily clad women to sell a story. But it is the biggest newspaper group, with power reaching far and wide.
So, does News Corp acknowledge it has a problem and what is it doing about it?
We asked but, to our great surprise, we heard nothing back.
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