Sky News Australia

Location
headquartered in Sydney, NSW
Politics
Directed towards upper-middle class, affluent viewers, so probably skewed towards a more conservative viewpoint, though not outright accused of such.

Money Matters

Australian News Channel Pty Ltd (ANC) and its subsidiary New Zealand News Channel Ltd are joint ventures of Seven West Media (which also owns the Seven Network), Nine Entertainment Company (owner of Nine Network) and Sky plc (controlled by Rupert Murdoch’s global media giant 21st Century Fox). Each has a 33 percent stake in the company. In 2013, shareholders injected AU$20 million (US$14.3 million) in funding to be used over three years. In February 2015 it was reported that News Corp Australia (helmed by Rupert Murdoch) has launched a bid to buy the ANC valuing it at about AU$25 million (US$17.6 million). Sky shareholders rejected the offer, reportedly seeking a figure of at least AU$50 million.

Essentials

Launched in 1996, Sky News Australia has become the first Australian produced television news channel. It has a bureau in every capital city in the country and a bureau in Auckland, New Zealand which broadcasts Sky News NZ. Sky describes itself as "Australia’s leader in breaking news and top stories covering news 24 hours a day."

Key People

David
Speers

Host of Sky’s flagship ‘PM Agenda’ program, as well as ‘The Nation with David Speers,’ the journalist who joined Sky as a political editor in 2000, also conducts high-profile interviews. Speers is one of Australia’s most respected and connected political journalists. He has been chosen to moderate every debate during the last three federal elections.

Speers is also the director of the National Press Club. He won a Walkley Award in 2014 for his famous interview with Attorney-General George Brandis where the latter struggled to explain what metadata was — despite his department being in charge of the controversial data retention issue.

The interview sparked a storm on Twitter, with some puzzled and others finding it hilarious.





 

Stan
Grant

The international editor at Sky News Australia, Grant anchors the evening program ‘Reporting LIVE with Stan Grant.’ The journalist joined Sky in 2013. He previously worked for CNN, ABC, SBS and Seven Network. Grant made headlines in the lead-up to the 2000 Sydney Olympics amid a highly-publicized affair with colleague Tracey Holmes, which led to both Holmes and Grant leaving the Seven Network. It was reported that Grant was sacked from Seven because of the affair, though Holmes stated in July 2015 that the two resigned within 20 minutes of each other because Seven didn’t want them to move in together. In July 2015, Grant — who is of Aboriginal ancestry — wrote that he has often felt "estranged" in Australia, and that from childhood he often "cringed" against his race adding that "to be Aboriginal was to be ashamed."



Grant came to accept his Aboriginal identity with age, though in his early career he avoided reporting on Aboriginal affairs. He says it wasn’t until he moved overseas (working for CNN) that he felt "liberated from the weight of history and low expectations."

 

Chris
Kenny

Anchor of ‘Viewpoint,’ Kenny entered journalism three decades ago. He is also currently a columnist for News Corp’s the Australian newspaper, in which regard in October 2015 he became the first foreign news reporter in 18 months to be granted a journalist’s visa by the Nauruan government and talk to the asylum seekers at the notorious detention center. However, his reporting sparked mixed reactions.

Kenny is not a stranger to scandal. Following the Sydney siege in December 2014, he criticized the #illridewithyou campaign (aimed at offering companions to Muslims who didn’t feel safe in the city following the attack) by tweeting:



In 2013, Kenny sued the ABC over a photoshopped image on the program ‘The Hamster Decides,’ which portrayed Kenny having sex with a dog.

ABC and Kenny reached a settlement which involved the network paying Kenny AU$35,000 (over US$24,000) in damages plus legal costs and apologizing to him. ABC managing director Mark Scott said he was "sorry for the distress this incident has caused him and his family."

The intriguing bit for the story was a piece on the pop-culture website Junkee written by Kenny’s own son Liam, who described his father as a "neo-conservative" who "spits at anyone concerned with such trivialities as gender equality, environmental issues or labor rights" and accused him of being "regular and fervent participant in the Australian’s numerous ongoing bully campaigns against those who question its editorial practices and ideological biases." Junkee’s editor confirmed the author was really Kenny’s son.


Seemingly in response to the piece, Chris Kenny tweeted:

Controversies

Sir Keith Richards Twitter gaffe

In August 2014 Sky’s journalist and anchor Vanessa Grimm (Trezise) was left red-faced after announcing via her Twitter account that Sky News Australia reporter had "the latest on a police search of Sir Keith Richards home over alleged sex offences." However, it was not the famous Rolling Stones guitarist (who’s not actually a knight of the realm), but Sir Cliff Richard, a British pop singer, who had police knocking on his door that day after receiving a report of sexual assault on a boy in 1985. Grimm said sorry to bemused Twitter users citing "brain explosion and sleep deprivation" as the cause of the gaffe.




Anchor dumped after Chinese lottery winner joke

In June 2011, news anchor John Mangos made international headlines after his controversial remarks about a Chinese lottery winner, which were widely deemed as racist. The winner wore a mask to remain anonymous while collecting his prize.

"I don’t know why he bothered. I mean, I can tell you now — he’s Chinese," Mangos said after reporting on the story on Paul Murray’s Sky News Australia show. "He’s got straight black hair and he’s got squinty eyes and yellow skin."

Mangos who is of Greek descent, later apologized "unreservedly" for his "off-the-cuff remarks" saying that they "were meant to be light-hearted" and under the pressure of live TV his words "were poorly chosen."

Mangos was subsequently sacked by Sky though CEO Angelos Frangopoulos said it was an amiable parting after 15 years of "fantastic work" and pointed out that Mangos’ contract was simply not renewed. "He’s not a racist at all. Far from it; he’s a been a great supporters of communities, including the Chinese. It was just time to part ways. He’s had a great run with us and we wish him well."

Alleged fake Sky News reporter scandal

Kane Scott Hicks interviewed Port Adelaide, Australia soccer star Kane Cornes, reportedly posing as a Sky News journalist. He had allegedly plastered his car with Sky News logos and hired expensive professional camera equipment before the interview.

Sky News chief of staff Ian Ferguson told the Advertiser that "we can confirm that Mr. Hicks does not and has never worked for Sky News and we have reported the matter to South Australian police."

"We have received calls regarding Mr. Hicks ... and we acted accordingly."

Hicks later separately faced 42 counts of dishonestly manipulating a machine for benefit and two counts of deception. In April 2015 the Adelaide Magistrates’ Court sentenced Hicks to eight months in prison over 10 charges including using a woman’s credit card and passing off valueless checks to a landlady.

It was reported that he impersonated a Sky News reporter in a bid to impress his lover.

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