LATELINE: Leigh Sales conducts RESTRICTED interview with Mark Arbib and Scott Morrison, demonstrating that boys will be boys...

It’s not often that the Canberra pollies loosen up enough to show their private selves, but see if you don’t agree that Leigh Sales, the ABC’s Lateline co-anchor, successfully wiped clear a fascinating, if risqué, window into an unseen side of Minister for Employment Participation Mark Arbib and Opposition Spokesman on Immigration Scott Morrison during a rare RESTRICTED interview after the standard palaver tonight...

More pictures coming…

[Captioned text:
001: After advising viewers to send their kiddies to bed, ABC Lateline's Leigh Sales commenced her RESTRICTED interview - hot on the heels of the standard Friday night political Fight Club palaver - with Labor's Mark Arbib and The Liberals' Scott Morrison.

002: The lads, Mark Arbib on your left, Scott Morrison on your right, started out by trying to mirror the stance and moves of the other, a ploy which lasted but seconds, each thrown off by Leigh Sales' opening remarks…

003: “Which Muppets character would you consider the other to most resemble?” Ms Sales put to the pair, in a brilliant scheme to lull them into a false sense of security regarding the real direction of this RESTRICTED interview.

004: The two politicians studied each other to find the quintessential Muppet in the other striving to come out, all the while trying to stifle their urge to give vent to a guffaw, and thrown somewhat by the deadpan manner in which Leigh Sales asked the question.

005: However, their grasp on reality having not entirely slipped yet - due to some nefarious drink spiking done by Ms Sales a little earlier after their first interview (more on this later…) - they recollected their senses momentarily, and in unison put to Leigh Sales:
“You're taking a lend of us, right?” still in disbelief, adding
“We're parliamentarians Leigh, not flipping Muffins, er, Muppets!”

006: “I couldn't be more serious if I tried Mr Arbib, Mr Morrison, now surely you can actually answer a simple question in one go for once in your snivelly and blasted politically saturated lives?” Leigh Sales slipped, hissing in a controlled monotone, but one which could not conceal the years of frustration that had been building inside her from being at the mercy of countless oleaginous elected officials, intent on pushing her around, on shadow dancing around the issues.
However, her professionalism quickly reasserted itself, and she added, “Oh, forgive me boys!”]

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LATELINE: Leigh Sales effortlessly draws out the better in the pollies Morrison and Arbib

[Caption text: No prizes for working out why it’s easy to want to follow current affairs on Aunty ABC!

Leigh Sales demonstrated again what artificiality-free looks, sounds, and feels like with her unaffected approach to hosting Lateline.]

LATELINE: Ticky Fullerton delivers us a rollicking interview with Sir Harold Evans; a delight, a treat, a bonbon; come back again Sir Harold!

Is Death by Cleavage a Crime?

What a welcome relief it is when our highly talented ABC journalists get to interview a truly interesting person outside of politics! Ticky Fullerton brought we the Australian public of discerning taste (Aunty’s faithful) a treasure of an interview this night with Sir Harold Evans, who holds the distinction of having been sacked by Rupert Murdoch, and I congratulate the old knight for this rare honour.

Ms Fullerton clearly enjoyed this opportunity to speak with Sir Harold, as did Sir Harold, and the resultant chemistry was joyetry in motion.

How many folk are left who read some of the first output from Gutenberg’s press, read by mammoth fat candlelight? Sir Harold has seen and done it all, covered in his memoir, ‘My Paper Chase’.

I would advise Ms Fullerton to conceal her cleavage next time she wins an interview with the old treasure, lest she be the cause of his expiry, albeit with a smile on his face, on screen. His missus, Tina Brown, would not be amused.

[Caption text: Radiating yet again, Ticky Fullerton gave us a treat with her interview with Editor at Large of The Week magazine, 81 year old Sir Harold Evans, on Lateline on 22nd October 2009.

It was a rollicking chat about Sir Harold’s life in newspaper publishing, thoroughly enjoyable, but I did sustain a low level of stress lest the dear old treasure should expire, not helped by Ms Fullerton’s inch and a half of exposed cleavage.

Somehow the old origami oracle made it through to the end, but I suspect he had to lie down to recover from Ms Fullerton’s abounding charms.

Congratulations and thank you to Ms Fullerton for drawing such pearls of wisdom, humour, direct speak, and appealingness from this doyen of newsprint; thank you Sir Harold for giving of yourself so generously for we Aussies’ enlightenment and entertainment; look after yourself and come back again!]

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MEDIA WATCH: Jonathan Holmes, radical, shocks audience by putting on a necktie

Jonathan Holmes messing with our heads?

As mentioned in the text on the accompanying image, I was thrown so suddenly when I walked into the lounge and beheld Jonathan Holmes wearing a tie, that I hit the floor – fortunately carpeted – bumping my head, and was out like a light that’s just been turned off, or if you’d prefer, a low wattage flouro that just blew.

Well, perhaps that account is not entirely accurate: let’s say I had a frisson-like reaction, and upon recovery was left with a warm fuzzy feeling, but not sufficient to render me incapable of wondering what might have possessed the man to do such a sensible and simple thing; the answer might have something to do with his interviewing of ABC Managing Director Mark Scott, and so Holmes’ boss would likely watch his show tonight; then again, it may have been unrelated.

All I can say is, regardless of the serendipitous intersection of events that had Mr Holmes tying the Windsor Knot (unless he resorts to those elastic looped fakes): Jonathan, please make it a habit, for even though many of us of the hairier gender don’t like the things (we’d prefer to breathe), they are the iconic sign of well dressed men; human psychology will see to it, whether we like it or not, that you will be taken a bit more seriously in your presentation of what at times are – and often fairly so – scourging critiques of the inhabitants of the media jungle.

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Lateline: Iran’s pursuit of nuclear arms and its desire to drive Israel into the sea make for gloomy but salient interview

The elegance of Ms Sales’ appearance belied the seriousness of the subject matter she discussed with Mark Fitzpatrick of the International Institute for Strategic Studies tonight on Lateline, or did it? for perhaps the gravity of the topic called for a degree of formality nothing less: the pursuit of a nuclear weapons capacity by Iran.

With gravitas throughout the almost ten minute interview, these impressive interlocutors covered the dispiriting developments, and the possible consequences, of nuclear arming a regime publicly committed to the annihilation of the state of Israel.

Truly awful aftermaths hang on but threads as Israel witnesses the clear pursuit by a sworn lethal enemy of nuclear arms. Hatred and stupidity, mixed with the hallucinogen of divine sanction, are deeply embedded on both sides of this sorry state of affairs in the Middle East.

Wisdom, maturity, forbearance, and love are needed to effect the sharing of the Levant between Jew and Palestinian; generations on both sides have been born there now; they are essentially identical racially; must they shed oceans of blood again?

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LATELINE: Proof, if it was needed, of why the ABC is still worth every penny: David Finkel’s dignified and gracious interview with Leigh Sales

I am very glad I got to see this blue diamond of an interview.

Ms Leigh Sales was joined by Mr David Finkel, Pulitzer Prize winning Washington Post journalist, to discuss the human condition silhouetted in conflict ravaged Baghdad in 2007 among soldiers of the U.S.A.’s 2-16 battalion.

I, like undoubtedly a huge proportion of the viewers privileged to watch this interview, was moved by the pain, trauma, courage, and persistence of the soldiers, called to do their country’s military bidding. Mr Finkel spent many months with them, and wrote his testament, ‘The Good Soldiers’, to what these young people went through after his profound experience.

This interview was saturated with dignity, controlled emotion, and graciousness, as well as an inspiring humility; it was an enlightening experience on many levels.

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LATELINE: Fire and earth, wind and rain, Chris Mooney meets our Leigh Sales to talk science literacy, or rather the lack thereof

This was another satisfying interview given to us by Aunty and one of her LATELINE anchors, Leigh Sales, discussing the decline of scientific understanding among the ‘yoosay’ public with Chris Mooney, co-author of ‘Unscientific America’, Thursday evening, September 17^th 2009.

Thanks to Ms Sales’ preparation and enabling questioning, overlayed upon her keen intellect, Mr Mooney was able to delineate very well upon the problem of scientific illiteracy in the U.S.A. I’m sure this would be reflected here in Australia.

Mr Mooney made a salient point: more attention by the general population to becoming scientifically literate would impart very valuable critical thinking skills, skills which would be highly serviceable elsewhere. I second that: try wading through the political bullshit we are fed constantly for one; assessing the advertising fantasies we are bombarded with for another.

And what about that wild hair style Ms Sales brought to the desk tonight? Hot! Tsssttt!

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