News Corp, Nick Bolkus notches up third defamation victory

2. Time for some real reform on the Chinese walls that aren't



By Stephen Mayne

Mike Mangan's extraordinary account of life as the most bearish News Corp analyst is shocking in its detail, but not all that surprising when you consider the aggressive "whatever it takes" culture that Rupert Murdoch has fostered over 52 years.

Given that Murdoch's journalists are expected to universally praise the Sun King and promote his interests, it's not surprising to hear the strong-arm tactics used by Rupert against analysts. But the detail from Mangan on these intimidatory schemes is quite amazing.

It also raises some serious questions about the so-called Chinese walls that are meant to exist between the research and investment banking divisions. Did Deutsche Bank sack Mangan in the hope of winning some investment banking business from News Corp? Surely ASIC and the US Securities & Exchange Commission should take an interest in these claims.

After the Enron and Worldcom collapses, the US introduced sweeping reforms on analyst independence and even locked up a couple of prominent investment bankers. The Australian response was far more muted in terms of analyst conflicts with investment banking engagement on takeover deals meaning analysts can't issue research reports.

We also made some welcome reforms on selective briefings and continuous disclosure but there is still nothing stopping the house broker from talking up a stock and given the billions that News Corp has paid out in investment banking fees over the years, the temptation would be strong indeed.

Earlier this month, a Boston couple was awarded $US2.41 million after suing Citibank and its former big-talking telco analyst Jack Grubman after claiming they relied on his conflicted Worldcom recommendations. Maybe some unhappy News Corp investors could start suing this group of analysts listed on the News Corp website.

Isn't it amusing that News Corp don't provided very helpful contact details for executives, but are happy to publish the direct lines of their favourite analysts.



5. With another $46k, Bolkus becomes a triple defo winner



By Stephen Mayne

Colourful former South Australian Labor senator and Justice Minister Nick Bolkus has notched up his third defamation victory, helping himself to a $46,350 judgment courtesy of The Australian, which was not big enough to report its own defeat in today's paper. The Advertiser gave it a few pars today and AAP had more detail last night.

These AAP lines suggest that The Australian stuffed up and then paid the price for publishing a tiny and grudging apology four months later:

Bolkus sued the newspaper for defamation after it published a story in February 2004 about political donations and perceived loopholes in regulations. Mr Bolkus was not mentioned in the story but his photograph was published along with the article. He said the story implied he was involved in corrupt activities and its publication had been a factor in his decision to retire from politics.

The judge noted that The Australian, which said it printed Mr Bolkus's photograph by accident, published an apology in June last year but that it was not given due prominence.

"The position and size of the apology in this case is such that, far from being fulsome, it bordered on the begrudging," Judge Burley said. "It could easily have been missed."

Having received an estimated $40,000 payout from Channel Seven, then in receivership, over a Dennis Grant comment in the early 1990s and an additional $25,000 from Crikey in May 2003, Bolkus has maintained a batting record better than most litigious characters, although we believe there have been other skirmishes earlier in his career.

Whilst Bolkus will never approach the $2 million-plus that Bob Hawke received in confidential tax-free defamation settlements over the years, he knows how to extract cash from the smaller cases and defamation has helped him reach millionaire status.

A two-time settler has also proved that he's happy to go the distance this time, although he was very keen to settle with Crikey after my Adelaide lawyer was conflicted out of the case in embarrassing circumstances.

South Australia has been a very happy hunting ground for defamation plaintiffs over the years, with the Hindmarsh Island developers Tom and Wendy Chapman collecting several hundred thousands dollars from several cases, so it was not surprising that Bolkus opted to sue in his home state. Once again this case against a national newspaper demonstrates how ludicrous it is having eight different sets of defamation laws.

It might be worth a Crikey list tracking public figures who have issued three times or more. We know that shock jock Steve Price has fired off four writs over the years and, along with Alan Jones, John Laws and Richard Sleeman, is up there in the "most litigious journalist" ranks.

Other prominent names in the triple defo club include Laurie Connell, Alan Bond, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Kerry Packer, Sir Peter Abeles, Jeff Kennett, Rene Rivkin, the Waterhouse Family, Lloyd Williams/Ron Walker and Nick Whitlam.

Check out Crikey's earlier defamation list here and send any updates to smayne@crikey.com.au.


28. Paper count falling all round



By Stephen Mayne

It is not just newspaper circulation and fixed line phone calls which are on the skids in Australia, snail mail is also starting to contract at gathering speed. You will have noticed the fall in Australia Post's profits as the number of letters sent stagnates, particularly 'granny mail' which bears the full 50c fee as opposed to bulk business mail which gets discounts.

Salmat's latest profit announcement also shows for the first time in the company's history a failure to increase mailhouse volumes by at least 10%. Instead the volumes actually dropped. Any keen student of media and related industries should be very interested in these stats.

What will happen when more companies offer discounts when accounts are emailed and auto-billed to credit cards (or direct debited) rather than being posted out? It's more fees for the banks and less for the old style mailhouse operators.

Brian Evans will have to consider these challenges at PMP but he should be very happy that Mr and Mrs Crikey caused the RACV to run a contested election in which PMP printed more than one million election packs. Aussie Post also got to earn fees on about 55,000 ballots returned in the reply paid envelope. We're happy to help out in these difficult times for the old snail mail and printing giants.

Copyright © 2024 The Mayne Report. All rights reserved

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