News publishers reflect on their biggest stories of the year
From the banking royal commission to the Thai cave rescue, it’s been a big year for news publishers. Here, some of Australia’s most well-respected editors share their highlights.
Michael Stutchbury, editor-in-chief, The Australian Financial Review
What was your best story of the year and/or your most impactful?
AFR Weekend of 3-4 March 2018 covered with Jonathan Shapiro’s investigation into Big Un Ltd, the best performing stock on the ASX in 2017. Shapiro’s ripping yarn exposed accounting irregularities that eventually resulted in the company going into administration.
Big Un’s Big Review TV claimed to be generating tens of millions of dollars of cash from producing online videos from small businesses, but Shapiro’s reporting showed the money was advanced by a finance company in an elaborate arrangement. The reporting also exposed that the chief executive had a previously undisclosed conviction for blackmail, making the Big Un saga one of the year’s biggest corporate scandals.
Stutch has wasted no time cracking open the Kool Aid – “Australia’s traditional number one station” ? That would be Seven, not Nine.
There is something sad about the AFR editor talking about throwing editorial resources at an issue. Clearly he has none.