The most expensive piece of 3AW airtime ever?

Live reads. Neil Mitchell hasn’t done them for 25 years. But now the 3AW presenter has found a cause big enough – the Royal Children’s Hospital’s Good Friday Appeal.

And Victorian Premier Denis Napthine will join him too.

Mitchell tells listeners in a blog post:

I have made a decision. My soul is for sale.

In 25 years on radio, I have never read an advertisement. I have had intense pressure from management at various times, and I refuse to read ads because I have believed they have the potential to undermine my journalistic credibility.

If I am copping money from Qantas, for example, and they end up at war with the federal government, can I really be independent in my comments?

That has been my decision, until now.

I want to sell myself here and now.

Dr Mumbo understands that bidding – which has already passed $14k – is fierce.