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Barnaby Joyce, for one, is delighted that alt-right commentator Lauren Southern has joined Sky News Australia as a regular contributor. I dont know who that person is but Ive economically and politically fallen in love with her, Joyce gushed when Southern finished talking about how Australia and the west is capitulating at every turn to China. They have people within our government making decisions for us, the new Australian resident told host Paul Murray.

Murray was equally effusive about his guest: A sheila comes from Canada and shes a straight talker and shes welcome amongst us at all times and every time.

The former far-right influencers views are more than welcome on Sky After Dark, which cant get enough of her rhetoric about the mainstream media (media lies are not working) and Facebook and Twitters fact-checking campaign (the majority of people are opposed to censorship tactics by big tech).

Youll have this CNN reporter standing there with a city literally on fire burning behind him, but hes got the earpiece in and theyre saying, stick to the narrative, so he says peaceful protest going on here, Southern told Sky News. Its madness, and I think people are starting to realise the level of gaslighting going on.

But what doesnt get discussed is Southerns past as a popular YouTuber where she promoted the idea that white people were subject to an orchestrated Great Replacement by means of non-white immigration.

Southerns former employer, Rebel News, was one of the rightwing sources linked to the Christchurch shooter this week by the royal commission.

As reported by the New York Times tech columnist Kevin Roose, the Christchurch shooter watched tons and tons of far-right videos. He sent money to Stefan Molyneux and Richard Spencer. He also donated to Rebel News.

In 2017, Southern was among a group of far-right activists attempting to obstruct humanitarian vessels running refugee rescue operations in the Mediterranean.

Another new face on Sky After Dark is former senator Cory Bernardi. Bernardi has been given his own show in 2021, and has big plans to be the next Andrew Bolt or Alan Jones.

It seems hell fit right in with his narrative about Donald Trump being a victim of the media: The media have manufactured negative Trump tales and theyve failed to cover the failings of Joe Biden, Bernardi said recently.

Northern Territory health minister Natasha Fyles claimed several times in an interview that the town of Katherine does not have a newspaper, it was reported by the NTs Katherine Times.

Speaking about liquor advertising, Fyles mistakenly said Katherine does not have a newspaper multiple times.

The paper she often speaks to ran her apology on Friday. Yesterday, in my portfolio budget estimate hearings, I incorrectly stated Katherine doesnt have a newspaper, she said.

I unreservedly apologise to the Katherine Times for this error made under pressure in the heat of the moment.

Australias longest running commercial television program, Mass For You At Home, announced on its Facebook page that it had been axed and the final episode would air on 3 January.

We, the people who have worked on the program for many, many years, are deeply saddened that this day has come, the producer said. A history of the program is currently being written by the priests, readers, signers, technicians and producers of the program and will be available for viewers to keep as a memento in late January.

But then a miracle. The show was back albeit in a different form.

The sting in the tail is that the Catholic hierarchy decided to save money by cutting out the producer and the studio and film the program in the churches instead, and the producer was the last to know.

I was astonished to read on Facebook that the Archdiocese has terminated the 50-year-old program without advising the producers, producer of 13 years John Rowland told TV Tonight. We had no idea that proposed change and cant believe it was done this way. Ive written to the Archbishop but has so far had no response.

Mass For You At Home is designed to be an intimate service for people in their homes as opposed to a large church space. This together with his high production values makes it unique.

Journalists are territorial creatures. If a story is an exclusive they like some acknowledgement from media who follow up. Thats why executive editor for the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age James Chessell tweeted an ABC screenshot with the word #sourcing on Friday morning.

Reporter Rob Harris had written: A billion-dollar deal for the Morrison government to buy more than 50 million doses of the University of Queenslands potential coronavirus vaccine has been abruptly terminated after several trial participants returned false positive HIV test results.

Chessell took issue with an ABC online story which reported the news without reference to Nine newspapers and added the ABC understands to the lead par. The Ages chief reporter, Chip Le Grand, called it yarn theft. Europe correspondent Bevan Shields went even further saying the ABC had actually stolen this scoop from Rob Harris and claimed it as its own. This is theft from the public broadcaster on par with serial offender the Daily Mail.

But the snafu was not yarn theft, rather it was poorly sourced online copy done in a rush. The ABC did source the information to Nine newspapers in its live cross on AM on Radio National at 7.10am but then independently advanced on the Nine story, adding new information. The line about ABC understands should have read ABC has confirmed and has now been removed from the online version. To compare the ABC to the Daily Mail which commonly does rip and reads is absurd.

There is no keeping Kevin Rudd down. The former prime ministers royal commission didnt get political support but he has a new campaign against the Murdoch media, which has already gained traction.

Rudd has asked supporters to sign a pledge that they will boycott News Corps property portal realestate.com.au to buy, sell or lease property. The website is hugely profitable for News Corp and Rudd hopes to hit the company where it hurts.

He has accused the company of acting as a platform for denial of the peer-reviewed science of climate change; undermining efforts by Australians to take substantive action to address climate change; and spreading false and misleading claims about the climate crisis.

There is one News Corp property that has been killed off without any help from Rudd. The Australians vehicle for attacking its enemies, the infamous Cut & Paste column, has been quietly put to sleep by editor-in-chief Christopher Dore. We think.

The final column was published on 28 November without a note about its demise. We asked Dore why it had disappeared and received no reply.

The column was used by editors to highlight what the papers targets in the culture wars said and point out apparent contradictions, using just a list of quotes. It was oftentimes unintelligible. One frequent target was Yassmin Abdel-Magied, a young Australian whose every move and utterance was documented by Cut & Paste.

The great Australian political journalist Mungo MacCallum died aged 78, a week after writing his final column for Pearl and Irritations.

I never thought Id say it, but I can no longer go on working, the greatly admired commentator wrote in a short farewell post.

It takes all my effort to breathe and Im not managing that too well. And now my mind is getting wobbly hard to think, let alone concentrate.

MacCallum, who spent decades covering politics for the Australian, the Sydney Morning Herald and the ABC, was the fourth man in his family to be named Mungo MacCallum and his father was a pioneer of ABC television who once led its news division.

MacCallum Sr joined the ABC in 1952 and helped produce the first night of television in Australia in 1956.

Despite several serious health challenges MacCallum was prolific in recent years, telling Guardian Australia of his hope for true reconciliation with Indigenous Australia.

The book Im desperate to see is the true history of Indigenous Australia culminating in recognition, reconciliation and treaty Voice, Treaty, Truth as the Uluru Statement from the Heart puts it but I fear I will be waiting a long time.

But his final words in the column for were Scott Morrison, who he didnt rate.

Christmas is coming and Australia is flat

Kindly tell us ScoMo where the bloody hell were at.

And when were certain that you know that you dont havent got a clue

Then join in our Yuletide chorus as we sing: FUCK YOU!

Thank you and good night.

Cheers, Mungo.

The leader of the opposition, Anthony Albanese, had a special Christmas message for the media in parliamentary farewells on Thursday.

To the press gallery, I thank most of you, Albo said wryly. I would like to make a special mention of everyone at AAP. Even by the standards of 2020, its been pretty tough for you, not knowing whether you would still have a job or continue to exist. I am confident I hope that when we get back in 2021 well have a public gallery as well.

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Barnaby Joyce finds 'love' with alt-right commentator Lauren Southern - The Guardian