Series-ending Farmer Wants a Wife scandal just got WORSE – plus, knives out at Nine over staff email blunder and Tele turmoil over ‘Undercover Jew’ sting: INSIDE MAIL

In our must-read Mail+ column, Steve Jackson and Peter van Onselen reveal what’s REALLY going on in the worlds of media and politics each week.

Inside the Tele’s failed anti-Semitism sting 

A tabloid reporter at the centre of a media firestorm is missing, the newsroom is up in arms and their editor has barely been seen nor heard from since the whole saga kicked off.

Cause for concern? Heck no – it’s just another day in paradise at the country’s most outspoken masthead, The Daily Telegraph.

For those who haven’t been keeping up with the Tele’s latest hijinks, the boisterous Sydney news sheet has been copping an absolute pizzling since launching an undercover ‘investigation’ – delicately referred to on their internal news list as ‘UNDERCOVERJEW’ – last Tuesday.

The plan? 

To zero in on heightening tensions over the Israel-Gaza war and rise in anti-Semitic attacks by having senior reporter Danielle Gusmaroli and a pair of camos parade an ‘undercover’ member of the Jewish community through one of the Harbour City’s most well-known pro-Palestine enclaves in the hope of capturing a heated altercation on camera.

Now, if we’re being honest (and, as you know, we like to be), we don’t actually have any drama with the concept up until this point.

One of the jobs of the media is to observe and report – and if members of the Jewish community are genuinely being harassed while walking the city’s streets then that 100 per cent needs to be documented, called out and urgently addressed.

But, of course, the devil is in the details.

Because that’s not what is actually happening in Sydney – or at least it wasn’t on the day the Tele ventured out from their Holt St headquarters in inner-city Surry Hills to the mean streets of the far-flung hipster haven of Enmore Rd, in Newtown, a whole 5km away.

So go grab yourself a cup of Joe, find a comfy chair and settle in – because the Tele’s own staffers are so outraged by the ‘investigation’ they’ve been leaking like a sieve all week – and we’re going to work our way through this one from the very beginning.

Ready? And away we go:

Inside Mail has been told by multiple sources that the idea for the undercover ‘investigation’ was first broached during a forward-planning meeting run by the Tele’s editor Ben English and his newly installed weekend deputy Anna Caldwell – and attended by about a half a dozen reporters – at the start of the month.

Our insiders claim that at the meeting, Gusmaroli – one of the news sheet’s most senior newshounds – pitched the concept of collaborating with a member of the Jewish community and secretly recording their experiences while roaming the streets of Sydney.

So far, so good.

The idea was an immediate hit – at least with the editors – not least because they’d already been keen on the idea of conducting some sort of undercover sting.

‘Ben and Anna unanimously supported [the UndercoverJew operation],’ one Tele insider told us this week.

‘Anna said her usual reply “that would be amaaaaazing”, while Ben – who a week earlier was pissed that no one wanted to wear a MAGA hat and see if they’d get kicked out of a pub – agreed it was a great idea.’

A second insider related an eerily similar version of events at the meeting.

‘Gussy pitched it up and Ben and Anna said great idea, while the rest of the room squirmed,’ the Tele staffer told us.

‘It was then [allegedly] left to [deputy editor] Nick Hansen to manage logistics, assign the photographer and videographer [and] he liaised one-on-one with Gussy.

‘Suffice to say the three most senior people at the Telegraph endorsed it. Crazy.’

Yet another Tele staffer also backed up the claims – and the internal enthusiasm to pursue the ‘investigation’.

With that, the concept was green-lit, and it now moved into the planning phase – and this is where things start getting really interesting. 

Initially, we’re told, Team Tele wanted their undercover operative to wear a traditional kippah during the sting… but there were fears this would be too subtle.

Instead, they ultimately decided to ditch the skullcap in favour of a white baseball cap emblazoned with a bright blue Star of David.

As for the location, there was less debate, with Newtown selected as a fertile hunting ground right from the get-go for obvious reasons.

The inner-west is seen as a haunt for left-leaning progressives, is well-known for its pro-Palestine support after protesters interrupted a speaking event involving pro-Israel author Douglas Murray in conversation with former ABC personality Josh Szeps at the Enmore Theatre there last March – and, best yet, it’s located in the heart of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese‘s electorate.

What could possibly go wrong?

Well, as it turns out, just about everything.

After all, when Team Tele finally hit the streets last Tuesday, it seemed no one much cared one way or another about a bloke walking around in a Star of David cap.

Indeed, we’re told the uncover team visited at least half a dozen different cafés and businesses over more than three hours in a bid to collect evidence of the city’s secret race war – all to no avail.

Could it be that Sydney’s vibrant inner-west isn’t actually riddled with anti-Semitic bigotry? Surely not.

Undeterred, Gusmaroli and Co. made for Cairo Takeaway, an Egyptian restaurant that previously made headlines when its pro-Palestine owner boasted on Instagram that Zionists were not welcome at the venue.

Surely, this would provide the flashpoint for their ‘investigation’.

Sadly not.

In fact, as everyone who has seen the viral vision of the encounter now knows, the real dust up only began when one of the café workers filmed herself accusing Gusmaroli and her team of trying to incite an incident with their ‘divisive journalism’ before posting the clip online.

Cue the inevitable rival media point-scoring as just about every other outlet piled on the Tele and blasted them for the ‘appalling stunt’. Hey, even we had a crack.

And if that wasn’t all embarrassing enough, in at News Corp HQ the internal feedback was equally brutal.

We’re told English and some other select senior Tele types were all summoned to Mahogany Row on Holt St’s famed fifth floor for a ‘please explain’ last week as respected News Corp head honcho Campbell Reid personally reviewed all their vision.

But while the Tele ed was happy to answer Reid’s queries, he certainly wasn’t taking any questions from anyone else; blanking calls and messages from Crikey, the Guardian, the Sydney Morning Herald, Nine News and even Daily Mail Australia (if you’ll believe it).

If English hoped simply ignoring the problematic ‘investigation’ would make it go away, he was sadly mistaken.

Indeed, before long, one irate Tele staffer had leaked the masthead’s internal news ‘topic plan’ listing the inside rundown of the operation’s objectives and, by Friday afternoon, Nine News’ cameras were camped outside the masthead’s offices.

Later that evening, English issued a succinct three-line statement via the media giant’s public relations arm.

Deciding to cut his losses, the Tele boss fessed up and all but apologised for the incident.

‘The Telegraph never intended to provoke an incident at the Cairo Takeaway restaurant in Enmore, which was one of multiple venues across Sydney we visited, nor to report that its staff are antisemitic,’ he said.

‘The Daily Telegraph acknowledges our approach could have been better handled.’

Quite a diplomatic response… even though it’s hard to think of any other conceivable reason Team Tele had decided to visit Cairo Takeaway in the first place.

Still, it did little to quell the rising disquiet within the Tele’s newsroom, with our insiders saying they’ve all been demanding a more detailed, illuminating debrief from the paper’s top brass on how the ‘investigation’ unravelled so wildly, only to be left almost entirely in the dark.

‘Ben hasn’t addressed the newsroom – he might have spoken to some key people about it – but a week on, we’re still waiting,’ one insider said.

Instead, the Tele ed jetted to Melbourne this week for a wine-and-dine schmoozefest with News Corp advertisers. 

We called and texted him several times to see if he was free to discuss the whole brouhaha but he wasn’t up for a chat.

So we decided to ask News Corps’ comms team what they made of their own staffers’ claims.

Well, not much it seems.

‘Your questions are riddled with inaccuracies,’ a spokesman insisted.

‘We do not comment on internal editorial processes nor on staff matters.

‘As Ben English said on Friday we never intended to provoke an incident at the Cairo Takeaway nor to report that its staff are anti-Semitic.

‘And no story has been published.’

We asked them what particular part of their own employees’ accounts was ‘riddled with inaccuracies’ but they refused to elaborate.

We can only imagine their furious denial will further fuel tensions between the masthead’s news execs and its hard-working frontline troops.

As for the reporter at the centre of the whole scandal?

Gusmaroli has been conspicuous in her absence from Holt St this week after being apparently told to take two weeks leave while ‘the dust settles’.

Word is she’s now suggesting the whole ‘investigation’ was never really her idea to begin with – it was the news desk’s brainwave and she was just following orders.

We tried to check in with Gussy too… but it seems she’s gone undercover once again. 

Breaking news… as popular network presenter faces axe 

Here’s one hot off the grapevine and straight to you, dear readers. 

Just as Inside Mail was going to bed on Wednesday night, we received word out of Melbourne that a major radio personality was going to be unceremoniously axed in the morning. 

The unlucky victim in question is a popular and long-serving presenter on Southern Cross Austereo – the once all-powerful media company behind the Triple M and Hit networks.

Although we’ve been briefed on who it is, we’ve refrained from revealing their identity as they’re still to receive the bad news and will only find out about it after their shift wraps up on Thursday. 

Sadly, we can also reveal they will be but the first head to roll as the cash-strapped broadcaster makes $5million worth of budget cuts across its city and country stations in the coming weeks. 

The brutal bloodletting comes just weeks after the start of the official radio ratings season for 2025… and coincides with SCA announcing their half-yearly financial results next week.

And all this while still dilly-dallying on the sale of their remaining TV assets! 

More details to come as the situation develops.  

The Carnival of Karlos in full swing at Nine

Break out the ticker tape and piñatas – because the Carnival of Karlos is under way at Nine’s Denison St headquarters.

The network’s lovestruck execs are so determined to re-sign $3million man and breakfast show star Karl Stefanovic, they’ve pulled out all the stops in a desperate bid to win his affections before his contract expires later this year.

Keen to cover the US election live from Washington, D.C.? You got it, Karl. 

Want to interview Opposition leader Peter Dutton for 60 Minutes? Here’s a film crew. 

The opening round of the NRL season live from Las Vegas, you say? Funny you should mention that – we’ve already booked your business-class airfares.

In fact, at this point, it seems Nine has long given up even trying to play hard to get.

Just last month, they dedicated 11 minutes of airtime to celebrating Stefanovic notching up 20 years as co-host of the Today show.

And as if that wasn’t enough…

Just last week, they dedicated another six-and-a-half minutes to celebrating (you guessed it) Stefanovic notching up 20 years on the Today show.

(Incidentally, neither walk down memory lane took into account the 12 months the tireless entertainer spent on the sidelines in 2018 after the network’s brains trust decided to blow up the brekky show before desperately begging him to make a comeback amid an ensuing ratings nosedive. So, you can probably expect Nine to celebrate Stefanovic notching up 20 years as co-host of the Today show again next year). 

Either way, the déjà vu anniversary segments are not the only bit of history repeating as the station desperately tries to hold on to its main man like a shameless stage-five clinger.

We hear Nine’s determined execs are even looking at launching a new late-night show built around Stefanovic.

‘The term that keeps being used in here is that it’s “under active consideration”,’ one well-placed Nine insider told us.

‘At the moment, the edict from the top is, “Keep Karl happy.” He’s the network’s biggest star.

‘We all know what a disaster it was ratings-wise the last time he disappeared from Today and we can’t afford for that to happen again.

‘So if “keeping him happy” means working up a pitch for a late-night show, or sending him to Las Vegas to cover the rugby league there next month, then we’re doing it.’

If that all sounds a bit familiar, it’s because it is.

The last time Nine was falling over itself this much in a bid to secure Stefanovic’s signature 10 years ago it launched (you guessed it again) a late-night TV show built around him.

That effort, a poorly conceived and executed clone of the ABC’s once-popular Q&A gabfest called The Verdict, was beset from problems almost from the outset when it premiered in October 2015.

Not that any of it was Stefanovic’s fault, mind you: he was simply handed the keys to the late-night vehicle – only to later discover there was no steering wheel as the show careened wildly out of control and its panellists devolved into relentless yelling and screaming matches.

And while that sounds like great car-crash TV, the problem was they were all yelling and screaming at the same time, making it nigh on impossible to comprehend what any one of them was actually yelling and screaming about.

What’s more, for a program that billed itself as The Verdict, it didn’t actually feature any resolution or verdict for the very few viewers prepared to sit through the entire show.

Instead the conversation just fizzled out… much like the program itself, which quietly disappeared from our screens after just eight episodes, never to return.

Nine will certainly have to pitch something better than that when its execs sit down with Stefanovic’s contract whisperer, celebrity accountant Anthony Bell, and talk turkey mid-year.

After all, we hear that, after (almost) 20 years on Today, Nine’s biggest asset is far from afraid to pull the pin and walk away if he’s not completely sold on their latest contract offer.

Welcome to TV’s million-dollar babies

Of course, the big question Nine will be facing is not whether they can afford to offer Stefanovic a new $3million-a-year contract… it’s more likely whether they can afford not to.

Although times are tough in TV land, Nine’s execs know that a little star power is more important than ever as they desperately try to retain their shrinking audiences. 

Indeed, it seems there’s still plenty of money to go around if you’re lucky enough to find yourself in the right place at the right time (the right place being commercial television and right time the breakfast and morning timeslots). 

After all, that’s where most of the members of TV’s exclusive Million-Dollar Club ply their trade. 

Now admittedly, Stefanovic’s Today show co-host and one-time 60 Minutes presenter, Sarah Abo, isn’t quite there yet, with our sources saying she only commands about a quarter of Karl’s annual salary with her network deal valued at $800,000.

But she’s certainly heading in the right direction. 

Indeed, her predecessor and fellow Sixty alum, Allison Langdon, has recently joined the million-dollar club after replacing Tracy Grimshaw as the host of A Current Affair in exchange for $1.1million a year.

Other Nine Network members include TV Lego enthusiast and resident funnyman Hamish Blake, who is the channel’s second-highest earner on $2million a year, and reality renovation star Scott Cam, who rakes in $1.5million for fronting The Block.

Unfortunately, Sydney anchor and the nicest man in television Peter Overton falls just shy of making the cut with his $900,000 deal… and expectations are he will be asked to make something of a salary sacrifice in the near future as the cash-strapped network continues to rob Peter to pay Paul amid ongoing budget dramas.

Across town at Seven, million-dollar club members include Sunrise presenter Natalie Barr, who is rumoured to be on $1.2million, alongside Morning Show hosts Larry Emdur and Kylie Gillies – while fellow brekky set star and former Olympic sprinter Matt Shirvington finds himself in the usual position of being behind the race leaders and trailing the pack on a mere $800,000.

As for Ten? We’re glad you asked. We visited their Pyrmont studios this week and were amazed by just how collegiate everyone is at the off-Broadway network. 

Which is just as well… because as far as we can tell, the best chance someone from Ten has of joining the million-dollar club would be if Waleed Ally, Sarah Harris and Sandra Sully pool their paychecks – all said to be around the $450,000 mark – and share a membership between them. 

Big bank rate cuts all about optics 

Mortgage holders will be grateful for the Reserve Bank’s decision to cut the cash rate on Tuesday. But they should be even more grateful all the big banks rushed to pass the cut on in full.

That doesn’t always happen, as anyone who can remember far back enough to the last time rates were cut knows only too well.

That was nearly five years ago, so it’s understandable if people have forgotten the banks don’t have to do what the RBA does when reducing the cash rate. 

They often only pass some of the cash rate cut on, saving the rest to bolster their margins.

Inside Mail can reveal the race was on between the Big Four banks to put out media releases quickly declaring they were passing the cut on in full, in the hope of being credited as the first bank to move.

Westpac got in first, by the way. None of the Big Four wanted to risk the wrath of our politicians ahead of a federal election by not doing so.

But the public shouldn’t get used to it. 

We hear plans are already afoot within the big banks to do things differently later in the year when further RBA cuts are expected – which will be after the election when the political temperature won’t be so high.

Inside Mail’s victory lap 

Speaking of rate cuts, some self-congratulation is in order. Inside Mail told you last week the RBA Governor had recommended to the board that a 25 basis points cut was in order, exactly as transpired.

It’s nice that the largely outgoing board about to be replaced by Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ hand-picked new appointments did what the guv’nah wanted them to do.

Michele Bullock, of course, has to keep working with both the Labor government (assuming it wins the election) and the new board picks. 

We always assume that RBA boards follow the Governor’s lead when setting the cash rate, but you never know for sure. 

Especially when a sizeable chunk of them are about to receive the heave-ho. 

If rates hadn’t moved, government MPs would have blown more blood vessels than there are economics degrees in Cabinet.

More turmoil for Farmer Wants a Wife

The drama just keeps coming for Seven’s bucolic love contest Farmer Wants A Wife.

First, the show lost its star host, human headline Sam Armytage, after she defected to Nine to present seniors matchmaking show The Golden Bachelor, leaving Natalie Gruzlewski to front the series solo this time around.

Then, Inside Mail revealed the production was beset with problems after one of its rural Romeos, farmer Jack Rowlandson, was allegedly caught romancing a woman who wasn’t even one of the contestants during filming.

Now, we hear the off-air interloper wasn’t the only one to win the former soldier’s heart during filming – and that the 26-year-old professional bull rider and amateur lady juggler was also seeing a few of the show’s contestants at the same time.

And what’s more, it turns out one contestant is secretly an OnlyFans model to boot! Of course, to anyone who has watched MAFS, this all sounds par for the course.

In fact, it’s the sort of thing viewers and advertisers love.

But Farmer has spent years selling itself as a more wholesome, family-friendly alternative to Nine’s no-holds-barred relationship juggernaut, so it’s not exactly ideal.

With the new season in turmoil, Farmer’s cast and crew have been out filming again this week – at great expense – as they desperately try to reduce Jack’s air time and fill gaps.

It’s been quite the challenge – and expense – given Jack, who hails from the tiny town of Oberon, about two-and-a-half hours’ drive west from Sydney on the far side of the Blue Mountains, was expected to be the breakout heart-throb this season.

And this really is just the tip of the iceberg, folks. There’s a lot more to come… 

Seven News’ dance routine raises eyebrows

Questions continue to be raised at Seven about the network’s strange obsession with trying to blur the line between hard news and light entertainment.

The channel last week announced that Spotlight host and weekend anchorman Michael Usher and Melbourne newsreader Karina Carvalho will be joining the cast of the new season of Dancing with the Stars.

The bizarre decision immediately caused consternation among some sections of the network’s newsroom amid concerns it would undermine Seven’s news credibility.

After all, do viewers really want to see supposedly hard-hitting journos burning the boards on a reality dance-off? It’s all a bit embarrassing, if we’re honest.

The new push also undermines a long-standing edict that reality TV and news reporting need to remain separate, with one Seven insider saying the network’s former regime had been adamant that never the twain shall meet.

‘What’s interesting about Musher going on Dancing with the Stars is that it’s such a huge change in Seven strategy,’ one long-time newsroom insider told us.

Indeed, they revealed five-time Walkley Award-winning former Sunday Night reporter Steven Pennells was approached about appearing on one of the network’s reality TV shows back in 2020 and – even though he was apparently intrigued by the concept – it received a resounding ‘no’ from the channel’s news execs.

‘They sounded him about going on The Real Full Monty but the Seven news bosses nixed that because they said mixing hard news and light entertainment wasn’t the look they wanted,’ our insider said.

Not only that but Musher himself was also blocked from doing reality TV several times while Sonia Kruger‘s husband, Craig McPherson, was in charge of 7News.

Alas, there’s a new sheriff in town, and current news boss Anthony De Ceglie clearly sees things differently.

Will viewers share his vision? Who knows – but we’re certainly going to be tuning in for a gander. 

The best things in life are free(bies) 

During the Australian Open we brought to your attention pictures of the housing minister Clare O’Neil taking up residency courtside during the finals… nice seats that would have cost a pretty penny.

At the time, we speculated they were probably freebies, which we can now confirm.

O’Neil’s latest update to her pecuniary interests on Monday includes two tickets to the tennis on January 18 courtesy of Tennis Australia.

Albo, who we know loves his tennis almost as much as he loves freebies, declined such largesse this year. 

His office says that’s because he was too busy campaigning, but the real reason was because he was trying to avoid further media coverage that might make him look out of touch with the common folk, which sitting courtside and stuffing your face with strawberries and cream tends to do.

We asked if Albo watched the Open finals hauled up in a taxpayer-funded hotel room gorging on its minibar in some far-flung marginal seat when it was on, but strangely no one got back to us about it.

Kenty sets the record straight 

Anyone who follows rugby league knows that outspoken commentator Paul Kent isn’t shy about offering up his full and frank thoughts – no matter the subject.

So we were keen to find out what he made of reports this week that a Sydney pub had been rapped over the knuckles for serving him 21 schooners of beer before he ended up in the notorious late-night street brawl that ended his career with Fox Sports last April.

According to Sydney Morning Herald scribe Chris Barrett, the Sackville Hotel in Sydney’s Rozelle has been ordered to give its staff a crash course in the responsible service of alcohol following a surprising government probe into the ugly incident.

‘Liquor and Gaming NSW has completed an investigation following a complaint regarding the Sackville Hotel, where a patron consumed an excessive amount of mid-strength beer over an 11-hour period on April 27, 2024,’ a spokesperson said.

But according to Kenty, that’s not quite right.

He reckons he actually had 22 beers on the night… and, what’s more, he maintains they were all full strength.

And, look, we know better than to argue with the man, so we’ll take his word for it.

We’re just glad he’s going to be back on the airwaves and doing what he does best – talking footy – when he launches his new podcast, appropriately named Kenty, in time for the opening round of the season next month.

Love him or love to hate him, the fella has earned a fierce following by refusing to pull any punches or shy away from debate when it comes to the great game.

So what can we expect from the new series? 

Well, it will debut on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram and Kent expects to upload two shows a week – with the first featuring him sitting down with good mate and colourful league identity John Elias.

As for the format?

‘It’ll be just me – and whoever comes on with me – talking footy much like what I used to do on NRL 360,’ he told us.

‘It won’t be an interview, sit-down-type show.

‘It’ll be getting into the issues of rugby league and lifting the lid on what’s happening behind the scenes with people, clubs, players and all the rest of it, like I used to do.

‘I know I’m not everyone’s cup of tea but there’s an audience out there that appreciates the fact I never pander to the big clubs and the big voices in the game.

‘A lot of people are afraid – even when they’re right – of saying something that might upset somebody because the person is sensitive, or the person will use that against them or not talk to them any longer, or all those sorts of silly games that get played in the relationships between media and clubs and players in the game.

‘I don’t buy into any of that. I have never pretended to be anything I wasn’t – and I’m never going to.

‘I don’t always get things right. People make mistakes – I certainly have – but all you can do is learn from them.

‘I think rugby league needs authenticity and that’s what my podcast is going to be: authentic.’

Onya, Kenty. Great to see you back in the game.

Nine’s investigation into Seb Costello drags on

Here’s a bit of insider knowledge on what makes journos tick… they love (and we mean love) to boast about how long it takes them to finish a yarn.

Newspapers and television are replete with humble-brags about stories ‘four months in the making’ and ‘six-month investigations’ – as if the quantity of time spent on them somehow underscores their quality.

Call us crazy, but we’d be far more impressed if they told us their investigation was so red hot and irrefutably damning they’d managed to knock it over in a single afternoon. Now that’s something that would truly be worth gloating about!

Still, we have to confess, even we’re impressed that Nine has managed to drag out its meandering, slow-moving internal probe into a ‘bounce’ involving one of its own reporters, Seb Costello, for a quarter of a year.

Believe it or not, coming next week, the A Current Affair star will have been on paid leave – along with his camo – for three months as the media company continues to investigate a wild on-camera chase that ended in the ladies’ lavatories of an inner-city Melbourne hotel last November.

The alleged clash unfolded when Costello took property developer Peter Aquino to Oak Capital’s inner-city headquarters to confront the private lending executives he blamed for the collapse of his business after he was unable to meet exorbitant 18 per cent interest rates allegedly steeped on his 2022 loan.

So the whole premise seems reasonable enough.

But when Costello and Aquino spotted Oak Capital case manager Mo Ahmed in the foyer of the opulent office block, the finance boss was not taking questions.

Instead, he ran off along the city’s bustling Collins Street and into the nearby Intercontinental Hotel, where he tried to hide from Costello and ACA’s cameras in the women’s lavatory.

Costello and his crew allegedly followed Ahmed into the toilets where they continued to pepper him with queries about his company’s lending practices.

Oak Capital has since levelled serious allegations against Nine and Costello, accusing the high-profile reporter of assaulting Ahmed after following him into the latrines – while Costello has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing whatsoever. 

Ironically, Nine’s investigation into the bounce has now taken more than three times as long as Costello’s investigation did to begin with.

The lengthy internal review stands in stark contrast to the network’s comparatively brisk three-day probe into Alex Cullen after the former Today show sports presenter last month famously accepted a $50,000 payment into his personal bank account for taking part in some foolish stunt involving a Melbourne raffle ticket seller.

So, is this good or bad news for Costello?

Well, the jury is still out on that one. 

On the one hand, we couldn’t help but notice he scored a mention on an industry-wide email Nine sent out via Telum Media on Monday confirming their staff line-up for the year ahead.

The dispatch stated, ‘A Current Affair has confirmed its current editorial team’… before rattling off the show’s various chiefs of staffs, reporters and producers across its Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane bureaus.

And there Costello was, quietly listed as the fourth and final ‘confirmed’ reporter in the Melbourne newsroom after Alexis Dais, Georgia Westgarth and Sam Cucchiara.

However, on the other hand, sources at Nine said the email list meant very little and there were far bigger factors at play. Hmmm, well, that does all sounds rather ominous.

We asked Nine for an official update and were told that, for now, the investigation remains officially ongoing. So make of that what you will.  

Unexpected entrant in race to replace Alex Cullen 

Speaking of Cullen and the sports-presenter-shaped void his departure has left on the Today show…

Although highly regarded Gympie girl Roz Kelly continues to be touted as the hot favourite to take on the gig, Nine has been rapidly extending the number of presenters being road tested in the role.

What’s the hold up? Well, we’re told the network’s nervous execs are keen to maintain a gender-balanced hosting line-up on the show.

Apparently, they fear surrounding headline star Karl Stefanovic with a third woman in addition to co-host Sarah Abo and newsreader Jayne Azzopardi would look a little off-kilter.

To that end, the network last week gave both Stan Sports’ Brisbane-based rugby union presenter Michael Atkinson and Sydney sports reporter Zac Bailer the chance to prove themselves and stake a claim on the role.

However, this week the plot – and competition – thickened, with Olympic golden girl Cate Campbell also being given an opportunity to audition for the position, proving possession of a Y chromosome might not be a prerequisite after all.

Just as well because when it comes to medal tallies, the retired swim star also laps rival brekky show Sunrise’s resident Olympian Matt Shirvington. 

(For those keeping count, she has eight Olympic medals, including four golds, and another eight Commonwealth medals, six of which are gold, against Shirvo’s single Commonwealth Games bronze).

Will Campbell be able to beat Shirvo in the ratings if she lands the gig? Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet… but she certainly does like to win.

Bad news for Seven struggling digital staffers

A quick update on our comrades-in-arms over at 7News.com.au.

We recently revealed the digital news offering was running on fumes after 40 per cent of its staff were given their marching orders, including popular head of digital Brett McKeehan, last year.

Indeed, we hear McKeehan was tasked with breaking the bad news to affected employees before then kindly showing himself out.

The few who survived the purge were understandably less than impressed with their new work-life balance and started voting themselves off the island, with editor-in-chief Frances Sheen, deputy editor Alex Chapman, production editor Chris Hook, morning editor Olivia Lambert, Queensland editor Warren Barnsley, national reporter Rhiannon Lewin, digital producer Ailish Delaney, Adelaide reporter Sowaibah Hanifie and entertainment reporter Georgie Kearney all exiting within a matter of months.

But fret not, you precious few who remain, reinforcements are on the way… eventually… just not this financial year.

In another bitter blow for the overworked, under-appreciated website’s staffers, we hear that Seven has spent so much money making journos redundant they can’t actually afford to hire any new ones. 

At least not until their annual budget resets in July. 

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again – it’s just as well there’s a revolving door out the front of the company’s Media City headquarters… because we hear there could be even more departures coming very soon of the back of that disappointing news.

Karl’s kiss of death (and mine) 

With the election just around the corner Peter Dutton is working on his image, which is why he did a profile piece with Karl Stefanovic for 60 Minutes last Sunday.

We thought he came across pretty well, but is Karl the kiss of death for leaders looking to improve their image?

Scott Morrison did the same ahead of the 2022 election but lost, and the then-PM’s personal unpopularity was the problem.

If Karl is the kiss of death again, he’ll help Inside Mail’s humble political writer break his own kiss-of-death streak. 

Peter van Onselen infamously said ScoMo had no chance of winning in 2019 (wrong), before predicting he couldn’t lose in 2022 (wrong). 

He now says Albo will beat Dutton and form minority government. 

If the Karl curse is real, PVO’s predictions will at least be 2-1…

The late mail…  

And finally before we go… it’s the internal all-staff email that has set tongues viciously wagging in some corners of Nine’s fiercely divided newsrooms as the media giant’s television and publishing division continue to slug it out for corporate supremacy. 

The contents of the email are positive enough – promoting a ‘Meet The Trailblazers’ panel of some of the company’s most successful and inspirational female journos and execs all in time for International Women’s Day.

The ’round robin group sessions’ will give up-and-coming staffers the chance to pick the brains of Today host Sarah Abo, finance commentator Effie Zahos, news legend Kate McClymont, TV news boss Fiona Dear, Nine publishing chief Tory Maguire and company HR lead Vanessa Morley. 

What a great initiative – after all, they’re all amazingly accomplished professionals. 

However, it seems some ultra-sensitive souls aren’t overly impressed by the perceived pecking order pictured on the electronic flyer. 

Indeed, we hear more than a few extremely loyal staffers in the publishing division are furious Maguire wasn’t given top billing on the first line of headshots in recognition of her senior standing at Nine.

Of course, having worked with the gun journo many moons ago at Holt St, we know that just about the last thing the down-to-earth news exec would be worried about is the placement of her headshot.

Still, nice to know your staffers have your back, right?