1 week ago
14
I have enormous admiration for genuinely good journalists.
The ones who listen more than they talk, unafraid to ask tough questions or endure uncomfortable silences - knowing that's when people truly open up.
I admire journos who are authentic and fearless, whether you agree with them or not - because, frankly, they don't care either way. They've survived fast-paced newspapers and high-pressure newsrooms, have an unerring nose for a story and know exactly how to chase it.
They care about truth, not popularity, and that makes them stand out.
Which is why I sat through every single minute - all fifty of them - of Karl's recent episode on The Karl Stefanovic Podcast.
It wasn't out of any appetite for the Karlos Worldwide Pity Party. To be honest, I think he lost most of us this week, whining about his sacking from Nine while lounging on a superyacht in Cannes - as the rest of us are coughing through winter in Australia.
Not at all.
I tuned in for his guest: Piers Morgan.
I didn't tune in for Karl, but for Piers. Yet it was something Karl said about his wife that stopped me cold, says Amanda Goff. (Karl and Piers pictured on the yacht where they recorded the pod)
Like him, loathe him, or admire the hell out of him (or possibly all three), Piers is a bloody good journalist.
He would have absolutely no idea who I am, but I remember Piers well.
Decades ago, when I was a young journalist working for the cut-throat British tabloids, I scored a gig freelancing on the Matthew Wright column, a hugely successful showbiz column published by the Daily Mirror newspaper.
The editor then was Piers Morgan.
I was young, green and impressionable - and Piers was already a big name on Fleet Street. Like me, he'd started out on newspapers in South London, and he made a real impression: demanding but fair, respected and respectful, polite with a wicked sense of humour.
His no-nonsense style - the way he always said exactly what he thought - left a mark on me.
So, Piers, if you're reading this; thanks. I know the superyacht is yours mate - and you've earned it.
But no matter how much I respect Piers, there was one moment in that Karl-and-Piers chat that stopped me cold.
Amanda Goff says Karl Stefanovic made his wife Jasmine look like a fool in his recent podcast interview with Piers Morgan. (The couple is pictured together)
'Jasmine is a 42-year-old fashion designer who's operated at the top end of fashion and luxury branding - and she's been married to a media star for eight years,' writes Amanda Goff
No, it wasn't the gold chains glinting on Karl's tanned chest in the balmy Cannes breeze, or his half-unbuttoned denim shirt.
It was the moment that made me hit pause, rewind and play again. And in case you missed it, this is the line living rent-free in my head:
Piers simply asked if Karl had felt emotional since losing his two-decade run as Today host after that infamous Tommy Robinson interview.
'Just my wife…' Karl began, his eyes filling up. 'She puts up with a lot. Her finding out this stuff and having to deal with me, because I'm a lot and I'm in the public a lot.
'I really do work hard and I'm away a bit… and she's on her own a bit. And for me to hear her upset, it was the hardest thing.'
Fair enough, I guess. But there's more...
'Jasmine was really upset at first and she was like "I don't understand how you can do an interview and get sacked as a result of it."'
Karl, Karl, Karl. Mate. You just threw your poor wife under the bus and made her look foolish - and I know she's anything but.
In painting himself as the bewildered victim, he ended up making his smart, accomplished wife sound as if she couldn't grasp the basics of commercial TV.
And sorry, Karlos, but I'm not buying it.
Whatever your view on whether Nine overreacted or should have stood by you, most people can see why things unfolded the way they did.
Nine isn't a charity; it's a commercial TV network, which lives and dies by advertisers, shareholders and reputation – that's how its thousands of employees get paid.
When one of its biggest stars sits down with one of Britain's most polarising figures - a convicted criminal, no less - it doesn't take a master's degree in media to work out that there may be consequences.
Whether or not I agree with Karl's choice of guest is beside the point - I'll always defend his right to interview whomever he likes. But that's not the issue here. It's the implication that Karl's wife, Jasmine, is some naïve twenty-year-old just out of TAFE stumbling into the media world.
She's not. Jasmine is a 42-year-old fashion designer who's operated at the top end of fashion and luxury branding - and she's been married to a media star for eight years.
If anyone understands that brands are built on public perception and advertisers can be skittish, you'd assume she would.
Which leaves me scratching my head.
Either Jasmine is genuinely perplexed as to why Nine might have had an issue - which I simply don't believe – or Karl, trying to strengthen his own victim narrative, has made his own spouse sound like a clueless housewife.
Daily Mail columnist Amanda Goff (pictured) worked with Piers Morgan at the beginning of her career - and says there's a big difference between him and Karl Stefanovic
And neither is a particularly flattering look, is it?
And you see, that's why Piers and Karl are in a different league.
Karl clearly fancies himself as Australia's answer to Piers Morgan. For context: Piers was axed from ITV's Good Morning Britain after saying he didn't believe Meghan Markle's every word in her Oprah interview about the Royals. Meghan complained to the CEO; Piers was told to apologise or walk. He walked - and honestly, good on him.
That's genuine censorship.
But Karl was booted for an interview on his own podcast, while still under contract with Nine, making their advertisers squirm in a climate where organised advertiser boycotts like the Mad F**king Witches are a genuine threat to people's livelihoods – and that includes all Karl's 'mates' at Nine.
A clear-cut commercial decision.
But this isn't about whether you side with Karl - and I know most readers are pro-Karl. For the record, I'm not anti-Karl; I'm just allergic to bulls***.
As I've written before, I'm conservative, anti-woke, anti-cancel culture and firmly pro–freedom of speech, whoever's speaking.
Piers made his name editing red-tops, hunting exclusives and grilling the world's most powerful people. He's never tried to win popularity, and he certainly doesn't play the victim. He's made mistakes, been sacked for them, owned them and moved on.
I highly doubt Nine's bosses just woke up one morning and sacked Karl because they 'hated freedom'.
They booted him because the financial risk of keeping him on air outweighed the cost and reputational damage of giving him the flick.
You'd think that would be fairly easy to grasp – even if you are a die-hard Karlos supporter.
Pretending no one can possibly understand why it happened insults the intelligence of the audience.
Including, apparently, his own wife.
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