More Media Lies

During the run up to a state election in Queensland, Australia, the Queensland newspaper The Sunday Mail and Sydney's Sunday Telegraph published photographs of a woman posing semi-naked on a hotel bed 30 years ago and claimed that they were photos of anti-immigration politician Pauline Hanson.


It was alleged that the photos were taken by a former boyfriend, Jack Johnson, that the pair had met at a Brisbane supermarket before the saucy photo shoot at a Coffs Harbour hotel, the Pelican Bay Resort, in 1975.

Ms Hanson, who was standing as an independent candidate for the seat of Beaudesert at the following weekend's Queensland election, stated that the photographs were fakes.

The Telegraph's editor Neil Breen stated that the photos were authentic, even though he admitted there were holes in the story given by the man News Ltd paid $15,000 to for the pictures. Mr Breen said he knew his job was at stake if the photos were found to be fake.

Today, after the election has taken place, Editors from News Limited (part of Rupert Murdoch's media empire) admitted that they had been conned and that the images were not of Ms Hanson.

Bit late for an apology now, the damage has been done. Ms Hanson failed to gain a seat at the election.

Of course the cynical amongst us may think that that was the newspaper's plan all along.