Nine Publishing, which is how the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age refer to themselves since merging with Nine Entertainment, proposed running a four-part series, Climate Change Awareness in Australia, between 22 and 31 October.

The Science Of Climate Change; Climate Change: How Can You Help?; The Climate Change Reality and Climate Change Awareness In Australia were the four topics covered by the liftout sections.

Nine has been writing to interested not-for-profits and businesses, offering them a chance to be included in said climate special, via an interview with one of their – and we quote “Credible Journalists”.

“We are giving businesses the opportunity to promote themselves aligned with articles that interested readers will find relevant,” campaign manager

Renwick Horde said.

“Your ad will sit below an article on the feature title and topic. Your investment includes an interview with the journalist and editorial mention. Nine retains control of all content.”

Special features include a “One on One interview with a Journalist” and “Exclusive mention in the editorial”.

All this exposure comes at a cost though: $5,500 for one or $10,000 for both papers. The climate series is what is referred to as an advertising feature in the newspaper business. Paid content is a common revenue-raising product used by most media companies, including the Guardian, especially since digital disruption hit.

But one of the not-for-profits approached was not impressed by Nine’s commercial approach “in the middle of a climate crisis” and at a time when more than 250 newsrooms are boosting their climate coverage in the global initiative Covering Climate Now.

“It’s a struggle to get the climate crisis properly reported,” Climate and Health Alliance’s executive director, Fiona Armstrong, said.

“It is rare to see a news story on the health impacts of climate change, which are already affecting the lives of people in Australia, and around the world, every day.

“There is no way we could afford the $10,000 we were told it would cost to get our work covered in both papers.”

It shouldn’t be up to non-profits like us to bear the cost of critical climate coverage. While @TheAge & @SMH are not yet part of @CoveringClimate, other outlets are, like @Guardian & @Croakey, and they frequently cover climate without asking us to pay. — Climate and Health Alliance (@healthy_climate) October 7, 2019

Hours after we approached Nine for a comment the series was “revoked”.

“Like all major media companies, including the Guardian, BBC and News Corp, we sell clearly labelled sponsored content,” a spokesman said.

“In this case, a third party company we work with pitched this advertorial with no involvement from editorial. We chose to revoke the proposal after reviewing it and finding it did not meet the standards that apply to sponsored content within our publications.

“Our journalists are not involved in sponsored content, just as the Guardian’s staff journalists are not involved in its extensive advertorial operations.”

As two of the booking deadlines for copy and payment had already passed, this is indeed an 11th-hour decision.

None too subtle Courier-Mail

If you’ve ever wondered how pressure is put on young reporters to approach an assignment in a particular way, a Courier-Mail editor has given us a none too subtle glimpse into the process.

While rookie reporter Chloe Read was on the road tweeting professionally about street protests in Brisbane, a senior editor back in the newsroom had different ideas.

Damien Tomlinson, a seasoned night editor who appears regularly on Sky News as a media commentator, had already decided how the protesters would be viewed by the Murdoch paper.

He urged his Twitter followers to follow Read for news about Extinction Rebellion’s movements in Brisbane.

Follow @cloe_read for updates on the climate nutters in Brisbane. She has dived on a stink bomb for all of us to report on the crazies this week https://t.co/WbnVoFmJM7 — Damien Tomlinson (@DamTom79) October 9, 2019

“Follow Chloe for updates on the climate nutters in Brisbane,” he urged. “She has dived on a stink bomb for all of us to report on the crazies this week.”

Before social media, editors made this sort of comment in front of junior staff at the news desk, which imparted a similar message of how to view a story. These days it’s just a lot more public.

Buttrose rattles Bolt

Ita Buttrose is fast becoming as prolific a media commentator as Mark Scott was when he was ABC managing director.

This week the chair of the public broadcaster did the rounds of ABC shows to talk up the corporation’s interactive tool Australia Talks, which tracks our social attitudes to a range of topics.

As the former magazine publisher and editor has an opinion on just about everything, she managed to make news for saying political correctness had gone too far while also decrying that the media was too white.

Which was all too contradictory for News Corp commentators Tim Blair and Andrew Bolt. They agreed with her first point but railed against her second.

“Pick one, Ita,” Blair pleaded. “Politically correct racial quotas or fun. Because you can’t have both.”

Ita Buttrose: ‘I really resent the constant harping of our critics. I resent some of the comments about us.’ Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Bolt seized on her point about the lack of diversity in the media to argue that Buttrose’s position provides “cover to the leftists who’ve purged the ABC of conservatives”.

In a thinly veiled reference to News Corp, in particular the Australian, which has been waging a war with Aunty since Rupert was a boy, Buttrose said: “I really resent the constant harping of our critics. I resent some of the comments about us. You’d be lost if you couldn’t fill your pages with us.”

Right on cue, Bolt gave Buttrose what she hates the most.

Bolt: “But whether the ABC presenter is a white, Jewish old guy like [Jon] Faine or a brown, Muslim younger guy like [Waleed] Aly doesn’t change the ABC’s politics.

“Both are anti-Trump, anti-conservative global-warming alarmists.

“And when Faine quits the ABC this week, he’ll be replaced by a woman, Virginia Trioli, who is – politically speaking – a Faine in skirts.

“It’s brilliant. The more diverse the ABC becomes – more women! more Muslims! more Asians! – the less diverse its politics.”

Faine in skirts? We’re sure Trioli appreciated that description.

A costly exit

The former ABC managing director, Michelle Guthrie, cost the ABC more than just upheaval and negative headlines. She walked away with $1.64m after she was sacked by the board, but the bills at Aunty kept rolling in.

Guthrie was paid $911,917 – just over one year’s salary – when her employment was terminated halfway into her five-year tenure last September, and an extra $730,000 when she sued for wrongful dismissal.

‘The former ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie cost the ABC more than just upheaval and negative headlines.’ Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

But just before Christmas she filed a lawsuit claiming the board’s decision to dismiss her from her role was unfair.

The legal action the ABC had to take to ward off a potential legal bill of $2m for a full-blown court case was revealed this week when a freedom of information request was published.

Now FOI documents reveal the ABC spent another $233,913.66 on legal advice from Minter Ellison fighting her legal action.

ABC searches for savings

Guthrie’s successor, David Anderson, was left not just with a massive legal bill and associated fallout from Guthrie’s turmoil, but a budget cut imposed by the Coalition, which came into effect this financial year. The cut had a first-year impact of $14.6m, and is on top of the $254m the ABC has had to absorb in efficiency cuts over the past five years.

Anderson told staff this week that he had already found some savings – to the tune of $17m – to make a dent in the $84m hole over the next three years.

Some money was found by renegotiating the deal with Foxtel, which saw the ABC’s channels retransmitted on the pay-TV platform, and a new deal which will see ABC iview join the suite of on-demand services such as Netflix that are available through Foxtel’s IQ3 and IQ4 set-top boxes.

Now Anderson is looking at the ABC’s property assets to free up some cash.

“We will also undertake reviews of our property portfolio and our acquisitions expenditure to achieve further savings,” Anderson said.