The FTA: How the media let Latham off the hook

Rather they decided and then reported, as news, that Mr Latham, in defending the PBS, had outwitted the prime minister and he was therefore ahead in the opinion stakes.

True, but only because they, the journalists had decided to abdicate their function and to treat a serious issue as a sport, influenced no doubt by their clear disdain for John Howard.

Irresponsibly and negligently, the greater part of the media decided that the easiest way out was to award a victory, on points, to Mark Latham.

Ironically, Mark Latham is apparently not the man to remember a good turn. His recent attack on a Daily Telegraph reporter who tried to photo him with his boys in a public place is testimony to this. He should remember that a public figure has to expect greater scrutiny than a private person. As they say, if you don’t like the heat, don’t go into the kitchen.

And unlike Cheryl Kernot who did leave but then went back into it with her book, Mark Latham never left it.

His book, and his generous, taxpayer-funded, very early retirement on the grounds of ill health, ensure that he has remained a public figure par excellence. To stop being a public figure, he has to wait until his book and his media interventions recede from the public memory, and until he chooses to come off the public purse.

Until then, the media is entitled to report on all matters about him of public interest. As a public figure, he remains entitled to some privacy, but being photographed innocuously in a public place is hardly a breach of this.