#channelnine

MasterChef Australia…S11….end of an era…..

I love watching Masterchef Australia. This season more than the previous. And that also follows a pattern. An incremental annual growth of interest!

But this season with the judges controversy rocking the telly, it just got more personal.

And the last two seasons made me ponder: Is there a pattern in Masterchef Australia? Specially over the last two seasons?

As a die-hard fan of the…

It took all of a couple of days before the news of Lisa Wilkinson's departure from Channel Nine, and arrival at Channel 10, turned from being about women's empowerment to being about women's competitiveness.

The "news" headlines today reek of jealousy behind the scenes – Carrie Bickmore is FUMING that Lisa Wilkinson is joining The Project; Carrie Bickmore is "pissed off" that Lisa Wilkinson will be paid more than her. Because how DARE two intelligent, charming, talented women share screen space! How DARE a journalist with over 35 years of experience (including being the youngest magazine editor at age 21) be paid her worth!

This is a situation where women are congratulating Wilkinson on her courage to stand up for pay parity. Where women around the nation are feeling inspired and galvanised that they too can stand up for equality! Yet, it took media outlets about 15 seconds to twist the story into nasty gossip – one swift move to knock the women of Australia back down… because that is where we belong right? How can we cheer for each other? How dare motivation stir in our bellies? We are vicious, nasty people – we don't applaud each other's success, we break each other down so we can stand on top of the bodies we have left behind because 'I am better than she is' is the only way to be seen!

No Australian media… just, no. Turn to Twitter, turn to Instagram, turn to the fact that it took about 3 seconds for the #IbreakupwithToday hashtag to generate – which people around the nation used to show their support for Lisa Wilkinson, and their admiration for Channel Ten for knowing a good thing when they see it. Have a glance at Carrie Bickmore's Instagram, her Twitter – the uninhibited warmth exuding from her posts, congratulating her colleague and friend. Celebrate a new chapter for The Project – give space on your websites to articles using Wilkinson's decision as an example of women's capabilities, to highlight the gaps in our society – not to fuel unnecessary, and unwarranted, gossip.

Dare I ask - would this happen if a Lisa Wilkinson was a male media personality? A hypothetical, Louis Wilkinson, if you will – left his job because he wasn't paid the same as his female co-host… HA HA, I can't even finish this analogy because it is so ridiculous. We wouldn't even get to the competitive, pitting both hosts against each other phase, because this situation would not occur if Lisa was Louis.

#PerthGirlBoss 3: Caty Price

If you have ever watched the sports report on Channel 10 or Foxtel in the past or more recently Getaway WA on Channel 9 than you would be familiar with Caty Price. I’ve had the pleasure to get to know Caty when travelling around India a few years ago and not only is she a greatly respected journalist but she is also one of the most down to earth and lovely people I know. After working at Channel…