Beaconsfield Media

Listening to the ABC's Media Report from a couple of weeks ago - about the time of the rescue of the Beaconsfield Miners - gave some insight into how the hordes of journalists were managed on site. For example, SMS alerts were used to advise when press conferences would be held otherwise it would have been difficult to co-ordinate the media who were spread throughout the town including, it seems, "hiding in trees".
The program also raised the issue of Cheque Book journalism - and that who won the exclusive television rights to the Miners' story depended in part on the personalities the networks could front. Once David Koch (Channel 7 personality) had been invited into the back of an ambulance bearing one of the rescued miners, Channel 9 apparently realised it would need to send its biggest gun (Eddie McGuire, also known as Eddie Everywhere) to have any chance of securing the deal ... which they did - supposedly for $2.something million. Little wonder then that the Nine Network has recently announced that it will be shedding 100 jobs (aka people) from its news and current affairs division, mostly from its Sydney office.
Other interesting points made:
* The miners survived 5 days - then they had all the mod cons albeit in very cramped conditions (!! and without bathroom facilities)
* It was estimated that the deal broker for the Miners' story would have earned 20%-30% commission. (I suppose there's no way of telling if that is true or not.)