Sky News couple split… Plus, Pedestrian and Time Out's week from hell as editor hits the pub at 3pm after takeover – and real reason Albo is protecting Anika Wells: INSIDE MAIL

Watch your step

Newsroom nerves at Pedestrian after parent company Nine Entertainment offloaded the youth publisher to the ASX-listed Vinyl Group Ltd for a 'nominal' sum.

Vinyl has been on a buying spree of late: in the same week it snapped up Pedestrian, it also bought Time Out Australia, adding to its roster of brands and licences that include Val Morgan Digital, Mediaweek, Rolling Stone and more.

Within the bunker at Pedestrian and Time Out, there are rumblings that jobs might not exactly be safe, given Vinyl's track record of cutting senior editorial roles you'd expect to be untouchable.

Only a week ago, Vinyl's head of editorial Sarah Chapman was given her marching orders after 10 months in the role. Mediaweek's head of editorial Duane Hatherly was also lost in the restructure, with the exits taking staff by surprise, reports Mumbrella.

It follows Mediaweek editor-in-chief (and former Daily Mail showbiz reporter) Emma Shepherd losing her job, and former owner James Manning being shown the door.

Signs of fat-trimming are already afoot at Pedestrian. We are aware of at least one role – maternity leave cover – that wasn't renewed a few weeks ago due to the sale.

However, we do note that the outlet did recently hire someone new: social-first content producer Sakara Bell, whose appointment was announced just last week.

'3pm for a drink is early but it's been A Day. If you know you know,' Treasure wrote

As for Time Out, Sydney editor Avril Treasure posted a sombre Instagram Story on Wednesday painting a bleak picture of things on the day the Vinyl deal was announced.

She captioned a picture of a Negroni and wrote: '3pm for a drink is early but it's been A Day. If you know you know.'

Treasure was contacted for comment. 

It's a tough time for publishers at the moment, but Vinyl's strategy seems to be to overcome audience decline with an aggressive consolidation play.

Smart, on paper. But what this means for the content and the people paid to produce it remains to be seen.

There are clear signs in Vinyl's strategy materials of a major shift towards AI-assisted publishing, including references to an 'internally developed AI publishing suite'.

At an investor presentation last October, the group revealed plans to increase content output by ten times using the technology.

Still, adding Time Out to the roster may ultimately cut against this strategy. If it's meant to serve as a genuine alternative to ChatGPT for people whose weekends begin with the question, 'What should I do today?', then it needs a sense of editorial curation. Without that human touch, it lacks the authority of being a trusted guide.

What the acquisition means for Pedestrian is unclear. We've heard of one temporary role that wasn't renewed a few weeks ago due to the sale; however, the youth outlet did recently hire content producer Sakara Bell (pictured), whose appointment was announced just last week

Vinyl's biggest shareholder is WiseTech founder Richard White (left, with wife Zena Nasser), who believes that AI agents are better than pesky humans

As for Pedestrian, we wish them the best. The media half of Inside Mail got his first role in Australia through its job listings. Some of their headlines were genuinely funny.

But given that Vinyl's biggest shareholder is WiseTech founder Richard White, who believes that AI agents are better than pesky humans, we'd certainly be worried.

However, one of Pedestrian's co-founders remains optimistic that the publisher can be steered into smoother waters under Vinyl's ownership, and that improved revenue can then be poured back into journalism.

Chris Wirasinha, who co-founded Linkby after exiting Pedestrian, told Inside Mail on Wednesday: 'Nine have been fantastic stewards of Pedestrian, managing the business through tough economic conditions, including Covid and some of the broader challenges facing media.

'Vinyl are ambitious and have been able to bring together some iconic brands. Having a strong owned and operated masthead like Pedestrian will only help move them towards a sustainable and profitable model that can reinvest back into talent.'

We hope he's right.

Pedestrian's Editorial Director Alex Bruce-Smith was contacted for comment.

P.S. Another of Pedestrian's co-founders will always be a favourite of Inside Mail's after he was at the centre of some truly immortal gossip more than a decade ago.

In December 2015, Oscar Martin bought a 1.23-carat engagement ring for his then-girlfriend, Megan Blake-Irwin, for $33,800. The jewel later ended up for sale on Facebook's 'High End' buy, swap and sell page after the engagement ended abruptly.

'Note this ring was worn for one week only,' Martin's post read. Ouch!

Understandably, many of the comments were people asking what caused the split. That answer has been lost to the annals of time, though we note Blake-Irwin swiftly moved overseas after the break-up and was linked to reality star Scott Disick.

The changes at Pedestrian reminded us of co-founder Oscar Martin's explosive 2015 break-up with model Megan Blake-Irwin, which played out in Facebook's 'High End' buy-and-sell page

How to win friends and influence people

You've all read the story.

A bloke from the Gold Coast caught his partner in bed with his 19-year-old son, filmed them together and splashed the real-life soap opera all over Instagram.

After the Daily Mail spoke exclusively to the three parties in the tawdry saga, News.com.au was right on the case.

A young reporter for the outlet slid into the DMs of the man at the centre of the tale, Levi Hilton, and his opening gambit was more than a little snake-like.

Not only did the journo's text include the strong implication that he didn't want to do the yarn ('I've been asked to do our version'), but he tried to hoodwink Hilton into firing up by suggesting that the Mail's coverage was not fair and balanced.

'They've kind of ragged you which seems pretty rough given the circumstances so would be nice to be able to share your side of the story a bit more,' wrote the reporter.

Quite the contrary! Far from 'ragging' anyone, Hilton was given ample opportunity to respond and his statements were included in our story.

So how did Hilton respond to News.com.au's selfless offer to set the record straight? By posting the reporter's message on Instagram – including his work email address!

The name's Bond

Brace yourself, mature ladies. Caleb Bond is back on the market.

The Sky News Australia host, who openly concedes he has 'a thing for older women', has quietly split from his latest girlfriend, Clare Rowe.

Inside Mail first reported his relationship with the columnist and psychologist, who is 15 years his senior, in January 2025.

Rowe is a contributor to Sky News and we were reliably informed they met through her appearances on the station.

But sadly it wasn't meant to be. Bond and the mother-of-one split some months ago.

Sky News Australia host Caleb Bond, who openly concedes he has 'a thing for older women', has quietly split from his latest girlfriend, Clare Rowe 

Bond  is pictured with (L-R) Sharri Markson, Paul Murray, Caroline Marcus and Joe Hildebrand

Rowe still makes appearances on Sky so it looks like there are no hard feelings. We asked Bond about the split and he wouldn't comment.

Bond's love life has long intrigued his media peers – a fascination that can be traced to a curious 2023 Good Weekend interview with his then-partner, Rosie Waterland.

Waterland revealed she first connected with Bond over Twitter in 2016 – when he was still an unassuming 'skinny teenager' of just 17 years making a name for himself as the country's youngest conservative commentator, and she was 30. 

They met in person for the first time three years later, in 2019, to 'see if the chemistry translated from typing to talking'. 

It did. 

Bond said they found themselves locked away in 'a hotel room and didn't leave for five days'. (Yikes, that sure is a lot of talking.)

'We just clicked,' he said. 'By the end of the week we were a couple. 

'Months later, in March 2020, I drove from Adelaide to Sydney to visit her. Just as I'd driven over the border, it was closed because of Covid: I had no option but to move in.  

'If you want to work out whether you work as a couple, being thrown together literally 24/7 for three months will tell you. By the end, we said, "Well, if we can do that, we can probably survive anything!"'

Or not. Within weeks of opening up about their relationship, the couple split up. 

SHARK! tanks

Things aren't looking good for Channel Nine's big new format, SHARK!

Ratings are soft, it hasn't even aired in Western Australia due to recent attacks, and on Monday night it was yanked for a Richard Scolyer tribute special.

Scolyer's story is inspiring and deserves airtime. But let's be real: if SHARK! was going gangbusters, that special would've been shunted to 8:30pm. You can bet Nine would never have bumped Married At First Sight for it.

The fact that Nine so readily sidelined SHARK! says it all. They know they've got a dud, and now the network faces a very big call about a second season.

Here's the behind-the-scenes reality: networks striking deals for new shows are often locked into two-season contracts with production companies. That's because the set-up costs are huge and no one turns a profit until at least season two.

Networks striking deals for new shows are often locked into two-season contracts with production companies. This may mean Channel Nine has to bring back ratings flop SHARK! for round two. (Tammy Hembrow, a contestant on SHARK!, is pictured)

There's always a hefty financial penalty if the network axes a show after one season. That's why so many flops limp to a second go.

ITV, the production company, will be expecting another season – and yet Nine might just bite the bullet and pull the plug.

Unlike the UK version, which was axed purely for poor ratings, Nine also has to grapple with Australia's all-too-frequent shark attacks. Recent incidents in WA already forced the network to quietly swap SHARK!'s launch for Travel Guides reruns.

And then there's Nine's bold prediction that influencers would bring in viewers. At the Screen Forever conference on the Gold Coast, Nine's Head of Content, Production and Development, Adrian Swift, talked up their influencer strategy.

He singled out SHARK! cast member Tammy Hembrow, an Instagram superstar with 17 million followers, saying: 'If half her audience comes to the show, it's the biggest success ever online.'

Spoiler: they didn't, and it wasn't.

Untouchable  

A question increasingly echoing from the halls of power to suburban pubs: why won’t the Prime Minister sack Anika Wells? 

In what appears to be a rolling series of controversies, from near-six‑figure flights, to failing to declare her husband's lobbying role on her register of interests, to most recently charging taxpayers hundreds of dollars for a COMCAR trip covering just a few kilometres, Wells has managed to emerge unscathed.

So, how does she dodge scandals that for other politicians would be career-ending?

Inside Mail asked around Labor bigwigs and learned Wells is effectively untouchable.

The reason lies in her central role as the minister responsible for delivering Anthony Albanese's under‑16 social media ban – a policy many within the party believe Albo sees as his defining legacy.

Internally, it is compared to John Howard's GST and gun reforms, or Bob Hawke's sweeping deregulation agenda.

That sense of priority is reflected, sources say, in the PM's fixation on the global attention the policy has generated.

At a press event at Kirribilli House on December 10, the day the ban came into effect, Albanese repeatedly emphasised not only that governments abroad were watching, but that the world's media was following closely.

'This is world-leading. This is Australia showing enough is enough. And the world – including through, I note, some leading media global organisations who are here, just to confirm – is watching. Is watching and is following. But Australia is leading.'

Anthony Albanese's (left) love of foreign press attention and belief that social media reform will be his legacy mean that under-fire minister Anika Wells (right) is virtually untouchable

For a leader so visibly energised by international recognition, it helps explain why he approved nearly $90,000 in airfares for Wells to attend the United Nations in New York to spruik the ban just months earlier.

That global validation was amplified further this week when Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly referenced Albanese's reforms while discussing new child safety features on Apple devices.

'Mr Cook told me these changes are in part inspired by Australia's world-leading social media age ban,' Albanese gushed on Wednesday.

The PM's enthusiasm for international attention has also been evident in his engagement with major global media outlets.

His government's policy push has attracted coverage from publications such as Time, which profiled Albanese, alongside reporting from The New York Times and the BBC.

This kind of fawning international coverage, insiders tell us, makes Albo's heart sing – especially as he's being dragged by the local press post-Budget.

The result is a policy that has not only reshaped the domestic debate on internet safety and child welfare, but elevated Australia – and Albanese – to the global stage.

For Wells, as the minister charged with delivering it, that is the best protection of all.

More Budget backlash

A long, tense sitting fortnight was brightened by a flash of dry humour from one of the Press Gallery's most respected operators.

The AFR's political editor Phil Coorey couldn't resist a splash of sass after an Anthony Albanese staffer jumped into the gallery WhatsApp, proudly declaring the government's capital gains tax and negative gearing changes had cleared their first hurdle.

'The Government's tax reform legislation has just passed the House of Representatives without amendment,' they said.

Coorey, channelling last-day-of-school energy, fired back: 'Amazing, given how tight the numbers are.'

For a government holding 94 of the 150 seats, the outcome was never exactly in peril.

But with the Budget backlash still dragging on weeks later, even the inevitable is being spun as a win.

Coorey's AFR has been, unsurprisingly, among the harshest critics of the Albanese budget, with Coorey himself branding it 'friendless' and arguing the government's centrepiece policy has largely fallen flat.

And the tension isn't limited to print.

The AFR's Phil Coorey (right) joked that the numbers for Labor in the lower house were 'tight'

Coorey's jab comes after a prickly fortnight between the government and the Press Gallery, with Inside Mail hearing repeated reports of frazzled press secretaries snapping at journalists over perceived unfair coverage – a clear sign the government remains on high alert over the Budget fallout and is struggling to contain the social media backlash.

With the government apparently still stuck in a 'throw everything at the wall' phase, we expect the temperature to keep rising in the months ahead, especially as the tax bill heads to a potentially hostile Senate, where the real test is still to come.

Sunrise sass 

There's drama at the breakfast table – and Sunrise is leaning right into it.

In an odd turn of events, the show has been clapping back at its own viewers online.

For context: social media users have been complaining lately that Seven's brekky flagship has turned against the Albanese government since the Budget.

In one exchange, a viewer questioned the show's political lean, writing, 'When did Sunrise become so obviously right?' 

The official Sunrise account responded, completely unnecessarily: 'Next week you'll be in here saying 'why is Sunrise suddenly so far left?' and that is called journalism.'

Some appreciated the new, self-aware style, but Inside Mail wonders if insulting viewers who are engaged enough to leave comments is a winning strategy.

Still, the Gen Z-er behind the account doesn't seem to mind. After one critic wrote, 'Very poor reporting,' Sunrise simply responded: 'Cheers.'

Fire the liar 

Labor thought it was being clever when it started fundraising using Pauline Hanson as the punchline. Donate up to $27, it told supporters, and help stop One Nation.

Very cute, but the problem with monetising fear is that someone else can monetise anger. And Hanson has now done exactly that. 

Her 'Fire the Liar' campaign asks for $29, turning Labor's tactic back on the PM, and it hammers him hard over broken promises. It raked in nearly $200,000 in just days.

Albo's problem is that the liar-tag works precisely because he has built the runway for it to fly. The PM demanded trust at the election, then shredded it once re-elected, by breaking promise after promise. 

Now Labor is shocked that Hanson is exploiting the obvious. They thought they were building a scare campaign to help raise funds, only for the One Nation leader to turn their tactic into a moral argument about trust in politics. 

If Labor built the specifics of its $27 anti-One Nation fundraiser drive around what the minor party's primary vote had crept up to, it might need to redraft the campaign – this week's Roy Morgan poll has One Nation's primary support up a further 2.5 per cent to 29.5 per cent. 

And if Hanson's $29 retort was built on Labor's primary vote, it's time to cheapen the asking price.

Open the crypt 

Not that the other major party in our national parliament is travelling any better…

Things inside the Liberal Party are apparently so dire that the emergency glass has been broken and Tony Abbott has been extracted as both an ideological defibrillator and travelling salesman.

As party president – yes, the former PM is back as the organisational head of the federal Liberal Party – Abbott is planning a national tour to rebuild the base, backing Angus Taylor and warning the party not to just be a 'little less woke than Labor'. 

He's even floated preference deals with One Nation to forge a viable alternative government.

While it's pragmatic for Liberals to start thinking about swapping preferences with One Nation, it might need a reality check if it thinks it's going to be anything other than the junior coalition partner. 

The Roy Morgan poll we mentioned earlier has the Coalition's vote at an all-time low of 17.5 per cent, and that's before including the Nationals!

Nonetheless, the Liberal branch members will lap up Abbott's call to arms, and he's even half-right. They have been mushy, reactive and terrified of their own shadows for a while now. 

But if the current frontbench were cutting through, they wouldn't need a PM retired from the gig for over a decade to suddenly take the lead. When you think about it, there isn't a stronger way to highlight just how hopeless new parliamentary Liberal leader Taylor really is.

The Liberal problem isn't just policy – it's authority, or a lack of it. Hanson is setting the agenda, Labor is still in power, and the Liberal primary is in the toilet.

Reputation rehab 

The recent Australian Audio Awards held in Sydney made headlines for all the wrong reasons when Super Radio Network Manager Guy Ashford grabbed the backside of Cheralyn Darcey on stage after she had just won the Best Newcomer award.

It was a shocking scene and CEO Graham Mott has announced Ashford is 'no longer employed by the Super Radio Network'.

Considering the outrage, it was only a matter of time.

But others at the awards ceremony have been questioning Chris Smith winning the award for Best Networked Show on the same night as the groping incident.

Smith also works for Super Radio Network and some in the industry are wondering why someone with his chequered history was given the award in the first place.

Smith was sensationally fired by Sky News Australia (soon to be rebranded as News24) following an investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards female colleagues after the network's Christmas party in 2022.

Nine Radio – as it was at the time before its radio assets were bought by the Laundy pub family – also fired him from 2GB Sydney.

Smith never denied the claims; instead, he worked to rectify his behaviour. He admitted he had a drinking problem, sought treatment at a mental health facility and publicly apologised.

After the radio awards groping incident, there were industry whispers about why Chris Smith (pictured) had been welcomed in from the cold after his 2022 ousting from Sky News

This is where things get difficult.

What he did was bad – and it wasn't the first time he'd done it, following a similar incident at the 2009 2GB Christmas party and his sacking from ACA after a work function in the late 1990s – but he did take responsibility.

Should he be shunned forever and his disgrace brought up again simply because another man in media has been accused of wrongdoing?

Some in this business believe there should be no coming back and that he should suffer the consequences permanently; others believe he served his time in the wilderness and should be allowed to rebuild his career.

At the end of the day, an industry award should simply be based on the work. Whether Smith deserves a job is a matter for his employers and listeners.

Dodged a bullet 

A few weeks ago, we brought you the timeless media yarn of Derryn Hinch writing a forgotten porn book in the '70s that was far more revolting than it needed to be.

What we didn't report is that the 'Human Headline' wasn't even supposed to be the book's author; he nicked the commission off his friend Terry Hayes, who had been asked to produce a novelisation of a recent erotic movie.

'I wasn't actually contracted to write the book,' Hinch wrote in his 2011 memoir.

'The deal was done for $600 with my former co-owner of Focus magazine, New York protégé and 3AW radio producer, Terry Hayes.'

Hayes, of course, would later achieve writing credits for the television mini-series The Dismissal, Bodyline, Vietnam and Dirtwater Dynasty, and the movies Mad Max 2, Mad Max 3, Payback and Dead Calm.

A few weeks ago, we brought you the timeless media yarn of Derryn Hinch writing a forgotten porn book in the '70s that was far more revolting than it needed to be. It turns out the commission was originally intended for celebrated screenwriter Terry Hayes  

'For half of the fee Hayes flick-passed it to me and, with the script and a bottle of wine on the dining table, I went to work over a couple of days,' added Hinch.

Hinch met the deadline and the publisher was happy. Yet, he doubted if the publisher ever actually read the manuscript…

Inside Mail is certain that if Hayes had fulfilled his commission, the finished book – titled Felicity and published in 1978 under Hinch's pseudonym Jean Le Monde – would have been far cleaner than the filth that was eventually released.

For a more thorough rundown of the contents, take a read. You have been warned.

Backslaps all round 

The invites are out, the guest list is locked in, and Canberra's favourite night of self‑congratulation is fast approaching.

Tickets to the Midwinter Ball slipped quietly into inboxes on Tuesday, snapped up by the usual crowd of Press Gallery regulars, MPs and their carefully curated plus-ones.

With just 640 seats in the Great Hall, it's as exclusive as ever.

For every name on the list, there's a swarm of hopefuls left grumbling on the outside, something organisers publicly declare on their website.

Inspired by the White House Correspondents' Dinner, the Midwinter Ball has long since become the biggest night on the political calendar.

And yes, Inside Mail will be there (as if we'd miss it).

While most politicians end up bringing their partners or family members, some unexpected faces are always spotted each year.

The real intrigue is who from corporate Australia will quietly slip onto the guest list, and whether any well-connected 'plus-ones' might include the occasional political influencer along for the ride.

Posters showing Parliament House in a bubble have been strewn across the Press Gallery 

Another event highlight includes the 'money can't buy' experience auction items, which in the past have included a round of tennis at the Lodge with the Prime Minister and a plane flight with former Opposition Leader Sussan Ley.

This year's theme hasn't officially dropped, but the early clues are already doing the rounds in the Press Gallery.

Posters for the event show Parliament House sealed inside a bubble (subtle).

Of course, while the optics of politicians toasting each other during a cost-of-living crunch aren't exactly ideal, it's all for a good cause, with last year's event pulling in $370,000 for charity.

Sad! 

NSW Premier Chris Minns delivered a bizarre and at times surreal radio appearance on Triple M's Breakfast with Beau, Cat & Woodsy on Wednesday. 

He veered from a Donald Trump impression to UFC politics and even a review of the Melania Trump documentary.

Minns revealed he'd been perfecting a surprisingly sharp impersonation of the US president, reeling off one of Trump's most infamous lines. 

'They're eating our cats! They're eating our dogs!'

Minns (pictured) surprised the hosts of Triple M Breakfast with his Donald Trump impression

The Premier also admitted he spent part of the long weekend watching the 'Melania' documentary on Amazon, offering a review that could cause irritation for Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong. 

'You can skip it. It's… it's boring.'

Minns went on to discuss the UFC event set to be staged on the White House lawn, describing the idea as 'crazy' and suggesting Sydney could soon welcome the promotion back, with negotiations underway to make it a regular fixture.

Asked which fellow premier he would take on in the octagon, Minns nominated Queensland's David Crisafulli, joking his LNP counterpart had 'weak wrists'.

Inside Mail hears that Minns' staff are very familiar with his Trump impression, with the premier frequently speaking like him around the office. Sounds hilarious…