Before Network Ten filmed the interview with Brittany Higgins for The Project episode in February 2021, journalist Lisa Wilkinson and producer Angus Llewellyn sat in a hotel room with her for three hours.
The journalists listened to her. They were patient. They asked questions. They listened some more.
The journalists were building rapport with Higgins, before telling the story that would change her life forever.
Taylor Auerbach, a former producer at the Seven network, has a strikingly different recollection of how he built rapport with Bruce Lehrmann, prior to his interview on Spotlight in 2022/2023.
Yesterday, in a hearing for the Lehrmann v Network Ten defamation trial, he told the court about one particular night in January 2023, where he and Lehrmann shared an expensive meal at Franca, a French brasserie in Sydney. Lehrmann then allegedly purchased a bag of cocaine. After the meal, according to Auerbach, Lehrmann pulled out the bag, and then began searching online for sex workers to bring to the Meriton hotel that night.
The night was all on the Seven network’s dime, Auerbach claims.
This allegation is one of the many that Auerbach makes about how Seven allegedly signed off on – or at least turned a blind eye to – several reimbursements for exorbitant expenditures before, during and after Lehrmann’s interview on Spotlight, including a round of golf in Tasmania, a $361 steak, and incredibly, $10,000 worth of Thai massages.
Auerbach said this was how he built rapport with Lehrmann, before he told the nation his version of events.
So, is the double standard we see between the treatment of Higgins and the treatment of Lehrmann reflective of a larger double standard in Australia’s media landscape?
To answer the question, let’s review the facts.
As a result of making her claims of being raped in 2019, Higgins received death threats. News organisations invaded her privacy and published her private material. Higgins has been constantly discredited and disbelieved.
Meanwhile, for the interview he gave on Spotlight, Lehrmann allegedly received tens of thousands of dollars from the Seven network as reimbursement for sex, drugs, steak and golf.
Not bad for someone who was involved in a trial for alleged rape months earlier.
Chequebook journalism is unfortunately nothing new in Australia. There have been a number of beneficiaries to the highly unethical practice.
In 1995, Australia’s former prime minister, the late Bob Hawke, and his wife Blanche D’Alpuget spoke to Women’s Day about their affair – reportedly for a sum of $250,000.
Upon Schapelle Corby’s release from Bali prison in 2014, there were rumours of a $2 million deal between the convicted drug smuggler and the Seven network for an exclusive interview. This interview never took place, however it has been reported that members of her family received money from news outlets for giving exclusive stories about Corby.
More recently, in 2018, the Seven network reportedly paid former deputy PM Barnaby Joyce $150,000 for an interview on Sunday Night.
Somehow, the allegations of Seven reimbursing Lehrmann for these old school, macho, hypermasculine luxuries seem far worse – mainly for three reasons.
First, if the court finds Auerbach’s allegations to be true, it would suggest that Lehrmann was never afraid to tell his story. If true, it indicates a mount of self-entitlement he holds for himself. If true, it begs the question: how seriously is Lehrmann taking the allegations against him if he is engaging in this behaviour?
Secondly, if Auerbach’s claims of “building rapport” are found to be true, it exposes a real problem in the Australian media industry. And while some may argue it’s #notalljournalists who engage in chequebook journalism, it’s not the first time something like this has happened, and without the rise and strengthening of independent journalism, it certainly won’t be the last.
Most of all, there is a woman in the middle of it all, Brittany Higgins – whose life and whose story is being tormented by claims her alleged rapist told his side of the story in return for sex, drugs, golf, massages and a $361 steak.