A recently-sacked reporter for NT News who is suing News Corp for unfair dismissal has accused the media giant of colluding with the Northern Territory government to avoid potential loss of ad revenue.
Christopher Walsh (pictured above) lodged a claim for unfair dismissal against News Corp subsidiary Nationwide News in court on Monday, where he alleged NT News struck a deal with the state government to monitor his emails over concerns of ad revenue loss because of to his ‘negative’ reporting of government activities, according to Fairfax.
Walsh, who was sacked in October last year, claims NT News editor Matt Williams and general manager Greg Thomson had an deal with the head of the chief minister’s department, Jodie Ryan, for her to blind copy in the news bosses into all government correspondence.
The deal was allegedly made because Ryan wasn’t a fan of Walsh’s articles which held her accountable to the public.
Walsh claims the deal went down during a meeting about a government ad campaign, which News Corp Australia chief operating officer Damian Eales attended.
He is seeking reinstatement, backpay and damages from Nationwide News.
