Insiders (TV program)
| Insiders | |
|---|---|
 Insiders title card | |
| Genre | Politics, analysis |
| Presented by | Barrie Cassidy |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 14 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network |
ABC ABC News 24 (2010–) |
| Picture format |
576i (SDTV) 720p (HDTV) |
| Audio format | Dolby Digital 5.1 |
| Original release | 15 July 2001 – present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Insiders is a news and talk show produced by ABC News. Similarly to the Sunday morning talk shows in the United States, it analyses and discusses Australian politics with the use of a panel of political journalists and columnists and interviews with prominent politicians and commentators. Broadcast on ABC on Sunday mornings at 9 am, the show also features many regular commentators from various Australian media outlets and think tanks.
The program is presented by veteran political journalist Barrie Cassidy as part of the ABC's Sunday morning line-up, commencing with Insiders, followed by Offsiders, a sports program hosted by Gerard Whateley.
Fran Kelly presented the show while Barrie Cassidy was on long service leave, and Chris Uhlmann also presents the show in Cassidy's absence.
Format
The format of the program usually starts with Cassidy discussing the political issues of the week, followed by an interview with a current Australian political figure, usually an Australian politician. Each week in the studio, Cassidy discusses current political issues with a panel of three commentators/journalists of varying political perspectives.
The 2007 series included small changes to the format of the show: re-ordering the segments, commencing the program with the political interview, followed by "Your Shout". Paul Kelly's discussion (this segment was discontinued in 2010) was then used as a starting point for the panel discussion. "Talking Pictures" continues to provide a break point within the panel discussions, and the show concludes with its customary sign-off where Cassidy asks the panel members for their "final observation and predictions".
In 2011 the usual program format began with a brief monologue from Cassidy followed by a brief video summary of the major events of the preceding week. Then Cassidy reviews the Sunday papers with the studio panel before moving on to the studio guest. If the guest is present in the studio the interview is introduced by a short video clip relating to the first interview question. The interview usually lasts until mid way through the hour and is followed by a video clip which concentrates on events surrounding a major news topic of the week. This is followed by a studio discussion between Cassidy and his studio guests. Cassidy introduces "Talking Pictures" towards the end of the hour, which is followed by more studio discussion. The show usually winds up with Cassidy introducing amusing or otherwise interesting media clips followed by an observation or prediction from each panel member before Cassidy ends the show with a final media clip or two.
In 2012 the early episodes continued with the 2011 format.
Regular segments
"Your Shout"
The "Your Shout" segment (which was dropped in 2010) gave a member or group of members of the public a chance to air a grievance or present opinions about topical political issues that concerned them, in a short, pre-recorded segment shown during the program. It appears that the program attempted to ensure that the members of the public selected from week to week represented a broad range of political opinion and were spread across different parts in Australia.
"Talking Pictures"
Presented by Mike Bowers, the "Talking Pictures" segment analyses political cartoons and photographs featured in the nation's newspapers from the previous week. Regularly appearing cartoonists include Warren Brown, Bill Leak, Geoff Pryor, Bruce Petty, Alan Moir, Peter Nicholson, Mark Knight, Jon Kudelka, Matt Golding, Paul Batey, Sean Leahy and Fiona Katauskas.
"Poll of Polls"
Presented by Andrew Catsaras, the "Poll of Polls" segment aggregates and reviews political polling from the previous month. This segment commenced in February 2012, appearing during the last week of each month in 2012, moving to the first week of each month in 2013.
Regular commentators and panelists
| Commentator | Background |
|---|---|
| Denis Atkins | The Courier-Mail national affairs editor, former Labor staffer |
| Mike Bowers | Host of Talking Pictures on Insiders |
| Annabel Crabb | Political journalist, ABC Online |
| Phil Coorey | Chief Political Correspondent with Adelaide's The Advertiser. |
| Malcolm Farr | Chief Political Reporter, News.com.au |
| Gerard Henderson | Executive Director, Sydney Institute |
| Fran Kelly | Presenter, ABC Radio National Breakfast program |
| Mark Kenny | Chief Political Correspondent for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald |
| David Marr | Journalist, The Guardian Australia |
| George Megalogenis | Author/columnist |
| Karen Middleton | Chief Political Correspondent, SBS |
| Katherine Murphy | Deputy political editor, The Guardian Australia |
| Andrew Probyn | Federal political editor and Canberra bureau chief for The West Australian |
| Mark Riley | Seven Network Political Editor |
| Niki Savva | Collumnist, and former Liberal Staffer |
| Tory Shepherd | Political Editor, The Advertiser |
| Michael Stutchbury | Editor-in-Chief, The Australian Financial Review |
| Lenore Taylor | Political editor for The Guardian Australia |
| Laura Tingle | correspondent, Australian Financial Review |
| Brian Toohey | Columnist with the Australian Financial Review |
| Source: [1] | |
Former commentators and panelists
| Commentator | Background |
|---|---|
| Piers Akerman | Columnist, Sydney's Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph |
| Tim Blair | Opinion Editor, Sydney's Daily Telegraph |
| Matt Price | Sketch writer, The Australian (deceased) |
| Virginia Trioli | Co Host of ABC News Breakfast and former 774 ABC Melbourne and 702 ABC Sydney presenter |
| Glenn Milne | Political journalist, The Australian and News Ltd Sunday publications (sacked as a panelist) |
| Andrew Bolt | Host of The Bolt Report on Sky News Live, Herald Sun columnist and blogger |
References
- ↑ "Insiders - About Us". ABC. Australian Broadcasting Commission. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
External links
- Insiders at the Internet Movie Database