These guys know little about media reporting. Here's how it works:
News Corp/AFL exec rings Rothfield or Wilson and says "Hey, we need a little bit of publicity on this. Can you do another PR spot for us?"
"Sure"
That's it. It doesn't even need to be entirely factual information, the goal is just to drive the organisation's agenda, not to get to the truth. Anybody who has ever done marketing knows this.
And sadly these hacks know this. It's the only way they can compete against real journalists. They delude themselves into thinking that they've got connections but at the end of the day they're just puppets.
As for the article's content, there's a lot of if's in there but a lot of people were saying it'd be wrapped up quick. Just like the NRL deal I'll wait for final dollar amounts/details until I take it as gospel. That said anyone making a comparison between either deal (like Wilson) before both are finalised is a moron.
It seems like clawing back on F2A exposure seems to be for Fox's benefit, not the AFLs. It will send the likes of Big Footy into meltdown when their viewership numbers drop.
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