choppergate

[victor steinbok]

Add another -gate to the list, although this one is fairly minor:

http://goo.gl/6y8Be

> Sacked Channel 9 'Choppergate' reporter Melissa Mallet denies any
> wrongdoing



There is a US version of "Choppergate" as well:

http://goo.gl/5TavP
NJ Lawmaker Calls 'Choppergate' Hearing

> The Democrat chairwoman of the Assembly Homeland Security Committee says
> she'll convene a hearing into New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's use of a
> state police helicopter to fly to his son's baseball game.



The NJ story simmered about two weeks earlier but ultimately faded. The
Australian one has just percolated over the weekend.

There are some oddities in the Australian article aside from the scandal's
name, so let me cover the whole thing.

The basis of the scandal is multiple instances when Brisbane's Channel 9
reporters were not where the screen caption reported they were. Generally,
this was connected to the station's helicopter--hence the name
"Choppergate".

Here's a companion story:

http://goo.gl/tHsbW

> Choppergate scandal began with quiet backyard barbecue



 There are some lines in both stories that might be of interest--at least,
they sounded odd enough to me to deserve a mention. I'm certainly not up on
my Strine. (Second article first.)

1. Scandal spotted from a BBQ:

"Choppergate" scandal spotted from BBQ


Although it's rather clear what this subhed means, the implication is a bit
weird, as it was not the scandal per se that was "spotted", but the Channel
9 subterfuge that ultimately caused the scandal--and, even then, it's a bit
more complicated. Apparently, a reporter for a rival station spotted the
Channel 9 helicopter in one location when it was being reported as being
somewhere else. The rival network investigated and confirmed that this
appeared to be regular practice at Channel 9. Two reporters and a news
producer had been sacked, and a news executive resigned--depending on whom
you believe, either in protest to the sacking of others or because of
obvious involvement or because he "was pushed".

I also believe it has already been mentioned that this sense of BBQ or
barbecue is not covered in the OED. The closest is 4.a., but I'm at a loss
why a "backyard barbecue" has to be a "large social entertainment".

4. a. A large social entertainment, usually in the open air, at which
> animals are roasted whole, and other provisions liberally supplied. Also
> attrib. orig. U.S.


Shouldn't there be an entry for small, private domestic pastime? (BBQ
redirects to barbecue n. 4.)

2. throwing snags on the barbie:

Channel 7 reporter Peter Doherty was throwing some snags on the barbie at
> his suburban Bardon home just before 6pm on Saturday when he noticed the
> Nine chopper overhead


 OED seems to have this one covered: snag n.4==sausage, but the whole
expression is just cute, so I though it to be worth a mention.

3. aviaton tragics:

It was simple detective work by a pair of self-proclaimed "aviation tragics"
> that would eventually claim the scalps of four Channel 9 staff, including
> the station's most senior news executive.


To be honest, I'm not even sure what to make of this. A bit further down the
article mentions that one of the employees for Channel 7 is an "aviation
buff", but I'm not sure these are quite the same thing.

4.  rostered on:

On Sunday, Breusch was rostered on and mentioned that he had heard what he
> believed to be the Nine chopper hovering over his house the previous
> evening.


The verb is perfectly ordinary, but the combination with the preposition and
passive is a bit unusual. Or not. All this means is that the guy was on
duty.

5.  weekend reader:

Just after 6pm, Nine's weekend reader Eva Milic crossed to young gun
> reporter Cameron Price hovering "near Beerwah".


This meaning of reader==anchor is not covered in OED. Also note that the
second article has "weekend presenter":

In the second instance, reporter Cameron Price, who has also been fired, was
sitting on 9's Mt Coot-tha helipad when weekend presenter Eva Milic declared
he was near the search site.

6.  cross, n. and v.:

For v., see 5. above. Also:

Just after 6pm, seemingly true to their word, Nine crossed "live" to young
> reporter Melissa Mallet hovering "near Beerwah" where police were hunting
> for the body of the murdered teenager.


For n.:

While hovering above Brisbane in a helicopter for a live cross about the
> case, an on-screen caption falsely stated she was "near Beerwah".


and

 Transmission problems forced her to head back towards Brisbane for a live
> cross to the 6pm news bulletin, she said.


Neither is in the OED. Nor is cross n.==cross-over nor cross n.==off-road
sporting event (running, motorcycle, bicycle events) nor cross,
n.==cross-examination and cross v.==cross-examine nor cross==cross-stitch
nor cross==cross-cut. Obviously, "live cross" as above and "on
cross"==during cross-examination are also not listed.

Also note a response from another network station:

http://goo.gl/yckxA

> A Channel 9 Melbourne spokeswoman was yesterday keen to reiterate Nine News
> Melbourne had never faked a live cross.


7. young gun:

See above under 5.

Is this ==hot-shot? Simply ==young and eager? Either way, no hint in the
OED. Cf. Brat Pack's Young Guns and Young Guns II.

8. vision:

Seven's vision would later confirm the Nine chopper was stationary on its
> helipad.


Not even sure what that means. But here's a clue:

http://goo.gl/bWbRi

> The reason we know this is that Channel Seven recorded it from a camera
> mounted on their transmission tower nearby.

...
> And with the camera which we have on the tower - we use it film all sorts
> of things, bushfires, storm fronts rolling through, all sorts of things. It
> gets pretty rotated.
>
> So at about ten to six on Sunday night we flicked it across and there was
> the helicopter sitting there. We thought it's not going to make Beerwah.


 9. nightly bulletin:

It was unusual for a chopper to circle Mt Coot-tha during the nightly
> bulletin, unless a major story was breaking nearby.


and

Up at Channel 9 that evening, a staff member preparing for the nightly
> bulletin updated the network's Twitter feed.


==evening news (US). Nothing out of the ordinary and bulletin==broadcast
report is in OED. But it's not quite the same--the OED listing is literally
a report, with only four examples, two each from 1925 Times and from 1938.
The meaning of "scheduled TV news program" seems to be more recent. (Both UK
and Aust.?)

10. claim the scalp:

See under 3. above.

OED only has the narrow

 b. fig. as the symbol of a victory gained.


In this case, there is no "victory"--simply a "victim".

11. Coordination and generic "their":

"I do feel let down. The viewer puts their trust in us and we certainly do
> put our trust in other people as well behind the scenes," she told *The
> Sunday Mail*.


"Viewers put" would have made this easier, but this appears to be a fairly
common switch--not sure if intentional or not.

12. weigh up:

"The legal advice I had was pretty positive and reassuring that there was a
> case, but I obviously had to weigh up some options."


Yet another version of a verb with thatched on preposition where just the
garden variety would do.


That about does it. What I find particularly interesting is that most
Australian news reports that I've seen prior to this appear to be far less
distinctive in their lexicon. Whether it's ABC (Australian, not US), Sydney
or Melbourne papers or even News.com.au, usually the text is perfectly
readable, with only a few minor quirks. On this occasion, the combination of
local expressions, including TV news jargon, has been quite jarring.

VS-)

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