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“You win some, you lose some, Ita….”

In a surprising coda to the Paper Giants defamation case, Ita Buttrose claims she told producers about inaccuracies in the storyline during production.

In a surprising coda to the tale of the Paper Giants defamation case, Ita Buttrose claims she told producers about inaccuracies in the storyline during production.

Buttrose’s first husband Alasdair Macdonald sued the ABC for defamation after objecting to his portrayal and storylines.

The case was eventually settled out of court.

Ita Buttrose, who was also a consultant on the series, now tells media & marketing website Mumbrella that the script went through many hands and “everyone seems to have a little say in it.”

“I told them it was incorrect before the show ever went to air ……I couldn’t persuade them to change it.”

In her new book A Passionate Life she wrote:

“Overall I was pleased and thought it captured well the spirit of the seventies, but I was always concerned that the drama was a mixture of real people being portrayed as themselves with experiences that actually happened plus ones that didn’t, being portrayed as fact rather than fiction.

“This turned out to be particularly true in the way my first husband was depicted. I was upset about this and sent Southern Star producer John Edwards an email on 6 March 2011 – before the show went to air – about my concerns.

“I also relayed them to scriptwriter Christopher Lee, who was sympathetic but told me ‘you win some you lose some, Ita”.

6 Responses

  1. “It’s not a documentary” is no excuse. If you’re depicting real people you have an obligation to represent them fairly, or take the consequences in court. It’s also not enough for Ita to shrug and say “I told them” (if you actually believe that). With her experience as a magazine editor she should know enough to recognise a potential libel case when she sees one – in which case she should have done more than send and email.

    1. I think it’s pretty clear that she did more than just send emails, as per the video on Mumbrella. It’s the responsibility of Producers and broadcaster to face legal cases not a consultant, which they invariably did….

  2. @Andrew: Well it seems almost everyone on a contract these days is called a consultant. I know of plenty. Most cases they have full control. They’re brought on to structure or restructure a part of or an entire business module.

    My guess in this case would be the produces of Paper Giants just threw some cash at Ita and gave the title of Consultant just to add some creditably to the series

  3. @steve: Being a consultant doesn’t give you any control over the final product, it’s just an advisory role to those who are in charge… if the producers higher up the chain choose to ignore it there’s probably not much Ita can do.

  4. The thing to remember about these types of programs is that they are not documentaries. Things are added, dropped, highlighted, and played down for the sake of the story. Still, given how many people seem to take what is presented on the screen to be factual, you can understand why Alasdair MacDonald was upset at his portrayal.

    Expect similar license to be taken regarding the truth in Howzat!

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