Karl Stefanovic poses during the 2022 TV WEEK Logie Awards nomination announcement in Gold Coast, Australia, on May 15, 2022. Chris Hyde/Getty Images
Veteran television identity Karl Stefanovic has spoken out about the growing prevalence of what he calls “beige” media—reporting that has become so safe it is uninteresting.
Stefanovic, who was recently forced to leave Channel Nine’s Today show after 21 years following his interview with British conservative influencer Tommy Robinson, made the comments during an episode of his podcast featuring UK presenter Piers Morgan.
“These mainstream media companies, and I think free-to-air, particularly, … the product is becoming so beige because they’re so worried about blowback from advertisers and whoever this mob is that you end up on air with a beige personality,” he said.
Morgan agreed with Stefanovic, saying morning TV shows in the UK were in a similar state.
“I’m like, for God’s sake, you’re supposed to wake me up, not send me back to sleep, that’s your job,” Morgan said.
During the episode, the pair discussed Morgan’s decision to leave his job on Good Morning Britain in 2021.
Morgan had been asked to apologise for saying he did not believe actress Meghan Markle’s claims about her time in Britain with the royal family, but he chose to stand by his comments and leave the program instead.
Neither host could understand why interviewing Robinson was a controversial thing for a journalist to do, given his popularity and role in modern politics.
“Tommy Robinson … was getting a fair bit of play, criticism, all that sort of stuff,” Stefanovic said.
“We’re over in the UK, getting all these interviews about the what’s happening in the UK with politics—Where are the voices? What are they saying? And I thought Tommy Robinson was a legitimate interview for us to pick up what’s happening on the right, what’s happening on the streets.
“I put it on air and then a couple of days later … boom.”
Stefanovic also revealed during the podcast episode that he had been planning to retire from Sunrise at the end of the year.
Morgan remarked that he saw parallels between himself and Stefanovic, where public opinion turned to anger after both men left their posts.
He also pointed out that he and Stefanovic could not be “more polar opposite” as people, but said the issues of free speech and journalism weighed on them both.
“Why can’t you have an opinion?” Morgan said.
“I’m seeing the same thing with you already on social media, and this, in my case, became a big thing in the streets with cab drivers and bus drivers tooting their support, raising their fists, and so on, and it was all because it became a debate about my right to have an opinion.
“Yours is not over an opinion so much, but your right to have anyone you want on your podcast, or to ask some questions.”
Stefanovic said he is now focusing on the future.
“I mean, it is what it is.” he said. “And there’s no going back now. There’s a part of me that also that feels free to really have my own freedom.”
