Aussies react to ABC's 'nasty' takedown of Tony Armstrong

ABC viewers were surprised on Monday night to see Media Watch do a takedown of their own. Tony Armstrong recently announced he would be leaving ABC News Breakfast, where he's worked as a sports presenter since 2020. His last appearance on the show is this Friday.

Media Watch host Janine Perrett claimed Tony was "moonlighting at the expense of the ABC's integrity" after revealing the presenter had recorded voiceovers for insurance company NRMA. Janine told viewers that it was "astonishing" that Tony had failed to get the all-clear from network bosses before taking on the work, adding that the ABC, which taxpayers fund, frowns on staff appearing in paid adverts – especially those as high-profile as Tony, who was nominated for the Gold Logie this year.

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The former AFL player won two Logies during his time on ABC and has his own show on the network, Tony Armstrong's Extra-Ordinary Things.

"Tony’s arguably one of the ABC's biggest stars," Janine said. "He’s not only on the breakfast TV couch, he’s appeared at night on a new sports show, he’s one of many appearing in ABC News promos and is the face of a new five-part series.

"So we were stunned when we got confirmation that Tony was selling an insurance company as well."

The host added, "It’s a shame this moonlighting at the expense of the ABC’s integrity is what we’re talking about in his final week on News Breakfast."

The NRMA ads have been onscreen since July and ran during Nine's Olympics coverage.

Janine said that while ABC employees aren't banned from commercial work, they are asked to "quantify the risk" of doing so.

"Any work that involves endorsing a commercial product or service is extremely high risk," the guidelines say. "For all external work, you must … obtain approval from your manager."

Janine added that the ABC had not given Tony approval to voice the ads. A statement from the network said that this was due to a "misunderstanding" with Tony's external representatives.

"How any ABC reporter could voice a commercial for one of the biggest brands in Australia and not think that is a conflict, is beyond us," Janine added. "If this is not a breach of the guidelines on external work, which says you must seek approval from above, we don’t know what is."

"Tony is a high valued employee and has the ABC’s full support," the ABC said.

Viewers slam 'nasty' Media Watch piece

Some viewers were left unimpressed by the piece, with one user writing on X, "Really. This was a grubby, unnecessary takedown. Quite nasty."

"Seriously didn't recognise his voice until watching #MediaWatch," another said.

"Are. You. Kidding. Me?" a third said. "WTF is this all about? An unidentified voice over. So many problems with media organisations...and you choose THIS to focus on???"

"I love Tony but I did not recognise his voice in this ad," a fourth added.

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"Leave Tony alone! He's a national treasure," someone else said.

"We want nonbiased news and current affairs, we DGAF that Tony had a side hustle, if you hadn't dobbed on him we wouldn't even have realised it was him!" yet another said. "Nonbiased @ABCNews is what we want!"

"So of all the big issues out there, you think a simple voice over is worthy of a nasty take down of one of your staff," someone else said. "No one knew that it was Tony’s voice anyway. Completely unnecessary."

The ABC's full statement about Tony's work with NRMA

The ABC's full statement read: "The voiceover was done without the ABC's knowledge, this was due to a misunderstanding with Tony's external representation. They have been provided a copy of the external work guidelines and reminded all ABC employees are required to meet them. Tony is a high valued employee and has the ABC's full support.

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