When I first met Stefanovic he was immediately likable. How has his compass shifted so far that he platforms a man who stirs up terrorist attacks on mosques?
I knew Karl before he was famous. He came into the Nine Sydney newsroom as a young man who’d paid his dues: Rockhampton, Auckland, Brisbane. The best kind of instant success – built on grind.
He was immediately likable. A larrikin; funny but hard-working and serious about his craft. One of the striking things about his sudden shift into martyred hero of the far right is the way people feel it’s a stage act. Almost as if the donkey costume will fall off any minute and there will be Karl, grinning, smirking – “gotcha there!”
Hugh Riminton is national affairs editor at Channel 10