Not enough quirk

Michelle Grattan ain’t glamorous. So what? We all know that Coke bottle bottom glasses, a hairdo that hasn’t changed since Dylan went electric and a journalistic style to match won’t get you a job on commercial TV. Now, it appears that it might mean you don’t qualify to write for one of the country’s more smugly self styled “quality” papers. Gallery gossip says the Sydney Morning Herald has warned one of Canberra’s most experienced political correspondents that her copy needs to be “quirkier” this year.

The Herald likes to think it’s the bible of Balmain, the pride of Paddington, the darling of Darlinghurst and – well, you get my drift.