Damian Barrett | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Australian |
| Other names | The Voice of Treason[1] |
| Occupation | Sports Journalist |
| Years active | 1990-present[2] |
Damian Barrett is an Australian journalist who works for AFL Media and covers Australian rules football. Barrett has a poor reputation among the AFL community, due to a perceived lack of quality in his journalism.[3][4][5]
Career
Over the course of his career, Barrett has gotten into numerous disputes with both AFL players and coaches, mostly focused around the poor quality of his journalism and his abrasiveness.[5][4] Barrett was involved in a physical altercation with North Melbourne Kangaroos coach Brad Scott in 2016, that occurred when Barrett was needling Scott about the Kangaroos performance in the 2016 AFL season.[6] Barrett has stated that he feels journalists should be held less responsible for stories that turn out to be false.[7] He is the third highest payed AFL journalist.[8]
Voice of Treason
During August of 2020, Barrett became involved in the Mitch Cleary firing controversy when he voiced his opinion that the AFL made the right move by firing fellow journalist Mitch Cleary, at odds with the majority opinion of the AFL community.[9] This opinion was criticized by former AFL player Tim Watson, and Barrett responded by questioning Watson's understanding of journalism, and bringing up the Essendon Football Club supplements saga.[1] Watson responded by declaring Barrett to be "The Voice of Treason" and calling Barrett "beholden to the AFL".[10]
References
- ^ a b Riordan, Joey (August 5, 2020). "'The voice of treason': Tim Watson fires back at 'fragile' AFL journo Damian Barrett". Seven News. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
- ^ "Damian Barrett". Australian Rules Football. AFL Media. January 10, 2020. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
- ^ Ryan, Peter (August 4, 2020). "Damian Barrett backs AFL decision to stand down Mitch Cleary". The Age. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
- ^ a b Waterworth, Ben (August 5, 2020). "'The Voice of Treason': Tim Watson hits back on radio after Damian Barrett's swipe". Fox Sports. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
- ^ a b Naghten, Tom (April 20, 2019). "Luke Hodge whacks 'absolute knob' Damian Barrett over Sliding Doors column". Sporting News. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
- ^ Zita, David (April 2, 2020). "Revealed: The moment an AFL coach pinned a journo to the wall of a New York bar". Fox Sports. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ^ Esdall, Rudi; Barrett, Damian; Taylor, Brian (June 27, 2020). "Brian Taylor And Damian Barrett Clash Over Accountability For Journalists". Triple M. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
- ^ Brown, Jonathan; Taylor, Brian; Howard, Mark; Barrett, Damian; Judd, Chris (August 7, 2020). "Browny Names The Top 5 Highest Paid Footy Journos!". Triple M. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
- ^ Ryan, Peter (August 4, 2020). "Damian Barrett backs AFL decision to stand down Mitch Cleary". The Age. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
- ^ Young, Chris (August 5, 2020). "'Voice of treason': AFL legend wages war with veteran journo". Yahoo! Sport. Retrieved August 10, 2020.