Choppergate. Brisbane, Australia.

Kudos to Channel Nine in Brisbane. A 25 year veteran employee has been allowed to resign and three reporters were fired for their involvement in filing news reports regarding a police search of remote rugged terrain when the news helicopter was actually in the air near the station's headquarters and sitting on the station's helipad in another incident.

The reports related to developments in a massive forensic search for evidence relating to the murder of a young lad abducted in 2003 at age 13. Normally Australian law would not allow the naming of the arrested murder suspect since he had been a witness at a prior coroner's inquest but the court has lifted the restriction on publishing his name in order to aid the ongoing investigation.

Revised and extended comments:
The Courier Mail reports that the Nine and Seven channels have been rivals locked in a five year struggle for ratings and that Choppergate started when some Seven personnel who were aviation enthusiasts noticed the helicopter was orbiting their neighborhood but no major story was then taking place locally. Channel Seven decided to monitor the actual location of Channel Nine's helicopter and twice caught the Nine Channel switch "live" to the reporters in a helicopter that was described as being over the scene of the Daniel Morcombe forensic search when it clearly was not anywhere near it at or about that time.

The Courier Mail reports that the 25 year veteran who fell on his sword was actually pushed. We never really had much doubt about that.

It seems a Channel Nine employee had twittered that "they would be "LIVE from Beerwah with the latest at 6. Just after 6pm, seemingly true to their word, Nine crossed "live" to young reporter Melissa Mallet hovering "near Beerwah" where police were hunting for the body of the murdered teenager..."

The Courier Mail reported that Channel Nine initially claimed air traffic controllers had ordered the chopper to land due to bad weather and the producer had not been promptly informed of this.

"Management in Sydney were notified and an on-air apology was issued. Following a series of closed-door meetings the axe fell for Price, Mallett and producer Aaron Wakeley at about 6.30pm. Nine news director Lee Anderson promptly fell on his sword."
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There are now reports that the three reporters have taken to Twitter to present an alternative viewpoint about a tempest in a tea pot.
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Audience reaction: It seems the viewing audience has had an initial reaction. Channel Nine lost an average of 1,000 viewers whereas Channel Seven which had exposed the situation lost an average of 15,000 viewers as all Brisbane stations combined lost a total of 30,000 viewers, as reported in news.com.au. Of course the dip in viewership may have been due solely to the public's "burnout" over what may have been viewed as excessive coverage of the Morcombe forensic search and the Slacks Creek fire.

Addendum: Mellisa Mallet sacked by Channel Nine due to the investigative actions of Channel Seven has now been hired by Channel Seven.