In the age of clickbait, fake news and native advertising, the art of news has certainly lost its bite. After reading The Awful Truth, though, part of me thinks that may not be a bad thing.

Tame’s new book recounts his 13 years of service for Melbourne’s Truth newspaper, once described by a high judge as ‘a wretched little paper, reeking of filth’. Temporarily owned by Rupert Murdoch before his broadcast empire took off, Truth was a tabloid dedicated to shocking readers with scandals and social injustice. Stories on unfaithful politicians and unfriendly celebrities were common, as were lewd ‘page three girls’ and crass humour.

Tame shares a variety of stories from his time as reporter and then as news editor, such as his finding the whereabouts of the Soviet diplomat Vladimir Petrov after the ‘Petrov Affair’, and his brief time shadowing Melbourne’s most notorious bikie gang, the Hell’s Angels. It’s a fascinating insight into the state of Australian media in the 70s – a time where newspapers were the way people got news, and hitting the streets was often the only way to get a scoop.

The daily conduct of the Truth editorial team is also fascinating, though in the way one might watch a troop of monkeys fighting. In the age of #MeToo and cancel culture, it’s stuff that certainly wouldn’t fly today.

While the non-chronological order of the book sometimes makes the order of events confusing, The Awful Truth is a genuinely fascinating look at an age of news gone by.

Reviewed by Max Lewis