The column that has fun with the smaller mistakes and missteps of Australia’s mainstream mediocre; those sweet little fishes that individually don’t amount to a full meal but collectively can cause a tummy upset over the overall state of the once great and noble craft of journalism in this country.

Well! Have the bitter and twisted, tired old, hacks who throw together this column got egg all over their ugly old faces or what?

Several weeks ago, Channel 9’s 6pm news out of Brisbane and Sydney – we’re not sure if Melbourne did it too but who cares! – launched this design feature showing a full-screen map of where the station’s intrepid reporter was filing from. The map was then shown in the right-hand corner as the to-camera piece began.

We labelled it then the silliest visual graphics idea in media history and predicted wise heads would prevail and it would be consigned to the dustbin of history in a few days. A bit like the federal Liberal Party.

But as you can see from up top, Josh Bavas in Nine’s Brisbane newsroom still had the feature front and centre and in the corner when he reported from the Princess Alexandra Hospital in the inner-city on Thursday night about some industrial accident that injured two workers.

Trust us. You could have worked at the PA hospital for decades and that map probably wouldn’t give you the foggiest idea where you get your fortnighly paycheck from.

And that’s in the big smoke. When they use this feature in a regional area… well, it makes about as much sense as Sussan Ley during Question time.

The design feature, much like Sussan Ley herself, remains incredibly stupid and a total waste of space and time.

But we think we’ve worked it out! Our best guess is that one of Peter Costello’s grandchildren is a graphic arts student, was doing some work experience up at Nine, probably in Sydney, and threw together the concept and a proud grandpa thought it was fantastic!

No other explanation makes any sense whatsoever.

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Has subbing gone to the dogs?

Look, this is Mediocre Bytes after all so maybe this is no biggie but what do you BUGgers out there think of this heading: PM pups in for a chat from today’s SMH?

Okay , we know the sub who still works at the SMH is pressed for time and we also have to factor in that he or she is throwing together the pretend half-front-page of news as part of the Hardly Normal wraparound that gets tossed in the bin immediately, so they probably couldn’t give a flying fuck.

And we get that “pops in for a chat” is a common phrase so what’s wrong with a little play on words which has Albo pupping in instead?

Hmmm! Still doesn’t quite gel with us old hacks here at Bug HQ. Are we too picky? Don’t answer that!

Perhaps we should be concentrating more on how Peter FitzSimons feels, seeing his The Fitz Files on the inside back of the main book has been tossed in the bin countless times now for quite a while. We suspect he’d be not all that fussed.

Peter’s latest fitz?