Matthew Newton is variously described as ‘troubled’ and ‘controversial’. Media buzzwords that cut through the complexity of the case of a man who has twice beaten his female partners and stands accused of assaulting a taxi driver and now resisting arrest in the United States after allegedly refusing to leave a bar.
Is that the work of mental illness? All of it?
While none of us are privy to the specific details of the case, psychology experts like Dr Michael Carr-Gregg would ask the media to quit the over-bearing coverage. I had a chat with him about illness, fame and drawing a line between the two.
M: I wanted to talk to you about Matthew Newton because I think that your point is really interesting. Tell me what your concern is?
MCG: My concern is – I often put myself in the shoes of Bert and Patti. I’m getting up in the morning and opening a newspaper and there’s my son being basically demonised – by some sections of the media. Essentially I’m in pain, I’ve got a son who clearly has some very significant mental problems which, by all reports, is reticent to treatment and clearly subject to relapse. It’s a chronic ongoing problem and it’s not going to go away. What we do know is that the more pressure you put on him, the more likely he is to be pushed over the edge and this is what really frightens me.
I think that what we’ve got to be careful of is that he’s gone to the [United] States to get away from media. Putting the spotlight on him is only going to increase the pressure and it will in fact, I believe, compromise his attempt at recovery. My question to you is, as an experienced journo – is this in the public interest?