AIRLIE WALSH: The view inside the razor wire seen for the first time, as the Prime Minister led journalists on a tour of the Christmas Island detention centre now back in business. And his message couldn't be clearer.

SCOTT MORRISON: The last thing I ever wanted to do was reopen it. But here we are. Thank you Bill Shorten.

- Nine News, 6 March, 2019

Hello, I’m Paul Barry, welcome to Media Watch.

And Scott Morrison’s day trip to the Christmas Island detention centre was certainly not short on theatre.

And that’s just as well, because it was short on substance, with the PM simply relying on more of that old tough talk:

SCOTT MORRISON: … if you seek to come to Australia illegally by boat, we will turn the boat back and we will transfer you to Nauru if you sought to come that way. And nothing on that score has changed.

- ABC News, 6 March, 2019

Yes, and that’s surely the point, because the PM had no new announcement to make.

Yet the media dutifully tagged along, with Seven, Nine, the ABC, SBS, Fairfax and News Corp all paying up to accompany the PM and report on his inspection of an empty detention centre.

And as the ABC noted, that was not by chance:

ELIZA BORRELLO: … it’s no accident his trip to Christmas Island was with a bus load of media in tow.

- ABC News, 6 March, 2019

And sure enough that delivered wall-to-wall coverage.

The PM’s press conference was taken live on Sky and the ABC:

SCOTT MORRISON: I thought it was important for me personally to come here and see that the facility was ready …

- ABC News, 6 March, 2019

And pictures of the PM’s visit got on the evening news too.

But as Channel Seven’s Tim Lester told viewers, the PM’s trip had one simple aim:

TIM LESTER: ... to take news media along, essentially to give the issue as much oxygen as he can. He wants us, Australians talking about this ...

- The Latest, Channel Seven, 6 March, 2019

And did that work? Well, yes. For a time.

News Corp’s Paige Taylor delivered a front page for The Australian, trumpeting the Prime Minister’s stern old warnings, accompanied with this magnificent hero shot of our leader.

And if it looks a little staged, well, that’s because it was. The photo credit goes to Adam Taylor, who works for the PM as his official snapper.

But back in Canberra, the political pundits were decidedly more cynical.

Malcolm Farr at News.com.au called it a “political stunt”.

And Nine’s papers branded the trip a waste of taxpayers’ money, with David Crowe declaring:

Australians just paid up to $2000 a minute for a press conference on Christmas Island that told them nothing new.

Morrison did not need the tropical backdrop of Christmas Island to make his case. There are perfectly good palm trees in Sydney.

- The Sydney Morning Herald, 6 March, 2019

So why do the media give oxygen to such political stunts?

Well, in this case they were offered exclusive access to film inside the detention centre. Which is hard to turn down.

And there was always the chance the PM might say something important. So, doubtless they felt they could not say no.

But it’s good to see so many reporters called it out for what it was – an expensive PR performance.