It was a red-hot political exclusive that triggered a week of searing coverage about Communication and Sport Minister Anika Wells’ expenses.

So why did News Corp, the news organisation that had the scoop, pull it down a few hours later?

News Corp’s free mass-market news site, news.com.au, was the first to publish details of Wells’ $100,000 trip to New York under the headline “Eye-watering cost to spruik social media ban” last Tuesday evening, before mysteriously sending the link dead shortly after.

But sources with insight into the publishing decision have told On Background the story was pulled by editor-in-chief of Free News and Lifestyle Mick Carroll because it jarred with News Corp’s advocacy through its Let Them Be Kids campaign for the Albanese government’s social media ban for under-16s.

Communications Minister Anika Wells [right] alongside Courier Mail editor Melanie Pilling [second right] and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese [centre] in New York in September.Credit: AAPIMAGE

The story, produced by News Corp’s NewsWire service and published to news.com.au, was based on a Senate Estimates questions on notice document leaked to the journalists that included details of Wells’ itinerary during the trip and the substantial costs.

What the document also included, but which wasn’t mentioned in the short-lived story, was a NYC meeting between Wells and News Corp’s Let Them Be Kids campaign, fronted by The Courier Mail’s weekend editor Melanie Pilling, who was also present in New York.

Launched with a petition in 2024, News Corp has claimed its Let Them Be Kids campaign directly led to the world-first social media ban for children under 16. Wells’ trip to New York in September was designed as an opportunity to sell the campaign to the world at the UN event alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and the key members of the campaign who were there to celebrate the moment.

US Ambassador Kevin Rudd, Michael “Wippa” Wipfli of........

© The Sydney Morning Herald