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Cash hit halts ABC’s ideas plan

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Original article by Stephen Brook
The Australian – Page: 24 & 26 : 17-Sep-18

The ABC has put the second round of its Grand Ideas Grant scheme on hold until 2019, in order to focus on delivering the first round of projects to be funded via the initiative. The public broadcaster announced the Great Ideas Grant scheme in March 2017, as part of its ABC Content Fund. To date the ABC has launched only four of the nine GIG projects that it announced in mid-2017, although another three are at the pilot stage. Several of the GIG projects have attracted criticism over claims that they provide similar content to that of the ABC’s commercial rivals.

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AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, MAMAMIA.COM.AU PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, JUNKEE MEDIA PTY LTD, KINDERLING, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE

Alan Jones defamed Wagner family over Grantham floods

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Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 13-Sep-18

Macquarie Media will have to pay Toowoomba’s Wagner brothers $3.75 million after it and broadcaster Alan Jones lost a defamation case in the Supreme Court of Queensland. The case related to allegations by Jones in broadcasts in 2014 and 2015 that the quarry the brothers owned had caused the deaths of 12 people in the Grantham floods in 2011. The Wagner brothers had been seeking $4.8 million in damages. Justice Peter Flanagan directed Jones and his programs to never again repeat his defamatory comments.

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MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND, RADIO 4BC BRISBANE PTY LTD, 2GB, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH

Myer plunges to $486m loss but debt refinanced and covenants eased

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 13-Sep-18

Shares in retailer Myer fell by 4.6 per cent on 12 September after it announced a full-year net loss of $486 million. Underlying net profit fell 52.2 per cent to $32.5 million, while EBIT declined by 48 per cent to $55.4 million. Sales fell by 3.2 per cent to $3.1 billion, although online sales increased by 34 per cent to $192.5 million. Solomon Lew, whose Premier Investments is Myer’s biggest shareholder with 10.9 per cent, savaged the result. He said the Myer board was "a disgrace", and that chairman Gary Hounsell should stand down immediately.

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MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, PREMIER INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX PMV, HOUSE OF FRASER HOLDINGS PLC, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Decision day for Alan Jones in Wagner defamation case

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Original article by Mark Schliebs
The Australian – Page: Online : 12-Sep-18

Supreme Court of Queensland Justice Peter Flanagan will hand down his decision in a defamation case involving broadcaster Alan Jones on 12 September. The Toowoomba-based Wagner brothers are seeking $4.8 million in damages over 32 broadcasts made by Jones in 2014 and 2015. The Wagners claim they were defamed by imputations that the collapse of a dirt wall in a quarry they owned caused the deaths of 12 people in floods in 2011. They are also suing Jones and co-defendants 4BC and Harbour Radio regarding allegations concerning the Wellcamp airport near Toowoomba; journalist Nick Cater is a defendant in regard to one of the 32 broadcasts.

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SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND, RADIO 4BC BRISBANE PTY LTD, HARBOUR RADIO PTY LTD

Big tech urged to promote quality journalism

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Original article by Matthew Denholm
The Australian – Page: Online : 11-Sep-18

Attendees at the "Navigating the News" conference in Hobart heard Facebook and Google being urged to revise their algorithms to give quality journalism better treatment. Nicholas Gray, the CEO of "The Australian" told the conference that commercial news outlets needed to attract subscriptions in order to remain viable, but that Facebook and Google’s algorithms did not favour the quality stories that the outlets generate. Nic Hopkins from Google Australia and New Zealand said it was not its job to "censor" the internet.

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FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Anti-Sky activists hide behind Twitter

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 24 : 10-Sep-18

There are claims that online activist group Sleeping Giants is using fake Twitter accounts to promote an advertising boycott against Sky News. Sleeping Giants asserts Sky is providing opinionated broadcasting on urban train networks, but Sky is only contracted to supply brief news, weather and sports updates. Sleeping Giant began its campaign against Sky after the broadcasting of an interview with far-right activist Blair Cottrell. Cottrell has a presence on Facebook and Twitter, but Sleeping Giants has not sought to target them.

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SLEEPING GIANTS, SKY NEWS, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, TWITTER INCORPORATED, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

CBS gears for Ten All Access streaming service launch

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Original article by Nick Tabakoff
The Australian – Page: Online : 10-Sep-18

CBS will enter the Australian streaming market in December with the launch of Ten All Access. Its US equivalent CBS All Access costs $US5.99 with advertisements a month, and it is expected that Ten All Access will cost between $6 and $7 a month. Meanwhile, chief content officer Beverley McGarvey says Ten’s plans for 2019 include renewals for "The Bachelor" and "Survivor", while she has denied reports that CBS wanted some of Ten’s news personalities to have voice coaching.

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CBS CORPORATION, CBS ALL ACCESS, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED

Manhunt for intruder after major security break at ABC HQ

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Original article by Stephen Brook
The Australian – Page: Online : 10-Sep-18

Sydney police are investigating a security breach at the ABC’s Ultimo headquarters on 5 September. The intruder was able to enter the building by following an ABC employee through security gates at the rear. He assaulted a female staff member and then gained access to one of the ABC’s radio studios, causing it to have to cancel a live broadcasting and switch to pre-recorded programming. The ABC closed the foyer at its Ultimo building to public access in June 2017, following a risk assessment by the Australian Federal Police and advice from a private security firm.

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AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE

Costco tops for discount department store satisfaction

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 7-Sep-18

New research from Roy Morgan shows Costco as Australia’s leading discount department store with a customer satisfaction of 88.6% in July, just ahead of rivals Target on 88.5% and Kmart on 88.4%. The impressive ratings for the industry underlie that 87.5% of customers of discount department stores are satisfied, an increase of 1.1% points over the year. All five leading discount department stores increased their customer satisfaction, with the biggest improvement over the past year coming from Best & Less, which rose 1.8% year on year for a customer satisfaction rating of 86.4. These are the latest results from Roy Morgan’s Discount Department Store Satisfaction Report which is based on in-depth personal interviews conducted face-to-face with over 50,000 Australians per annum in their own homes.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, COSTCO WHOLESALE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TARGET AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BEST AND LESS PTY LTD, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, COUNTRY ROAD LIMITED, HARRIS SCARFE HOLDINGS LIMITED

Cosgrove to retire, G-G the PM’s pick

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian – Page: 1 & 9 : 5-Sep-18

Sir Peter Cosgrove has indicated he intends to retire as Governor-General when his five-year term ends in March. With the next federal election due before May, Bill Shorten recently asked Prime Minister Scott Morrison to extend Sir Peter’s term in office for six months or until after the election, stating this would allow an incoming prime minister to appoint a successor. However, Sir Peter’s comments indicate it will be the current government that makes that decision.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIAN RUGBY FOOTBALL UNION