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Stokes rejects ABC: I didn’t plot to oust PM

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Original article by Darren Davidson, Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 20-Sep-18

Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes has refuted suggestions that himself and fellow media magnate Rupert Murdoch had any role in the demise of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull. The ABC has claimed in reports on its evening news bulletin and online that in the lead-up to the ousting of Turnbull, Murdoch told Stokes that Turnbull had to go. The reports were filed by the ABC’s national political editor, Andrew Probyn, who has previously worked for Seven West Media. Stokes says Probyn should therefore know that he does not engage in "speculative political gossip".

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, WEST AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPERS HOLDINGS LIMITED

Lew urges Wilson to help fix Myer board

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 17-Sep-18

Geoff Wilson’s Wilson Asset Management has become a substantial shareholder in retailer Myer, with a 5.5 per cent stake. Solomon Lew, whose Premier Investments holds a 10.8 per cent stake in Myer and who has been unhappy with its performance since Premier acquired its stake in March 2017, has called on Wilson to help him toss out the Myer board. However, Wilson has indicated that he is happy to support new Myer CEO John King and his senior managers, while he has queried the rationale behind Lew’s attacks on the Myer board.

CORPORATES
MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, WILSON ASSET MANAGEMENT, PREMIER INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX PMV

Officeworks tipped for more growth

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 18-Sep-18

Wesfarmers’ Officeworks division posted earnings growth of 8.3 per cent in fiscal 2018, with sales rising by 9.1 per cent and return on capital up 13 per cent. MD Mark Ward is upbeat about the outlook for Officeworks, expressing confidence that it can maintain the recent growth momentum. Although Ward will retire in late 2018, Wesfarmers has yet to appoint a successor as it is focused on the upcoming demerger of Coles.

CORPORATES
OFFICEWORKS SUPERSTORES PTY LTD, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, ONTHEGO PTY LTD

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.

CORPORATES
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.

CORPORATES
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.

CORPORATES
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.

CORPORATES
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.

CORPORATES
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.

CORPORATES
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