MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA

Regional media to get $50 million lifeline

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 29-Jun-20

News publishers account for 92 of the 107 regional media companies that will receive a combined $50m in emergency relief funding under the federal government’s Public Interest News Gathering program. Some $20m has been allocated to TV broadcasters, publishers will receive $18m in total and radio broadcasters have been allocated $12m. The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in a sharp fall in advertising revenue for the media sector.

CORPORATES

ACM brings back bulk of print titles

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 29-Jun-20

Regional newspaper group Australian Community Media will shortly resume publishing at least 50 of the print mastheads that were suspended in April due to the coronavirus pandemic. The move affected about 80 non-daily titles, and sources have indicated that a decision has yet to be made as to when the remaining mastheads will resume publication. ACM CEO Allen Williams has urged regional communities to support their local newspapers to ensure that they are financially sustainable.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA

News Corp spurns Google news deal

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Original article by Natasha Gillezeau, Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 27-Jun-20

Google has struck deals with a number of Australian news publishers to pay for content, while it is talks with a number of others, including Australian Community Media. Google Australia MD Mel Silva says it will have to "wait and see" whether its new product offering will be impacted by the code of conduct that the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission is putting together to govern how technology companies deal with news publishers. News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller has accused Google of not being genuine, and of trying to take advantage of certain publishers when they are at their most vulnerable.

CORPORATES
GOOGLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

Media regulator sets goals for fake news code

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 26-Jun-20

The Australian Communications & Media Authority will work with digital platforms to establish a voluntary code of practice on misinformation and news quality. Such a code was a recommendation of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission. ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin says false or misleading news and information on the internet has the potential to cause great harm, while she says the code will need to strike a balance between the right to freedom of speech and the need to curb the spread and impact of damaging information online.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Google finally agrees to pay for news content – but not with everyone

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Original article by David Swan
The Australian – Page: 15 : 26-Jun-20

Digital giant Google has reached agreement with several media companies in Australia regarding a deal to licence their news content. The deal covers smaller news publishers such as Solstice Media, Schwartz Media and The Conversation. Google is also said to be in talks with larger news publishers such as News Corp Australia, Nine Entertainment Company and Australian Community Media. News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller says the deal shows that Google is willing to negotiate directly with small publishers. Google will also pay for news content from several media companies in Germany and Brazil.

CORPORATES
GOOGLE INCORPORATED

ABC axes flagship roles for digital

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Original article by Steve Jackson
The Australian – Page: 7 : 25-Jun-20

About 70 jobs in the ABC’s news division will be cut under the five-year plan, as the public broadcaster shifts its focus to digital on on-demand content. This will result in a significant reduction in original reporting produced by its current affairs programs. The ABC’s news analysis and investigations teams will also be scaled back, while the position of chief economics correspondent is expected to be axed. ABC News director Gaven Morris has confirmed that fewer new episodes of ‘Australian Story’ and ‘Foreign Correspondent’ will be produced due to the budget cuts.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Directors take pay cut as ABC jobs axed

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 7 : 24-Jun-20

The ABC will release its five-year plan on 24 June, which will include up to 250 redundancies across its operations. Meanwhile, an ABC spokesman has advised that the Remuneration Tribunal has approved the public broadcaster’s proposal to temporarily reduce the salaries of its nine-member board by 10 per cent during the second half of 2020. The ABC’s five-year plan was originally slated to be released in March, but it was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. REMUNERATION TRIBUNAL

The Australian named most trusted paper

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Original article by Christine Lacy
The Australian – Page: 19 : 22-Jun-20

The Reuters Institute’s annual Digital News Report has found that the ABC and SBS are the most trusted media outlets in Australia, with trust scores of 72 per cent and 71 per cent respectively. Meanwhile, ‘The Australian’ is the nation’s most trusted newspaper across print and digital, with a trust score of 56 per cent. The News Corp Australia flagship was also ranked second among newspapers in Australia, the US and the UK, behind the ‘Financial Times’ with a trust score of 58 per cent.

CORPORATES
REUTERS INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

Tough love necessary, says News

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 22 : 18-Jun-20

News Corporation’s CEO Robert Thomson says the media group’s decision to axe the print editions of 112 regional and community newspapers was not taken lightly. The bulk of the titles will become digital-only publications, but 36 will be discontinued completely. Thomson says this was necessary to ensure the viability of the titles that will become digital-only. The number of News Corp journalists working on regional and community mastheads will be reduced from more than 1,200 to just 375.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Bauer Media offloads Aussie magazine arm for $50m, eight years after buying it for $525m

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Original article by Shannon Molloy
News.com.au – Page: Online : 18-Jun-20

Private equity firm Mercury Capital has struck a deal to acquire the Australian magazines business of Bauer Media. The sale price has not been disclosed, although it is believed to be less than $50m. Germany-based Bauer bought ACP Magazines for $525m in 2012, and it recently paid $40m for the Pacific Magazines division of Seven West Media. The Mercury Capital deal is expected to be completed in July.

CORPORATES
BAUER MEDIA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MERCURY CAPITAL PTY LTD, BAUER MEDIA KG, PACIFIC MAGAZINES PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM