MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA

‘ABC’s $150k legal costs move flawed’

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 3 : 19-Oct-21

Auditor-General Grant Hehir has found that there is no documented advice within the ABC to support the public broadcaster’s decision to pay the legal costs of journalist Louise Milligan in the Andrew Laming defamation case. The Liberal MP’s lawsuit ended up costing the ABC about $150,000 in total. Meanwhile, John McMillan and Jim Carroll have been appointed to head an independent review of the ABC’s in-house complaints unit, which has come under growing scrutiny in recent times. McMillan is a former federal and New South Wales ombudsman, and Carroll has previously worked for SBS and the Ten Network.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR-GENERAL, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED

News Corp’s Andrew Bolt says his company’s climate campaign is rubbish

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Original article by Amanda Meade
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 13-Oct-21

News Corp Australia’s recently launched ‘Mission Zero’ editorial campaign on climate change has been criticised by one of the media group’s highest-profile commentators. Sky News presenter and newspaper columnist Andrew Bolt has decribed the campaign as ‘rubbish’ that asks readers to forget News Corp’s previous stance on reducing carbon emissions. Australian Conservation Foundation CEO Kelly O’Shanassy says Bolt has no credibility regarding climate change; O’Shanassy has welcomed News Corp decision to embrace the need for action on the issue.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INCORPORATED

Social media’s self-policing plan laughable

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Original article by Paul Smith, Miranda Ward
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 & 23 : 12-Oct-21

Public interest groups have dismissed DIGI’s plans to establish an independent panel to oversee the voluntary code of conduct governing misinformation and disinformation that appears on the platforms of technology companies such as Facebook and Google. Dhakshayini Sooriyakumaran of Reset Australia says DIGI’s code is little more than a public relations stunt, and she contends that self-regulation of the sector does not work.

CORPORATES
DIGI, FACEBOOK AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, GOOGLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, RESET AUSTRALIA

ABC’s botched doco to cost jobs

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 19 : 4-Oct-21

The ABC recently withdrew a mini-series examining the 1975 disappearance of Sydney activist Juanita Nielsen from its streaming platform, after it was revealed that the mini-series may have aired false claims. It is believed that some people at the ABC may lose their jobs as a result, with the controversy regarding the Juanita Nielsen mini-series coming not long after an independent assessment into an ABC program into the 1979 Sydney Luna Park fire that killed seven people found it was misleading and had incorrectly implied a relationship between former NSW premier Neville Wran and underworld figure Abe Saffron.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Foxtel on track to top 5m subscribers

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Original article by James Madden
The Australian – Page: 13 & 20 : 1-Oct-21

Pay-TV and streaming group Foxtel currently boasts more than four million customers, and CEO Patrick Delany has told the inaugural strategy day that it aims to lift this to five million within three years. Foxtel will also target annual revenue of $3bn. Delany noted that Foxtel has been transformed from a one-product company several years ago to one with multiple revenue streams as its focus has shifted from traditional linear broadcasting to subscription video-on-demand. Some 53 per cent of Foxtel’s customers now subscribe to one of its streaming services, compared with eight per cent in 2016. Delany also said that the question of an IPO is a matter for Foxtel’s shareholders.

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FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

Union blasts ABC on management, underpay

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Original article by Miranda Ward
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 1-Oct-21

A review by the ABC has found that current and former staff employed under certain pay categories between 14 July 2014 and 20 July 2021 had been underpaid. The public broadcaster’s announcement that some staff had been underpaid has prompted an attack by the Community & Public Sector Union, which has accused the ABC of having "serious cultural problems", while urging it to rein in the poor management practices that caused the underpayment problems.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION

Wuhan doco a winner for Sky

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 3 : 22-Sep-21

Data from OzTAM shows that a Sky News documentary on the origins of COVID-19 attracted 160,000 viewers, making it the pay-TV channel’s highest-rating program so far in 2021. ‘What Really Happened in Wuhan’ was also watched by 100,000 regional viewers on the free-to-air Sky News Regional channel. Former US president Donald Trump and ex-secretary of state Mike Pompeo are among the people who were interviewed by investigative journalist Sharri Markson.

CORPORATES
SKY NEWS

Why journalists are giving up on Twitter

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Original article by Karl Quinn
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 17-Sep-21

A growing number of Australian journalists are opting to voluntarily stop using social media site Twitter. They include Lisa Millar, the co-host of the ABC’s ‘News Breakfast’ program. Millar argues that Twitter is still the best platform for breaking news, but she got fed up with the frequent abusive comments from the platform’s users, including allegations of political bias and gender-related criticism. Millar’s ABC colleague and ‘7.30’ presenter Leigh Sales has also highlighted the "non-stop" bullying and harassment on Twitter. Dr Alex Wake of RMIT University contends that abuse of journalists on Twitter is a workplace health and safety issue, and argues that media companies have a duty of care to protect their staff.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, TWITTER INCORPORATED, RMIT UNIVERSITY

Telstra CEO Andy Penn would support a Foxtel IPO

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Original article by David Swan, James Madden
The Australian – Page: Online : 17-Sep-21

Telstra CEO Andy Penn says the telco would retain its stake in Foxtel should the pay-TV and streaming group pursue a sharemarket float. He regards Telstra as a long-term investor in Foxtel, but concedes that its 35 per cent would most likely be diluted via an IPO. Penn adds that Telstra would be open to an IPO if it provided more opportunities for Foxtel in the future. He also says Foxtel’s focus on digitisation has allowed it to meet the challenges presented by streaming rivals such as Netflix.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NETFLIX INCORPORATED

Major advertiser backs News Corp climate shift

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Original article by Zoe Samios, Amelia McGuire
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 8-Sep-21

News Corporations insiders have suggested that pressure from advertisers may have contributed to the media group’s new stance on climate change. News Corp intends to launch a campaign across its platforms to promote the benefits of a carbon-neutral economy. Grocery giant Coles, which boasts one of Australia’s biggest advertising budgets, has welcomed News Corp’s revised approach to climate change. Coles’ new zero emissions advertising campaign has appeared in News Corp’s publications, as well as those of rival media groups.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL