Sky News Australia denies broadcasting Covid misinformation, saying YouTube is totalitarian

Original article by Amanda Meade
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 7-Sep-21

Sky News Australia CEO Paul Whittaker says he does not accept the suggestion that it "directly or indirectly" promoted misinformation about COVID-19. Whittaker was appearing before the Senate’s media diversity inquiry, and was responding to a question by Senator Sarah Hanson-Young. Commenting on the decision by YouTube to remove 23 Sky News videos on the grounds that they breached its medical misinformation policies, Whittaker accused YouTube of being "totalitarian".

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SKY NEWS, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED

Minister pans ABC complaint procedure

Original article by Troy Bramston
The Australian – Page: 3 : 2-Sep-21

The ABC has attracted further scrutiny in the wake of a controversial documentary on the 1979 Luna Park ghost train fire in Sydney. Communications Minister Paul Fletcher says the fallout from the documentary should prompt the public broadcaster’s management and board to review its policy for handling audience complaints, in order to determine whether it is functioning effectively. The ABC’s audience and consumer affairs division has rejected all complaints received with regard to the documentary.

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AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS

Board must act on ABC editorial failures

Original article by Troy Bramston
The Australian – Page: 2 : 1-Sep-21

The ABC continues to attract scrutiny over a controversial documentary on the 1979 ghost train fire at Sydney’s Luna Park. An independent review found that allegations raised in the documentary with regard to former NSW premier Neville Wran were unsubstantiated. The ABC’s former MD David Hill has criticised the public broadcaster’s management for defending the documentary and failing to acknowledge its shortcomings. Hill contends that the documentary breached the ABC’s editorial policies with regard to accuracy and fairness.

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AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Australians turn to magazines during lockdowns with Food & Entertainment, Home & Garden, General Interest and Mass Women readership up year on year

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 25-Aug-21

The Roy Morgan Australian Readership report for the 12 months to June 2021 shows that a total of 15,201,000 Australians aged 14+ (72.0%) read magazines in print or online either via the web or an app. This is down 4 per cent, or 628,000, from a year ago. Readership of print magazines was 12.0 million Australians aged 14+ (56.8 per cent), down 2.2% from a year ago. Although overall industry readership figures are down slightly compared to a year ago, this is largely due to the closure or suspension of many titles during 2020 as the industry grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic and the nation-wide lockdown. The good news is that many magazine titles have resonated with new audiences during a tough year and are thriving, with solid readership increases seen across many categories. Readership of the Food & Entertainment category increased by 10.8 per cent to over 7.1 million, General Interest was up 6.1 per cent to over 4.1 million, Home & Garden increased by 17.8 per cent to over 3.8 million and Mass Women’s was up 3.8 per cent to over 3 million. These are the latest findings from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey of 64,973 Australians aged 14+ in the 12 months to June 2021.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Short and sharp: Titles up, hours down 68 per cent for Aussie TV drama

Original article by Karl Quinn
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 25-Aug-21

New figures show that just 67 hours of adult drama was broadcast on Australia’s commercial television networks in 2019, compared with 208 hours in 1999. The number of hours of adult drama that was broadcast across all networks fell from 254 to 187 over this period; the latter figure includes streaming services. The researchers also note that each drama series had an average of seven episodes per season in 2019, compared with 21 in 1999. Veteran producer John Edwards fears that scripted television programs will continue to decline in Australia unless streaming services are legally required to invest in such content.

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NRL could switch TV channels

Original article by John Stensholt, Jessica Halloran
The Australian – Page: 24 : 25-Aug-21

The Seven Network is said to have expressed interest in the broadcasting rights to rugby league’s State of Origin series. Seven is also believed to be interested in broadcasting one National Rugby League match each week; Ten could also potentially bid for the NRL rights, with the Nine Network’s current deal set to end in 2022. Nine has held the rugby league broadcasting rights for about three decades.

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SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE

The ABC’s big lie and the madness of Four Corners

Original article by James Madden, Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 1 & 9 : 24-Aug-21

Fox News has attacked the ABC over a two-part ‘Four Corners’ program called "The Big Lie". The program has been accused of being "error-ridden" and "conspiracy-laden", implying that the Rupert Murdoch-owned broadcaster played a part in Donald Trump’s refusal to accept defeat in the 2020 US presidential election, ignoring the fact that Trump attacked Fox’s coverage of the election campaign in more than 400 tweets. It is believed that the second part of the program will try to link Fox News to the attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters on 6 January.

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FOX NEWS, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

More than 20 million Australians continue to read news

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 24-Aug-21

The first release of Total News readership figures produced by Roy Morgan shows that 20.4 million Australians consume news in a four-week period, an increase of 1 per cent compared to the same period last year. The readership figures, produced for the first time by Roy Morgan for ThinkNewsBrands, refer to the 12 months to June 2021 and show that Total News reaches 97 per cent of the population aged 14+. Total News consists of all news brands (print and digital) and digital news websites. Digital news maintains its position of strength with readership of 19.1 million, 90 per cent of the population aged 14+. Print news has seen a 6 per cent increase compared to the same period last year, now reaching 14.1 million people, or 67 per cent of the population aged 14+. In April, ThinkNewsBrands announced the appointment of Roy Morgan to measure news readership and the retirement of emma (Enhanced Media Metrics Australia).

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, THINKNEWSBRANDS

‘Taxpayers should know’: Senator calls for audit of ABC payment for upskirting tweet

Original article by Zoe Samios, Lisa Visentin
The Age – Page: Online : 20-Aug-21

Liberal MP Andrew Laming sued ABC reporter Louise Milligan for defamation over tweets she made which alleged that he had taken an "upskirting" picture of a woman. Milligan had agreed to pay Laming $79,000 in damages and cover his legal costs, but the ABC decided to pay her defamation costs, even though it had not been party to the action. Liberal Senator Eric Abetz has asked the Auditor-General to examine the appropriateness of the ABC’s actions, stating that taxpayers have a right to know why it paid Milligan’s bill.

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AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR-GENERAL, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

News chief urges bosses to champion the rollout

Original article by James Madden
The Australian – Page: 7 : 20-Aug-21

News Corp Australasia’s executive chairman Michael Miller has called on Australia’s business owners and leaders to "cham­pion the vaccination rollout". He says the media company is doing all it can to encourage and help its staff to get vaccinated as soon as they can, and he urges all other businesses to adopt the same approach. Miller has called on federal and state leaders to set vaccination targets and a timetable that will enable all Australians "to plan for life in a new normal state of affairs".

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NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD