MASS MEDIA – AUSTRALIA

Content on ice as ABC still frozen

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 2 : 23-Oct-19

The ABC’s MD David Anderson has told a Senate estimates committee hearing that the public broadcaster will have to find annual cost savings of about $40m from fiscal 2022 due to its funding freeze. He added that the cost of producing quality Australian content is rising, while the ABC is facing growing competition for audiences from international streaming video providers. Anderson also said a controversial documentary about One Nation was reviewed by editorial managers and lawyers before it was broadcast by the ABC in March.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, ONE NATION PARTY, AL JAZEERA, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, WALT DISNEY COMPANY

Seven West deal tests media diversity

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Original article by Zoe Samios
The Australian – Page: 22 : 23-Oct-19

Seven West Media’s proposed acquisition of regional affiliate Prime Media Group will attract scrutiny by the Australian Communications & Media Authority. ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin says the deal will be assessed in terms of whether it will reduce the number of media ‘voices’ in the Western Australian market and the application of the ‘two-to-a-market rule’. Seven West Media also publishes newspapers in Perth and regional areas.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, REDWAVE MEDIA LIMITED, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL

Chilling effect on the news

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 36 & 37 : 22-Oct-19

The Right to Know coalition is seeking to combat what it contends is the increased suppression of press freedom in Australia. Members of the group include Seven West Media, News Corp Australia, Nine Entertainment, the Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance and the ABC. The group believes that there are six key areas where reform is needed, including protections for whistleblowers, changes to the definition of what information should be regarded as secret and changes to defamation laws.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

PM tested on secrecy laws

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Olivia Caisley
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 22-Oct-19

The issue of press freedom came under scrutiny in federal parliament on 21 October. Prime Minister Scott Morrison stated that any decision to prosecute a journalist should be based on the rule of law rather than the "whim of politicians". Law Council of Australia president Arthur Moses has responded by calling for Attorney-General Christian Porter to withdraw a recently-issued directive to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions regarding the prosecution of journalists for alleged breaches of four statutes.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LAW COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIA. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

Why bitter magazine rivals Bauer, Pacific are poised to unite

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Original article by Zoe Samios
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 21-Oct-19

There is general agreement within the media industry that the proposed sale of Pacific Magazines to Bauer Media Australia is necessary for the two businesses to be sustainable. Both publishers have been hard hit by the decline in advertising revenue and circulation over the last 10 years. Magazines now account for just one per cent of the industry’s advertising revenue, compared with seven per cent in 2009. Meanwhile, Bauer’s revenue fell 13.7 per cent to $224.3m in 2018, while Pacific Magazines’ revenue fell 7.2 per cent to $129.4m in 2018-19. Sources have suggested that a deal could be struck within days.

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

ABC savaged by union for underpaying casual employees

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Original article by Zoe Samios
The Australian – Page: 25 : 21-Oct-19

The Community & Public Sector Union has told its members that the ABC’s management had been made aware on "multiple occasions" that casual staff were being underpaid. The CPSU’s report notes amongst other things that the public broadcaster had breached the Fair Work Act and its own enterprise agreement by underpaying up to 2,500 casual employees. The ABC’s 2019 annual report notes that it has allocated more than $22m to compensating staff who were underpaid.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION

United front in fight for freedom

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Original article by Leo Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 21-Oct-19

The Australian media industry has ramped up its Your Right to Know campaign. Some of the nation’s major newspapers will replace their front pages on 21 October with an advertisement featuring blacked-out content and the question: ‘When the government hides the truth from you, what are they covering up?’. The move is part of the industry’s push to safeguard freedom of the press in the wake of police raids on the home of a News Corp journalist and the ABC’s Sydney offices.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

Secrecy law a burden: HRC

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Original article by Nicola Berkovic
The Australian – Page: 5 : 18-Oct-19

Details of submissions to News Corp Australia’s legal challenge to the validity of a police raid on the home of journalist Annika Smethurst have been released. The Australian Human Rights Commission’s submission has broadly supported News Corp’s stance, although it has taken a different legal approach to the issue, arguing that secrecy laws limit the freedom of political expression. Constitutional law expert George Williams, says the two approaches could both support the media group’s view that the raid on Smethurst was unlawful.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

ABC goes begging as it pays execs 70pc more

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 3 : 17-Oct-19

The ABC’s latest annual report shows that its executive management team and board of directors received total remuneration of $6.1m in 2018-19, compared with $3.6m in 2017-18. The public broadcaster added two people to its executive ranks during the latest reporting period. MD David Ander­son was paid $1.14m in 2018-19, while predecessor Michele Guthrie received a $1.35m termination payout. The ABC has reported a 2018-19 net operating surplus of $38.3m.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Nine fights tech giants with new ad model

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 17-Oct-19

Nine Entertainment Company has used its annual ‘upfronts’ to reveal that it will adopt a cost per completed view model for advertising across its digital platforms. Clients will be charged only if a video ad is viewed in full. The move is aimed at technology giants Facebook and Google, which have attracted scrutiny over their own advertising policies. Nine has also advised that it has amalgamated the data that has been gathered across its digital platforms.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED