Newsbrands
Kind heart, nose for news: Former Daily Telegraph journo Marcus Casey dies
Former cricket writer for The Australian Peter Lalor has penned a tribute to a former News Corp colleague in the newspaper they used to both write for:
Marcus Casey, a cornerstone of The Daily Telegraph through the 1980s, 1990s and into the new century, passed suddenly from a heart attack in Newtown over the weekend. He was 58.
A larger than life figure, Casey was brought up in the back blocks of Byron Bay in a place he liked to call ‘Struggle Town’, and did his schooling at Ballina High.
He came to Sydney in 1984 and started on the paper as a copy boy, got a cadetship and learned the craft under the wing of the great reporters of the era before him.
He took to the newspaper game like he was born for it. A nose for news and a determination to get the story saw his talent recognised early.
In the early 1990s he became the paper’s New York correspondent, covering some of the biggest stories of the era, including the Oklahoma bombing and the Clinton presidency.
Features editor at the time, Phil McLean, remembers Casey as one of his most multifaceted reporters.
Marcus had boundless curiosity for the world around him — an essential quality for an accomplished journalist.
Casey worked closely with me when we worked together in the Daily Telegraph features department for a time I arrived on the paper when Marcus was in New York and lived in envy of his job and his ability to get among the big stories of the day.
I remember how curious I was about him when he arrived back in town — and worried, because I thought I had a rival on the paper who I couldn’t keep up with.
Instead we became the best of mates. He had the kindest heart, he could see good in anybody and was so endlessly interested in people.
There will never be another Marcus Casey and the newspaper industry is poorer for that.
Seven Adelaide news presenter Mike Smithson celebrates career milestone
Seven News presenter Mike Smithson is celebrating 45 years as a television journalist, reports News Corp’s Ruby Stewart.
‘Smitho’ made his screen debut on his birthday in 1979 and has since covered some of the biggest stories in South Australia and across the globe.
As one of the most recognisable and trusted journalists in the state, Smithson said coming to work has “never been a chore”.
“I am as enthused as I was on the first day, wide-eyed in Channel 7,” Smithson said. “I just love television. You just meet great people along the way.”
With his 50th year on the job fast approaching, Smithson is showing “no signs of slowing down” and hopes to continue on his “fabulous journey” for as long as possible.
“People say to me, you’re 68, why don’t you retire?’,” Smithson said. “I say, why would I if I love what I do?’
“If the audience will have me and my employer will have me, I’ll be around another five years … hopefully.”
Business of Media
Labor vowed to ban sports gambling ads, fix news media bargaining code. But nothing happened
The Albanese government’s attempt to ban ubiquitous sports gambling ads appears to follow a familiar playbook. The first step is to come out forcefully, with language that makes it seem as if decisive action is weeks away, reports The AFR’s Sam Buckingham-Jones.
It was the same playbook the government used against Facebook, when the tech giant refused to renew commercial deals with media companies over content. Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland described that decision “a dereliction of its commitment to the sustainability of Australian news media”.
Jones immediately demanded both the competition watchdog and Treasury provide advice on his next steps. “Nobody should be in any doubt about the Albanese government’s resolve to back Australian journalism,” he said. “We don’t intend to take months.”
Eight months and one parliamentary committee later, there has been no resolution to the media bargaining code. The government is “considering a range of options” to respond, including some sort of levy. Media companies, including Seven, ACM and Nine, announced another round of redundancies, citing the code in their reasons.
But the eight-month delay in the news media bargaining code pales in comparison with the government’s roughly 18 months considering its position on online gambling advertising and its harms.
Guardian Australia wants to raise $500,000 to support journalism in 2025
Guardian Australia has launched a fresh appeal to readers to help it navigate 2025 which it has labelled a “challenging year”:
in the past year, Guardian Australia’s reporting exposed injustice, gave a voice to the marginalised, and held power to account. It prompted apologies and government investigations.
We are an independent news organisation with no shareholders or billionaire owner. This empowers us to follow the facts without fear or favour. It also means we depend on reader support to fund our work.
2025 will be a challenging year, with an unpredictable Donald Trump in the White House, the worsening climate crisis, devastating wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and an Australian federal election, and we need your support to keep pursuing important stories that investigate the powerful and lay the groundwork for change.
We’re raising $500,000 to power our reporting into a new year.
Chair Kim Williams makes rare admission about ‘poorer’ state of ABC’s output
A funding reduction of $150m each year over the past decade has taken a “very real toll” on the ABC’s output – especially in drama, children’s programming, documentaries and regional coverage, the broadcaster’s chair, Kim Williams, has told the National Press Club, reports Guardian Australia’s Amanda Meade.
“We stood back for the best part of three or four decades and allowed the ABC to lose one-third of its funding in real terms when its services have been needed more than ever before,” Williams said.
In a rare admission that the ABC’s offerings are not as strong as they once were, Williams conceded a decline in funding, coupled with the need to provide more digital services such as iview, meant its coverage of Australian culture had deteriorated.
“As our nation has become richer, our nation’s broadcaster has become much poorer,” he said.
“To put my case most simply: the ABC needs a plan for renewal and reinvestment, and it needs it now.”
See also Andrew Bolt: The ABC divided Australia, now it wants more money to fix it
Radio
‘Changes in media are part of life’: ABC chair backs axing popular radio host
ABC chair Kim Williams has backed the broadcaster’s decision to dump radio presenter Sarah Macdonald from the Sydney Mornings slot despite a flood of complaints, saying changes were part of life in the media industry, reports Nine Publishing’s Natassia Chrysanthos.
Macdonald’s surprise removal as host of the show – part of a suite of programming changes to the ABC’s 2025 line-up – was last week met by fierce backlash as listeners bombarded the station and employees described festering concern that the radio division’s new bosses had misread the ABC audience.
Williams defended the decision on Wednesday as he championed change at the broadcaster, which he said needed more investment to boost its offerings of Australian documentaries, drama, children’s and education programs.
“Management has determined that it wishes to take that service in a different direction. That decision is a management decision, and I fully support our management in making relevant decisions as to the direction and content of the services that the ABC provides. So, yes, I do support that decision.
“Much of the public reaction would actually say that you can never change anything, ever, unless the person impacted by the change is entirely in agreement with that change. And I think that in a media working environment, that’s a very impractical view of the world.”
Television
Mipcom market report: 10 wild and weird shows heading to TV in 2025
The Mipcom television market – the annual buy-and-sell season for the global television business – is often seen as a thermometer for the health of the TV biz, reports Nine Publishing’s Michael Idato.
Predicting where the broadcast market will go is more likely a fool’s errand, but Mipcom does offer a glimpse into the short-term future of content.
The biggest trend in the market is the return of traditional TV sales. Which is not to say the “we’re-keeping-all-our-shows-for-our-streaming-platform” strategy is no longer a working business model, but it would be a lie to suggest most of the US studios have not at least partially abandoned it.
Even the non-traditional streamers are getting in on the old-school game of making and selling shows. Amazon Prime Video, which has historically operated a closed ecosystem, like its non-studio stablemates Apple TV+ and Netflix, was at Mipcom selling some of its shows to interested buyers in markets where the platform has not launched.
Some of the wild and weird shows: NCIS: Tony & Ziva Paramount+, Suits: L.A. Seven, via NBC Universal, Fast Friends Max, Watson Paramount+, Outrageous BritBox via BBC Studios.
With quick-fire transformations Jess and Norm deliver on the home front
Budget Battlers, a show that proclaims an intention to undertake a top-notch reno on a tiny budget. But can it put its lack of money where its mouth is? asks Nine Publishing’s Ben Pobjie.
The show is hosted by Jess Eva and Norm Hogan, veterans of The Block chosen for their TV-ready rough-around-the-edges quality and broad ocker accents. Jess does most of the talking, handling the narration duties while Norm, in classic Aussie bloke style, displays strong, masculine silence until things go wrong on the reno and it’s time to start swearing. There’s actually quite a lot of swearing on Budget Battlers – all bleeped out, of course, as this is still a family show. It’s clear the producers want to foreground the willingness of all involved to indulge in profanity to better establish their battler credentials.
In a genre dominated by schadenfreude and fuel-injected conflict, Budget Battlers is a little relief.
Sports Media
Sam McClure returning to The Age in new role after hosting role at 3AW
The Age is to welcome back award-winning journalist Sam McClure in a new role as a senior sports affairs reporter, working across AFL and breaking news on major sporting events and organisations, reports Nine Publishing’s Jon Pierik.
McClure, who as the journalist behind The Age’s Scoop column has proved to be one of the best news breakers in sport journalism, will begin his new role from January to coincide with the Australian Open.
McClure first joined The Age in 2016 and resigned from a full-time role in 2022. In his return to the masthead as senior sports affairs journalist he will cover the big stories in AFL and explore the stories and the people behind major sporting events, including the Australian Open tennis and the Formula 1 Grand Prix, and their part in Australia’s sporting landscape.
“It’s truly an honour to come back to The Age and work alongside Australia’s best journalists,” McClure said.
“The Age holds a particularly special place in my heart given my father Geoff’s history with the masthead. To be able to follow in his footsteps means more to me than I’m able to put into words. I’m looking forward to getting my teeth stuck in and what better way to start than with the Australian Open.”
The role will allow McClure to continue working across a wide range of media assets, amplifying his work and reaching a diverse audience. Patrick Elligett, editor of The Age said: “I am thrilled to welcome Sam McClure back to The Age on a full-time basis. Sam is, undoubtedly, one of the best newsbreakers in sports journalism, which he has shown consistently in recent months through his Scoop column.”