Business of Media
Seven news boss Anthony De Ceglie on dangers of social media giants and ChatGPT
Social media giants including TikTok, X and Instagram are the biggest threats to traditional media outlets, and time is running out to protect the news industry from the “evil forces” of big tech, Seven West Media’s news boss Anthony De Ceglie has warned, reports The Australian’s Sophie Elsworth.
Speaking at a Melbourne Press Club event on Tuesday, De Ceglie urged the federal government to take swift action to ensure the sustainability of the news media by addressing the harms, and the misinformation, that tech companies are unleashing across society.
“Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has labelled Meta arrogant bullies who should fess up to the damage they cause,” he said during his address.
“NSW Premier Chris Minns has spoken many times about how social media platforms cynically use algorithms to push dangerous conspiracy theories onto impressionable people – creating a vicious spiral down a rabbit hole he calls the ‘dark corners of the internet’.
“Against these evil forces – and calling them that is not an exaggeration – there is only one true antidote.
“The news. The truth. The fourth estate.”
Nine Publishing’s CBD column added:
The astrology segment De Ceglie started, part of the master plan to try new things and attract new audiences, was front of mind.
“For those who care, my star sign rating for today is supposed to be three stars, so I think that bodes OK,” De Ceglie told the assembled throng.
He neatly sidestepped difficult questions about Seven’s newsroom culture, saying it was before his time and actions speak louder than words.
TV Tonight reports: “Seven is trying new things and the world isn’t coming to an end”
News brands
NSW DPP Sally Dowling tells The Australian: ‘Take down report of complaint about me’
In an extraordinary move, the office of NSW chief prosecutor Sally Dowling SC has demanded The Australian remove an article revealing that a senior judge lodged an official complaint against her, alleging Dowling tried to “exert influence” over the judiciary and engaged in “ethically questionable” behaviour, reports The Australian’s Stephen Rice.
The highly unusual bid to bury reporting of District Court judge Penelope Wass’s complaint comes after Dowling earlier threatened to sue The Australian over an article in which a senior police officer acquitted of rape blasted the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for bringing his case to trial.
The Australian has declined Dowling’s request to remove the article detailing Judge Wass’s complaint, and rejected her demand to apologise or “correct” the article in which NSW policeman Ankit Thangasamy alleged the ODPP was powered by a “certain ideology” to run baseless rape prosecutions. The newspaper stands by its public-interest reporting in both cases, and both articles remain online.
7NEWS fined $100,000 for contempt after causing a mistrial
Seven News has been ordered to pay a $100,000 fine for causing a mistrial with “sensationalist” reporting – with a judge hoping to highlight the seriousness of such offending and minimise future cases, reports News Corp’s Messenger newspaper.
Legal representatives for Seven appeared in the South Australian District Court on Tuesday in front of Judge Rauf Soulio after earlier admitting it committed a contempt of court through a story broadcast in early 2023.
Judge Soulio acknowledged the company’s breach of “the golden rule” of court reporting – never report on what hasn’t been presented to the jury – was “wilful” but “without intention”.
“I indicate at the outset that I find that – within the meaning of the authorities – the contempt was a wilful contempt,” he said.
“But, I accept that it was a contempt without any intention of interfering or obstructing the course of justice.
“It appears that there was not a sufficient appreciation in the manner in which the story was constructed of the potential to interfere with the course of justice. As I’ve said, I accept that was not deliberate – however, it was incumbent upon the respondent (Seven News) to have a regard to that prospect and to take steps to avoid that possibility.
“There is a need – an important aspect of a charge of this nature – to deter and reflect to others the seriousness with which such conduct is regarded and the importance of compliance with obligations.”
A Channel Seven spokesperson said the network took its broadcast responsibilities seriously and accepted the court’s finding.
“Seven News endeavours to take every step to ensure its reporting is fair, appropriate and meets the high standards it has set over many years. Seven News will continue to work hard to tell South Australia’s stories and bring news to our audience that is relevant and informative.”
Joe Aston’s bombshell Qantas book launches at embattled Merivale bar
The two biggest news stories in town walked into a bar on Tuesday night, report Nie Publishing’s Kishor Napier-Raman and Stephen Brook.
Former Australian Financial Review Rear Window columnist Joe Aston’s new book on Qantas, The Chairman’s Lounge, had been generating headlines before even hitting the shelves, with revelations that Anthony Albanese had lobbied the airline’s former boss Alan Joyce for flight upgrades, sending the prime minister into days of damage control.
Those game enough to watch Aston in conversation with Fin Review editor James Chessell included a cross-section from the top echelons of business, the media, politics and sport.
In the throng, CBD spied Qantas tormentor Senator Bridget McKenzie, Tabcorp director and former NRL boss David Gallop and ex-Rugby Australia chair Hamish McLennan. Also spotted before proceedings were board member at Crown Melbourne and Hawthorn Football Club Ian Silk and former Fairfax boss Greg Hywood.
Joe Aston’s book on Qantas hit the shelves at the worst possible time for both an airline trying to shed the “embattled” tag earned during its 2023 annus horribilis, and a prime minister trying to escape political attacks over his $4.3 million clifftop home purchase.
Merivale steps down from restaurant association, Hemmes tells staff he is ‘devastated’
Hospitality giant Merivale has stepped down from the board of the Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association following claims of sexual harassment, exploitation and drug use at the company’s high-profile Sydney venues as chief executive Justin Hemmes says he is “devastated” by the allegations, report Nine Publishing’s Bianca Hrovat and Eryk Bagshaw.
Hemmes wrote to more than 5000 Merivale staff on Tuesday afternoon to assure them the company was taking allegations revealed by The Sydney Morning Herald, Good Food and The Age seriously.
Hemmes claimed the company was “continuing to work to have some of the inaccuracies and falsehoods corrected”.
Following the Herald investigation, which revealed claims the company exploited women, encouraged them to have sex with customers, perpetuated sexual harassment and facilitated frequent drug use, Merivale representative and chief people officer Jessica Furolo stepped down from the board of the Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association on Tuesday morning.
Jeff Bezos defends decision to end Washington Post endorsements
Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of The Washington Post, whose decision to end presidential endorsements at the paper set off a firestorm inside and outside the paper last week, said on Monday in his first comments about the change that it had been done to improve the newsroom’s credibility, not to protect his own personal interests.
“Presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election,” Bezos wrote in an essay published on The Post’s website. He added: “What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence. Ending them is a principled decision, and it’s the right one.”
Bezos said on Monday that he had not and would not pursue his personal interests through his ownership of The Post, and that “no quid pro quo of any kind is at work here.”
After Friday’s announcement, some of the paper’s best-known journalists spoke out about the decision and thousands of readers complained about it in comments on The Post’s website.
Read the Bezos essay: The hard truth: Americans don’t trust the news media
Ex-Crikey columnist Guy Rundle apologises after saying ‘every grope is now a sexual assault’
Former Crikey columnist Guy Rundle has apologised for saying “every grope is now a sexual assault” and for implying that “sexual assault is a trivial matter” 10 days after he was sacked for texting the comment to ABC Radio.
The freelance journalist was sacked by Crikey after he sent the text to Radio National’s breakfast program that was read on air by host Patricia Karvelas.
In his statement Rundle said his text was taken as expressing the idea that “unwanted sexual touching” was not sexual assault and was “falsely inflating” the statistics. “This is not what I believe,” he said. “All unwanted sexual touching is sexual assault.”
Television
Bluey music composer and new dad Joff Bush a winner at Screen Music Awards
For most of the six years since the ABC TV cartoon Bluey began captivating audiences worldwide, composer Joff Bush had been digging into his own childhood memories while creating its award-winning score, reports The Australian’s Andrew McMillen.
In seven-minute bursts, Bluey’s storytelling centres on play and the relationships between young children and their parents – and having recently become a first-time father, Bush will now be drawing from real life for future musical compositions as he watches his four-month-old daughter grow.
Last week saw the release of Rug Island, the third entry in the Bluey soundtrack series, which began in 2021 with chart-topping debut Bluey The Album and earned an ARIA Award for best children’s album.
With his catalogue of clever, catchy songs now amassing 1.6 million monthly plays on Spotify alone, the 16 new tracks on Rug Island – which Bush finished working on the day before his daughter was born – are sure to be another hit with young listeners, including a new vocal version of Bluey’s opening title theme.
At the Screen Music Awards on Tuesday night in Melbourne, Bush’s work on the 28-minute Bluey episode The Sign was awarded Best Music for Children’s Programming.
‘Screw you’: Australian comedian’s biting message to radio host
Australian comedian Kitty Flanagan has hit back at popular Melbourne radio hosts over her new TV series, reports news.com.au’s Alexandra Feiam.
Speaking to Nova 100’s morning hosts Jase and Lauren, Flanagan began by discussing her latest season of the hit series Fisk when she was asked if she had any control over how the show was aired.
“Do you get to choose if you drop shows like one episode a week or if you can just drop a whole season?” co-host Lauren asked the comedian.
“Because I’ve turned into a real binger.”
Hitting back with her trademark wit, Flanagan reminded the radio stars how much blood, sweat and tears go into creating a TV show, only to have someone watch it in the space of an afternoon.
“Yes, but see, here’s the thing, Lauren. Can I say to you, it took me nine months to make,” Flanagan quipped. “Screw you if you want to watch it in three hours. I want you to take at least six weeks and have to look forward to it and enjoy it.”
Real-life ‘death on staircase’ TV experiment leaves jurors in tears
These are the established facts of a real manslaughter trial that occurred in Sydney some years ago: a male couple, living in an inner-suburban terrace, had an argument. The older man, an Italian, wound up dead at the bottom of their staircase. His partner, who hailed from China, was charged over his death, reports Nine Publishing’s Michael Lallo.
Few other details can be revealed until the final instalment of SBS’s gripping true crime documentary series, The Jury: Death on the Staircase, goes to air.
Re-enacting this trial word-for-word – with only the names, dates and locations changed – the five-part program asks 12 volunteer jurors to assess the evidence. Their deliberations will result in either a hung jury or a verdict of guilty or not guilty. In the last episode, they’ll learn if their decision matches that of the original jury. Most of them weep when they discover the details of the case, which will be revealed to viewers at the same time.
WHAT The Jury: Death on the Staircase
WHEN 8.30pm Wednesdays on SBS from November 6
Sports media
Shaun Burgoyne reveals all on power move to Fox Footy
New Fox Footy recruit Shaun Burgoyne says it was an easy decision to join the powerhouse broadcaster for next season, reports News Corp’s Jackie Epstein.
The Hawthorn and Port Adelaide legend has moved over from Channel 7’s ranks and had his first official day at his new television home this week.
“I think it’s a great opportunity with Fox having a bigger play in the market in 2025 going forward,’’ Burgoyne said.
“More games, more opportunities, great talent and great people in and around. I’ve always had a great relationship with Fox and the workers there throughout my playing days and I’ve always felt very welcome. You throw that all in together and it’s a competitive market and you’re always looking for what’s to come, what’s in the future and planning forward. It was a pretty easy decision in the end to come across.”
Burgoyne was welcomed by new colleagues including former teammate Jordan Lewis, Jonathan Brown, Sarah Jones, Dermott Brereton, Eddie Betts, Brad Johnson and Cam Mooney.