Business of Media
News Corp boss Michael Miller says Anthony Albanese is ‘wrong’ to suggest the media company is out to get him
News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller has rubbished claims by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that the media company’s mastheads are “working hand in glove” with Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to bring down the government, reports The Australian’s James Madden.
According to reports in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, Mr Albanese told a cabinet meeting last Monday that News Corp titles were “cheerleading” for the opposition, and that Labor ministers needed to “deal with” the alleged tactic.
But in an exclusive interview with The Australian, Mr Miller said the Prime Minister’s criticism of News Corp was “wrong”.
“He called it a campaign – there is no campaign,” Mr Miller said. “His criticism is wrong.
Sam Armytage’s surprise TV move after split
Longtime Sunrise host Samantha Armytage has made a return to breakfast television – this time on her new network, Nine, reports, news.com.au’s Nick Bond.
Armytage made her debut as co-host of the Today show this morning, co-hosting the program with weather presenter Dan Anstey.
The pair took over the reins from Weekend Today hosts David Campbell and Sylvia Jeffreys, who in turn were filling in for Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo.
Armytage, who co-hosted Seven’s rival breakfast show Sunrise with David Koch from 2013 to 2021, addressed the elephant in the room at the very top of the show.
“I’ve remembered where I am, on channel Nine. Isn’t it lovely to be on channel Nine?” she asked, before saying it was “nice to meet” her new co-host.
Australia’s media movers and shakers on who survives in Australian journalism
After a year of volatility, job cuts, uncertainty and brilliance, Crikey chased down Australia’s biggest media figures — from journalists to editors to defamation lawyers to academics — to pick their brains about our industry. What they shared has formed the backbone of a multi-part Crikey series, Movers and Shakers, holding a mirror up to the industry and asking it to reflect on itself, reports Crikey’s Daanyel Saeed.
The publication emailed roughly 200 people the same eight questions and about one in four got back to us. It was an imperfect list — if we missed you, let us know for next year — but we contacted people from the following outlets: Nine’s major metropolitan mastheads as well as people in its broadcast divisions, The Australian Financial Review, Network Ten, Seven, SBS, the ABC, 2GB, Sky News Australia, Guardian Australia, the News Corp newspapers, The Conversation, Daily Mail Australia, Australian Associated Press, Apple News, Mamamia, Pedestrian and Schwartz Media.
Australians like banning teens from social media. They just don’t think it’ll work
Big Australians doubt Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s world-leading plan to ban children from social media will work, and fewer than half would be willing to hand over their ID to tech companies if required under the new laws, reports SMH’s Natassia Chrysanthos.
The findings highlight a risk for Labor and scepticism among voters as Albanese heads to the next election pursuing a broader tech crackdown, including a fresh proposal last week to force social media companies to pay for journalism through a new bargaining incentive.
The government has pitched itself as acting on reports of bullying, aggression, sexualisation and other challenges faced by young people on social media, as well as declining mental health. “Parents are worried sick about this,” Albanese said earlier this year. “The safety and mental and physical health of our young people is paramount.”
Industry super funds sell The New Daily
Industry Super Holdings has sold its online news publication The New Daily to its publisher in an attempt to keep the media outlet commercially viable, reports AFR’s Zoe Samios.
Solstice Media, which publishes The New Daily, as well as InDaily in Queensland and South Australia, is the new owner of the title founded in 2013 by six superannuation funds. It would not disclose the terms of the deal.
“The decision to sell was made in light of recent changes in the media sector and being in the best interests for The New Daily to be owned by, and integrated with, an established news publisher,” a joint statement from Industry Super Holdings and Solstice Media said.
Industry Super Holdings – the industry super sector’s collectively held investment arm – put the publication on the market earlier this year, claiming the publication was struggling financially. The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age reported last month that eight positions had been made redundant as several employees had left the organisation.
Is former Nine boss Hugh Marks the next ABC managing director?
If Diary had a dollar for every “sure bet” media rumour that had been whispered out the sides of mouths and into our welcoming ear – but ultimately turned out to be false – we would be obscenely wealthy, reports The Australian’s James Madden.
Which is why, dear reader, you (usually) only ever read cold, hard facts in this column. Only the wheat makes it through; mountains of chaff surround our desk on the newsroom floor.
But here’s one rumour that just won’t go away, and we reckon it’s true: Hugh Marks will be the new managing director of the ABC. As far as media rumours go, we’re almost certain it’s rolled, gold, wheat.
It’s been four years since Marks announced he was standing down as CEO of Nine Entertainment following media scrutiny of a consensual relationship with a lower-ranked colleague, amid speculation he had lost the support of the board.
Despite his messy departure from the commercial media giant, his corpMorate achievements at Nine stand the test of his time.
Smaller news publishers get federal assistance to safeguard their existence
The Albanese government has committed a total of $180.5m to help fund smaller publishers as part of its pledge to sustain the local news and community broadcasting industries, reports The Australian’s James Madden.
Four days after federal Labor unveiled its News Bargaining Incentive – a policy proposal that aims to compel digital giants including Alphabet (parent company of Google), Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) and ByteDance (TikTok) to enter deals with Australian news publishers – the government moved to protect the future of the industry’s smaller players.
Under the News Media Assistance Program (News MAP), announced on Sunday, it will commit to boosting the sustainability and capacity of smaller organisations.
“The News MAP builds on the Albanese government’s support for a strong, diverse and independent media sector with a new policy framework and range of new measures to support news and public interest journalism,” Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said. “Local news and community broadcasting is at the heart of local communities, and makes a vital contribution to national identity and media diversity in Australia.”
The billionaires and what they emerge with from the Chemist Warehouse-Sigma deal
Chemist Warehouse could account for at least four billionaires, and up to six individuals with stakes potentially worth more than $900m, new documents show.
A Chemist Warehouse scheme meeting and booklet, released late on Friday ahead of its proposed reverse takeover of ASX-listed Sigma Healthcare, reveals the huge paper valuations held by the retail giant’s billionaire founders and other key executives, reports The Australian’s John Stensholt.
Based on Sigma’s current share price, billionaires Jack Gance and Mario Verrocchi – who together started Chemist Warehouse in 2000 – would emerge with stock worth a combined $15bn in the merged entity.
“Since Sam, Mario and I became partners in 1982, we have focused on building a business which is today a leading retail pharmacy franchisor and owner of the iconic Chemist Warehouse brand, with a presence across all Australian states and territories and four international markets,” Jack Gance, Chemist Warehouse’s chairman, wrote in the scheme booklet.
Radio
Drive show host Chris O’Keefe leaves 2GB
2GB Sydney’s drive show host Chris O’Keefe has resigned from the broadcaster and will quit the Australian media industry after more than a decade to advise businesses and politicians as a private consultant, reports AFR’s Zoe Samios.
O’Keefe told listeners on Friday afternoon he had made the decision over a few months, and that his next role would be start-up Emerald House Advocacy. He is the second host to leave 2GB this year, after Ray Hadley announced his retirement in November.
“I’m a young father, and I am looking at what the next 10 years looks like for me and my family,” O’Keefe said. “And as we all do from time to time, I have had to answer this question.
“I am very proud of the stories we have broken, the people we have helped and lives we have made better.”
His resignation leaves Nine’s radio network, led by managing director Tom Malone, with a new slot to fill. Hadley, who signed a deal to extend his contract until the end of 2026, announced his resignation last month and is being replaced by Mark Levy.