Business of Media
Bodies of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies found at Bungonia four days after serving officer charged with murder
Two bodies have been found south-west of Sydney during the search for missing couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies, reports The Guardian’s Catie McLeod.
The discovery came four days after the serving New South Wales police officer Beau Lamarre, 28, was charged with their murders.
Detectives on Tuesday afternoon said a crime scene had been established at a second property at rural Bungonia near Goulburn, about 160km south-west of Sydney, where the bodies were found in surfboard bags.
See Also: Tributes flow for former Studio 10 presenter Jesse Baird and partner Luke Davies
Content deal with Facebook, Google critical for Australian journalism
Three years ago, the federal government put in place groundbreaking laws forcing Meta, the owner of Facebook, and Google to pay media companies for their content. At the heart of the media bargaining code was the economic principle that user pays. If the tech giants wanted to distribute news stories on their platforms to attract users, they had to pay up, reports Nine Publishing.
At the time, Google and Facebook fought it every step of the way. They knew that if they relented, it could create a ripple effect across the world, with media groups lining up to ask for funding. While Google eventually backed down and signed on, Facebook – in a last-ditch bid to avoid handing over money – flicked the switch to stop publishers and users in Australia from sharing or viewing any news articles on its platform.
Tabcorp to pull form guide sponsorship from three News Corp papers
Tabcorp is poised to pull its sponsorship of the printed racing form guides in three News Corp Australia-owned capital city mastheads, as the wagering firm tries to reach more punters online instead, reports Nine Publishing’s Sam Buckingham-Jones.
The ASX-listed company confirmed it had extended its sponsorship of the Courier Mail in Queensland, the Daily Telegraph in Sydney and will continue with the Herald Sun in Melbourne. But Tabcorp is in negotiations about where it can better spend the money that goes to Adelaide’s Advertiser, Darwin’s NT News and The Mercury in Hobart.
The possible demise of printed racing form guides would end a 100-year tradition of seasoned punters making wagering decisions using a physical copy of race meeting line-ups, odds and coverage.
OpenAI seeks to dismiss parts of The New York Times’s lawsuit
OpenAI filed a motion in federal court on Monday that seeks to dismiss some key elements of a lawsuit brought by The New York Times Company, report The New York Times’ Cade Metz and Katie Robertson.
The Times sued OpenAI and its partner Microsoft on Dec. 27, accusing them of infringing on its copyrights by using millions of its articles to train A.I. technologies like the online chatbot ChatGPT. Chatbots now compete with the news outlet as a source of reliable information, the lawsuit said.
In the motion, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the defendants argue that ChatGPT “is not in any way a substitute for a subscription to The New York Times.”
News Brands
Why gaudy Vice was rejected by clean-living Generation Z
Shane Smith was outraged at suggestions he spent $US300,000 ($457,000) on a single dinner in Las Vegas. “It wasn’t a $US300,000 dinner,” the heavily tattooed founder of Vice Media told the Wall Street Journal in 2016. “It was $US380,000, plus tip. I broke the Vegas tip record,” reports The Telegraph’s James Warrington.
Smith was riding high, with his business valued in the billions and backed by Rupert Murdoch’s Fox. His interview with the Journal centred around a tour of his new $US23 million Spanish Colonial mansion in California and ran under the tagline “Living Large”.
Yet today, Smith’s comments look hubristic. Months after being bought out of bankruptcy, Vice, a start-up once valued at $US5.7 billion, is shutting down its website and laying off hundreds of employees.
BBC apologises to family at centre of Huw Edwards scandal
The BBC has apologised to the parents of a young person who made a complaint about the suspended BBC presenter Huw Edwards, admitting it should have acted more quickly, reports The Guardian’s Alexandra Topping.
The corporation launched a review into its complaints procedure after the scandal in July last year.
Edwards has not made any public statement since he was named as the BBC presenter accused of a string of allegations, including paying a 17-year-old for sexually explicit photos for several years since 2020.
Disney’s head of live-action movies to step down
Sean Bailey, who has overseen live-action movies for Disney’s namesake studio since 2010, will step down, reports The Wall Street Journal’s Ben Glickman.
Disney said Monday that Bailey would be succeeded by David Greenbaum, former co-president of Disney’s Searchlight Pictures. Greenbaum would take on the new role of president of Disney live action and 20th Century Studios.
The entertainment company said that Greenbaum, in the newly created role, would lead a “combined studio group” that would allow for greater collaboration on the company’s production slate.
Sony lays off 900 employees in gaming division
Sony is the latest tech and gaming giant to undergo a significant round of layoffs, reports The Hollywood Reporter’s Alex Weprin.
The company’s Sony Interactive Entertainment unit is cutting 8 percent of its workforce, or about 900 people, its CEO Jim Ryan told employees Tuesday morning.
The division includes Sony’s PlayStation devices, as well as multiple game development studios.
Television
How important is Live TV in Entertainment schedules?
They were once appointment viewing, but how many Live Entertainment shows are now pumped out by networks? And do they think Live is of value in 2024, asks TV Tonight?
While most networks shoot Entertainment shows ‘As Live’ -that is pre-recorded but largely without second takes- not many offer truly Live outside of News and Sport.
Here’s what network execs told TV Tonight.
I’m A Celebrity Australia 2024 line-up clues revealed
The first clues for this year’s I’m A Celebrity line-up have finally been unveiled. Wildlife Warrior, Robert Irwin and presenter Julia Morris are headed to South Africa in just four weeks with an array of yet-to-be-announced stars, reports News Corp’s Joshua Haigh.
While fans don’t know much yet, some clues as to who will jet off to the jungle have been released — giving viewers the chance to begin the guessing game in the run-up to the premiere on March 27.
So far, it’s been revealed that a controversial TV star, a gold medallist and an international comedian will take part.