Business of Media
Donald Trump Jr launches news aggregation app MxM News
If you can’t beat them, join them. After years joining his father in deriding the “lamestream media” as the “enemy of the people”, Donald Trump Jr has launched an app to aggregate news, reports The Guardian’s David Smith.
Don Jr and co-founder Taylor Budowich, a spokesperson for the former president, hope that MxM News (the name refers to “minute by minute”) will compete with giants such as Apple News and Google News, the Axios website reported.
They claim that a team of about eight staff will curate stories from across the ideological spectrum (“mainstream news without mainstream bias”). But it remains to be seen if that will include fact-checks of Donald Trump’s “big lie”.
Saudi tourism officials ‘upset’ over Georgia Love backlash
Former Channel 7 reporter Georgia Love has cleared up rumours surrounding her controversial trip to Saudi Arabia, after she faced backlash on social media, reports News Corp’s Mibengé Nsenduluka.
Love was among a group of international influencers who were flown to the Middle Eastern nation last week as part of an all-expenses paid trip to help boost tourism.
However, she quickly came under fire for promoting the country on Instagram due to its appalling human rights record and swiftly deleted all evidence of her trip.
Confidential understands that Love’s lavish trip was funded by Visit Saudi tourism in exchange for her promoting the country on social media but she was permitted to stop posting after receiving backlash.
News Brands
Max Walsh, former AFR editor-in-chief, dies, 84
Tributes have flowed from leaders in politics, business and journalism for Max Walsh, the former editor-in-chief and chief political correspondent of The Australia Financial Review, who died on Wednesday morning, aged 84, after a long struggle against dementia, report AFR’s Andrew Clark and Miranda Ward.
Words such as “pioneer” and “first” and phrases like “the most influential editor” and someone who “changed the course of the nation” were among the comments made about Walsh, who was editor and editor-in-chief of the Financial Review from 1974-81. He was the paper’s chief political correspondent from 1966-74.
Born and raised in Sydney’s south-eastern suburbs, Walsh was a copy boy, cadet journalist, tearaway crime reporter, oil and gas writer, political correspondent, editor, editor-in-chief, television commentator and columnist in a media career spanning 58 years.
Top editors to leave BuzzFeed News ahead of newsroom cuts
The head of BuzzFeed News and two other top editors are departing the company ahead of cuts to the newsroom, reports The New York Times‘ Katie Robertson.
Mark Schoofs, who became the editor in chief in 2020, said in a staff email on Tuesday that he would be stepping down. He said Tom Namako, the deputy editor in chief, and Ariel Kaminer, the executive editor of investigations, would also leave the company. Namako said on Twitter that he was joining NBC Digital as executive editor.
Schoofs said in the email that BuzzFeed had subsidized the news division for many years and that the “next phase” for BuzzFeed News was to reach profitability in its own right.
Agencies
The Royals win Deliveroo creative and strategy account
The Royals has been appointed to handle the strategy and creative account of Deliveroo.
The creative agency has begun work on the food delivery platform’s marketing and advertising strategy, following a competitive five-way pitch.
Deliveroo head of marketing Laura Wilson said: “The Royals demonstrated a rigorous understanding of the challenger mindset and an impressive calibre of creative and strategic thinking.
“They’re the perfect partner to help us win the hearts and minds of more food-loving Aussies and ultimately to convert them to Deliveroo. We’re excited for what’s to come,” she added.
The Royals managing partner Dan Beaumont said of the win: “The offering in the food/grocery delivery category is quite homogenous and purely based on ‘convenience’.
“So, brands are fighting hard to differentiate – predominantly by personality and media spend – creating an exciting brand-based battlefield to gain a share of consumers’ minds in order to build loyalty,” he continued.
“Over the past few months, we’ve met a passionate bunch of people at Deliveroo focused on doing brave, effective work to aggressively grow share. We’re thrilled to be appointed to the account and we can’t wait to stir up the food delivery market,” he added.
The new account adds comes after the agency recently won Smartpay, Real Pet Food Co, Guide Dogs Australia, MYOB and Open Universities.
Radio
‘You’ll just die one day’: Triple M host Greg ‘Marto’ Martin reveals heart surgery shock
Queensland rugby star turned breakfast radio presenter Greg “Marto” Martin has revealed he underwent open heart surgery after discovering he had a heart condition that could have killed him at any moment, reports News Corp’s Amy Price.
The Triple M radio host went to hospital for a routine check six years ago only to discover he had lived with a congenital and life-threatening heart condition his whole life, admitting that chance appointment “saved my life”.
He opened up about his history with heart disease for the first time on The Big Breakfast on Wednesday, following the recent deaths of cricket greats Rod Marsh and Shane Warne, who died of a suspected heart attack.
Television
Vanishing Act turns Melissa Caddick’s disappearance into a work of fiction
When missing conwoman Melissa Caddick walked out the front door of her Dover Heights mansion in Sydney’s eastern suburbs in November 2020, never to be seen again, it was a story ripe for the screen, reports SMH’s Louise Rugendyke.
After all, it was a tale that had everything: friends and family betrayed in a $30 million Ponzi scheme, a woman obsessed with a designer lifestyle – clothes, cars, holidays, houses – and a younger husband, who was her former hairdresser and is now a self-styled DJ/prawn farmer.
Then a foot washed up on a South Coast beach just over four months later. The foot was wearing an ASICs running shoe that matched the size and description of the shoe Caddick was last seen wearing. DNA tests confirmed it: Caddick, or at least part of her, had been found.
You couldn’t make it up. Except screenwriters Matt Ford and Michael Miller had to. The pair were given the task of turning Caddick’s story into a ripped-from-headlines drama, Underbelly: Vanishing Act.
MAFS is hell. Why can’t we turn off?
I love reality TV, but two years ago, I swore off watching Married At First Sight. I can’t tell you the peace I’ve found since. But every so often the toxic bile finds its way back to me via my Twitter feed and I find myself sucked back in, like I’ve driven past a car crash or someone nearby is peeling back their Band-Aid and saying “do you wanna see my stitches?” writes SMH’s Naomi Higgins.
Year after year, MAFS puts on a hellish circus as the nation watches people getting pushed to the brink.
In previous seasons, there have been reports of contestants calling the police to report producers and cast mates for disturbing behaviour, including what was the final straw for me – a haunting incident with a dirty toilet and a toothbrush that would later be classified as “physical abuse”. This plot point still lies buried in the deep recesses of my mind, ready to ruin my day at any moment.
Seven on-sells Around the World in 80 Days
Seven has on-sold its broadcasting rights to big budget miniseries Around the World in 80 Days, reports TV Tonight.
Seven was an investor in the series by Ashley Pharoah (Life on Mars) through its former production co-venture Slim Film + TV.
Starring David Tennant as adventurer Phileas Fogg, Ibrahim Koma as Passepartout, and Leonie Benesch as Abigail, the 8 part series halted production in South Africa after just three weeks when the pandemic struck in March 2020. But it picked up again in Romania seven months later.
10 reviews Hillsong TV broadcasts
Network 10 is reviewing its continuation of Hillsong TV following the resignation of global pastor Brian Houston, reports TV Tonight.
Hillsong last week revealed that an investigation into two incidents involving Houston found he had breached the church’s moral code of conduct for pastors and engaged in conduct of “serious concern”.
10 screens Hillsong TV early on Sunday mornings as part of its religious programming. “Discover your God-given potential with Pastor Brian Houston as he shares empowering and inspiring messages from the Word of God,” a description notes.
Cameron Williams resigns from Nine News
Nine News Sydney’s sports presenter Cameron Williams has resigned from Nine after some 16 years with the network, to focus on health, reports TV Tonight.
Williams first joined Nine in 2006 with roles on Today, Weekend Today, Nine News, Rugby World Cup, and Friday Night Football until 2016.
But he rejoined Nine News that same year following the retirement of Ken Sutcliffe.