Business of Media
Sky’s Chris Smith stood down over inappropriate behaviour at Christmas party
Sky News host Chris Smith did not appear on air on Sunday evening and has been suspended from the broadcaster and his radio network 2GB indefinitely, pending an investigation into allegations of misconduct after a Christmas party over the weekend, reports Nine Publishing’s Zoe Samios.
Smith was stood down immediately on Saturday over allegedly making lewd comments and other inappropriate behaviour at an after-party event at The Establishment in Sydney, according to multiple media sources who requested anonymity to speak freely. Smith, who is also a radio host on 2GB, will not fill in for breakfast host Ben Fordham (who is on leave) from Monday.
The media sources said concerns about the behaviour, which allegedly involved touching a young, female colleague as well a series of inappropriate comments, were raised with senior members of the Sky News executive team. The concerns were dealt with immediately.
Smith attended the Sky News Christmas Party in the Ivy Sunroom, before heading to the Establishment with other colleagues. He was seen leaving the city at about 7.30pm.
“The person involved has been suspended while an investigation into the allegations is undertaken,” a Sky News Australia spokesperson said. “The welfare of our staff is our absolute priority. We have a zero-tolerance approach to inappropriate conduct and take these allegations very seriously.”
Stephen Hagan sues Nine Entertainment, Daily Mail over racial slur
A prominent Aboriginal activist is suing the Daily Mail and Nine Entertainment over stories published in 2020, which alleged he was pushing for the renaming of Pauls Smarter White Milk on racial grounds, reports The Australian’s Mackenzie Scott.
Stephen Hagan lodged a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission in March, with the case to have its first hearing on Monday. Dr Hagan alleges he was deliberately misrepresented in the articles in an attempt to stir racial passions, and was racially vilified as result.
After a successful campaign to have Coon Cheese renamed to Cheer Cheese in 2020, Dr Hagan alleges he was contacted by Daily Mail journalist Stephen Johnson in August and asked whether – in response to comments made by NSW One Nation MP Mark Latham – he next intended to push for a name change to the milk brand.
Dr Hagan said that he told Johnson he had no intention to take up the campaign unless there was a “critical mass” of criticism, and requests from the Indigenous community.
Within hours of their conversation on August 3, a story was published with the headline: “EXCLUSIVE: Indigenous activist who forced Coon cheese from the shelves now wants Pauls to consider scrapping ‘Smarter White’ milk brand – because it’s offensive to Aboriginals.”
Dr Hagan believes the article was a deliberate distortion of what he said to fabricate a story based on his race.
US journalist Grant Wahl dies after collapsing in the press box at the FIFA World Cup
Bunches of flowers and a framed picture of football writer Grant Wahl sat on his desk in the press box in Qatar on Saturday night, just hours after he collapsed and died while covering the World Cup, reports The Times.
The 48-year-old was one of the best known football writers in the US and he was reporting on the Netherlands versus Argentina match at Lusail Stadium in Doha on Friday when he became distressed.
A medic was immediately called to the media room and reporter Josh Glancy — who was there as the tragedy unfolded – wrote in The Times newspaper in the UK: “We all turned around to see a man in terrifying distress just behind us, clearly suffering some form of attack or seizure. We bellowed for a medic.”
Glancy said there was no defibrillator at the plush stadium and while the medics kept working on Wahl for several minutes they weren’t able to revive him.
A short time later he was taken away on a stretcher, his face covered. He was later pronounced dead and The Wall Street Journal on the weekend reported he suffered a heart attack.
Agencies
EssenceMediaCom appoints Stevie Douglas-Neal as managing director
EssenceMediaCom has appointed Stephanie Douglas-Neal as managing director for Sydney as it shapes the future merged agency and prepares to officially launch in 2023.
The EssenceMediacom merger brings together the digital, data and technology capability of Essence, with the strategic and network capabilities of MediaCom.
Most recently, Douglas-Neal has been the managing director of PHD Sydney. She has a long history of agency experience – steering PHD through some very successful years of growth, great work and many culture accolades.
Douglas-Neal will take over from Mike Worden, who is moving to a client-side role.
UnLtd celebrates its successes in its FY22 full-year report
UnLtd has shared the highlights of its impact on how the media, marketing and creative industry supported young people at risk in its FY22 full-year report.
This year, the industry’s social purpose organisation reported a social impact of $58 million, as well as 5,100 hours of volunteering, 5,250 event attendees and more than 300 companies supporting the cause.
Among the creative campaigns that brought the industry together is Boys do Cry with The Hallway. UnLtd noted that the campaign reached over 160 million people, with 51% of viewers increasing their intention to seek help for mental health difficulties.
The industry organisation took a stand against bullying with Mediacom securing over $8.7million of media inventory across 31 generous media owners to support Dolly’s Dream. The campaign reached over 60% of Aussies, delivered a 100% increase in donations and raised major awareness for the important work that Dolly’s Dream do to fight bullying.
News Brands
Concern as US media hit with wave of layoffs amid rise of disinformation
A wave of layoffs have hit the beleaguered American media industry as several major companies, including CNN, BuzzFeed and Gannett, have laid off hundreds of workers in recent weeks citing economic volatility and uncertainty, reports The Guardian’s Lauren Aratani.
The job losses are the first major slate of cuts since the beginning of the pandemic, when a handful of companies laid off workers over the unpredictability of Covid’s impact on the economy. As the economy rebounded with the introduction of the Covid vaccine in 2021, the news industry saw the lowest number of layoffs in years.
But this year, after inflation rose to historic highs and the Federal Reserve hawkishly raised interest rates to temper it, many media companies have started conducting layoffs, triggering fresh worries over the health of the US media at a time of democratic crisis and the rise of disinformation.
In recent weeks, multiple media execs have pointed to uncertainty in the economy as the impetus for restructuring.
News Corp makes an even bigger bet on online gambling
News Corporation has increased its wager on the online gambling industry, lifting the company’s stake in Betr, the start-up co-founded with betting entrepreneur Matthew Tripp, report Nine Publishing’s Mark Di Stefano and Neil Chenoweth.
Betr was launched before the Spring Racing Carnival this year, and ran extravagant promotions featuring wild odds that became one of the biggest stories during the Melbourne Cup.
As The Australian Financial Review revealed, the start-up’s advertising in News Corp newspapers also led to a regulatory investigation in the first days of operation. The investigation continues.
According to recent filings, Betr recently took on more than $50 million of new financing and News Corp now owns half of the start-up.
Sports Media
10 vows to ‘restore cricket to former prominence’ after $200m+ bid
A defiant Network 10 – which has been the subject of criticism over its slump to fourth place behind public broadcaster ABC in overall ratings for the year – has vowed to “restore cricket to its former prominence” and “provide the quality of coverage that television audiences and fans deserve” if it wins the broadcast rights for the game, report Nine Publishing’s Edmund Tadros, Mark Di Stefano and Sam Buckingham-Jones.
The network remains in a holding pattern as negotiations continue – the country’s third-biggest commercial broadcaster is making an aggressive bid to snatch the rights to the last top-tier sport on the market.
The big bid is despite the sport’s recent lacklustre performance. Crowds of only about 10,000 fans turned up at the one-day international between Australia and England at the MCG and equally small crowds attended the opening Test between Australia and West Indies in Perth.
The current Test between Australia and the West Indies in Adelaide has drawn higher crowds of about 25,000 and strong ratings, with the TV audience peaking at more than 1 million viewers during the evening sessions, according to Cricket Australia.
It says there is still “very strong interest” in the rights from all parties.