Business of Media
Journalists at foreign-owned outlets in Australia could face jail for exposing ADF war crimes, paper suggests
Journalists working for foreign-owned outlets could face jail under Australia’s foreign interference laws for exposing defence force war crimes or misuse of surveillance powers, a new paper has warned, reports The Guardian’s Daniel Hurst.
The broadly worded laws “have the capacity to criminalise legitimate journalism” and should be amended to protect public interest reporting, according to a press freedom policy paper published by the University of Queensland (UQ).
Thursday’s paper states current laws could be used to target journalists because the offences include “covert” conduct on behalf of a foreign principal that might influence Australian politics or prejudice national security.
Recklessly doing so can attract a jail term of up to 15 years, while intentionally doing so carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.
The author of the policy paper, Sarah Kendall, said state-linked outlets that could meet the definition of a foreign principal include Al Jazeera (Qatar), RNZ (New Zealand) and Voice of America (US), France 24, and Chinese and Russian state-owned media.
Spotify acquires firm that detects harmful content
Audio-streaming service Spotify Technology SA on Wednesday said it had acquired Kinzen, a firm that has helped it identify harmful content on the platform, reports Reuters’ Dawn Chmielewski.
The acquisition is part of Spotify’s efforts to deal with harmful content on its service after a backlash earlier this year over The Joe Rogan Experience, in which the podcaster was accused of spreading misinformation about COVID-19.
The Dublin-based firm has been working with Spotify since 2020, initially focusing on the integrity of election-related content around the world. Since then, Kinzen’s remit has expanded to include targeting misinformation, disinformaton and hate speech.
News Brands
Seven West Media chief people and culture officer Katie McGrath to depart
Seven West Media’s most senior human resources executive, Katie McGrath, will exit the Kerry Stokes-chaired broadcaster and publisher after some five years at the business, reports News Corp’s Sophie Elsworth.
McGrath, Seven West’s chief people and culture officer, was previously human resources director at ASX-listed marketing group Enero and head of staffing at Bain & Co.
McGrath, who joined Seven West in June 2017, will depart in December to “pursue private business interests”, said James Warburton, the company’s chief executive. Warburton, in an email to staff, wrote McGrath had made a “remarkable contribution to our company over the past five years and has been a powerful and effective agent of change”.
Television
Reason behind ABC star presenter’s absence
Star presenter for The ABC’s The Drum, Julia Baird has revealed in an Instagram post the reasoning behind her unusual recent absence from screens, reports News Corp’s Tamaryn McGregor.
In 2015 the Australian journalist was hospitalised and diagnosed with ovarian cancer after discovering a “mass the size of a basketball” between her belly button and spine.
Despite having surgery to remove the large tumour that same year, the 55-year-old is set to undergo another surgery this week in her latest major health battle.
The popular presenter said in a long social media message dedicated to family, friends, fans and followers, she would not be back on air until 2023.
The columnist also said she would be “taking a break” from producing regular articles for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age as well as leave from her role at Editor at Large for Harpers Bazaar.
Heartbreak High reboot becomes a huge hit for Netflix and on TikTok
Netflix’s reboot of Australian drama Heartbreak High has become a global hit, racking up more than 33m hours of viewing time, the streaming company revealed on Wednesday, reports The Guardian’s Michael Sun.
The numbers make Heartbreak High the fifth most-watched series in English on Netflix this week – its second week in the Top 10 around the world since it launched on 14 September.
The reboot is loosely inspired by the original show – itself based on a feature film – which ran for more than 200 episodes from 1994 to 1999. Initially broadcast on Channel 10 and later on the ABC in Australia, it was eventually syndicated in more than 70 countries and translated into multiple languages.
The show has found many fans globally on TikTok, where the topic “Heartbreak High” has reached 12.4bn views. On the platform, users are sharing clips from the show, posting reaction videos to pivotal scenes, and “fancams” – self-edited video compilations of their favourite characters.
As Trevor Noah exits, Comedy Central finds itself in crisis mode
Finding a new host for The Daily Show wasn’t on anyone’s to-do list at Comedy Central. Not anytime soon, anyway. That changed Sept. 29, as the face of the network’s late night franchise, Trevor Noah, revealed on air that he’d be stepping down after seven years in the role, report The Hollywood Reporter’s Lacey Rose and Lesley Goldberg.
Until then, executives including Noah’s boss, MTV Entertainment Group CEO Chris McCarthy, who’d had lunch with Noah the previous day, believed he would be staying put at least through the 2023-24 season. After all, he had re-upped his eight-figure deal for two more years at parent company Paramount Global in June. Then, in a stunning twist, Noah announced that he was done.
“We were completely shocked,” says one high-ranking insider, with others there acknowledging they’d watched Noah’s signoff with mouths agape. The South African comedian, who gathered his staff after the show to discuss what he clearly didn’t feel comfortable sharing before, is said to be eager to spend more time on tour and building out his Day Zero production company. “I feel like it’s time,” he told viewers, noting how clarifying the pandemic had been. If all goes as Noah hopes, he’ll be off the show by the year’s end.
Frasier sequel officially a go at Paramount+
Tossed salad and scrambled eggs all around: Frasier is returning to television, reports The Hollywood Reporter’s Rick Porter.
Paramount+ has given a series order to the long-developing revival of the series, with Kelsey Grammer once again playing the title role. The series pickup comes some 19 months after the streamer announced it was developing a follow-up to the 1993-2004 NBC series.
Prior to that, Grammer and CBS Studios began fielding ideas for a revival back in 2018. The new series will find psychiatrist/radio host Frasier Crane (Grammer) beginning the next phase of his life in a new city. The surviving members of the original cast — David Hyde Pierce’s Niles, Jane Leeves’ Daphne and Peri Gilpin’s Roz — aren’t expected to be regulars, though they could make guest appearances (John Mahoney, who played Frasier and Niles’ father, Martin Crane, died in 2018). The cast will feature new characters who populate Frasier’s life in his new hometown.