Business of Media
Facebook whistleblowers allege Meta may have breached Australia’s foreign interference laws
Whistleblowers have alleged Meta may have breached Australia’s foreign interference laws by deliberately blocking Australian government Facebook pages and websites as a negotiating tactic during the debate over the news media bargaining legislation, reports The Guardian’s Josh Taylor.
US-based legal organisation Whistleblower Aid filed a disclosure with the US Department of Justice and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in early May on behalf of former Facebook employees alleging that Facebook had deliberately over-blocked pages as a means of negotiating a better outcome in the negotiations over legislation to force Meta to pay Australian media companies for news content.
In February 2021, Australian news sites, along with non-news sites including charities and government pages such as health department and emergency services pages, were blocked from access and people were unable to access or share content from those pages as Meta stepped up its opposition to the news media bargaining legislation.
Facebook-owner Meta to share more political ad targeting data
Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc will share more data on targeting choices made by advertisers running political and social-issue ads in its public ad database, it said on Monday, reports Reuters’ Elizabeth Culliford.
Meta said it would also include detailed targeting information for these individual ads in its “Facebook Open Research and Transparency” database used by academic researchers, in an expansion of a pilot launched last year.
“Instead of analyzing how an ad was delivered by Facebook, it’s really going and looking at an advertiser strategy for what they were trying to do,” said Jeff King, Meta’s vice president of business integrity, in a phone interview.
The social media giant has faced pressure in recent years to provide transparency around targeted advertising on its platforms, particularly around elections. In 2018, it launched a public ad library, though some researchers criticized it for glitches and a lack of detailed targeting data.
Britons cut spending on streaming services amid cost-of-living squeeze
Britons slashed spending on subscriptions to services such as Netflix and Disney+ in April as cash-strapped households made cutbacks where they could, card transactions show, reports The Guardian’s Rupert Jones.
The figures from Nationwide building society also reveal that charities continued to feel the impact of the cost-of-living squeeze, which accelerated last month amid soaring inflation, a jump in the energy price cap and a rise in national insurance contributions.
Overall, households in the UK made fewer transactions in April than they did in March, but the amount they spent did not drop, providing clear evidence of the impact of rising prices, Nationwide said.
Its latest figures are based on debit and credit card and direct debit transactions made by its members between 1 and 30 April.
Agencies
M&C Saatchi named marketing agency partner for Sydney WorldPride 2023
M&C Saatchi Group Australia has been appointed as the marketing agency partner for Sydney WorldPride in 2023.
The appointment will see its group agencies – M&C Saatchi Sports and Entertainment, Re. Design and media agency Bohemia – work together to deliver integrated campaigns and experiences to drive awareness ticket sales and tourism from across Australia and key international markets including the USA, UK, NZ, Singapore, France and Spain.
Deloitte Access Economics anticipates nearly 1 million people will be in attendance, across 300 events for Sydney WorldPride from the 17th of February to the 5th of March 2023.
This is the first time the global event has been hosted in the Southern Hemisphere, and will coincide with the 45th anniversary of Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras and the 50th anniversary of Australia’s first pride week.
Opening and closing concerts will top and tail a broad range of experiences including a human rights conference, a First Nations Gala, Bondi Beach Party, Pride Villages around the Oxford Street precinct, a full culture and sports program plus all the beloved Mardi Gras favourites including Parade, Party, Laneway, Fair Day and Sissy Ball.
M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment joins Sydney WorldPride’s recently appointed travel trade specialist Andrew Bartholomew of Smile Marketing.
The Sydney WorldPride Principal Partner is American Express and the Strategic Partner is the NSW Government.
Sandpiper appoints Jasmine Hogg as general manager for Australia
Sandpiper has announced the appointment of Jasmine Hogg to the role of general manager for Australia following significant growth in the market.
Hogg’s appointment bolsters Sandpiper’s presence in the ANZ region, adding senior expertise to the firm’s local offering at a critical time for organisations looking to maintain public trust.
The new general manager brings more than 20 years of experience in media and corporate affairs helping organisations around the world prepare and respond effectively to crises and hostile campaigns.
Hogg is a specialist in identifying reputation risks for clients in highly regulated industries, including financial services, aged care, pharma, technology, aviation, security, and education.
Prior to joining Sandpiper, she was director and head of reputation risk for Apollo Communications, where her work included advising clients during the 2017-18 Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry and the 2018-21 Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
Hogg previously held senior advisory roles at several multinational corporations, including Macquarie Bank, Chubb Security and Pratt & Whitney Canada.
In addition to leading the growth of the Sandpiper business in Australia, she will play a key role in leading the firm’s insurance practice across the Asia Pacific region.
Hogg will lead an agile team of consultants in Sydney and Melbourne, and collaborate closely with Sandpiper’s New Zealand team, led by Edward Brewster.
News Brands
SBS says translated election debates helped public ‘engage fully’
SBS managing director James Taylor has said the multicultural broadcaster’s efforts to live-translate the federal election campaign coverage for people who don’t speak English as a first language helped them better understand political issues that would affect their future, reports SMH’s Zoe Samios.
The taxpayer-funded broadcaster aired translated versions of all three televised debates during the six-week campaign for the first time in a concerted effort to find new ways to leverage its multilingual capacity. Taylor, who declined to comment on specific TV ratings figures other than to say it attracted “tens of thousands” of viewers, said it was the strongest election coverage in the broadcaster’s history.
“That was evidenced by a lot of our approaches, possibly most prominently the fact that SBS was the only network to have every single election debate on its platform,” he said. “We were able to share those critical pieces of the democratic story with communities who might not otherwise have been able to engage fully.”
Prime7 and GWN7 to unite under Seven banner
Following Seven’s acquisition of Prime Media Group, regional brands Prime7 and GWN7 will be unified under the Seven brand, reports TV Tonight.
The historic change will be introduced to regional audiences in coming weeks, in time for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games in July.
7NEWS will also become a unified brand across all News services nationally and regionally with all available on 7plus.
Television
Former TV host Andrew O’Keefe found guilty of assault in jail, court heard
Former TV host Andrew O’Keefe was found guilty of assault while in custody, a court has heard, reports News Corp’s Adelaide Lang.
Despite the revelation, O’Keefe was due to walk free from jail in Sydney late on Monday and attend rehab after being granted bail.
The ex-Seven Network star sported a close-cropped haircut and prison greens when he faced the NSW Supreme Court via videolink on Monday morning.
O’Keefe, 50, was hit with six charges in January after police alleged he grabbed a sex worker by the throat, punched her, and pushed her to the ground.
Kylie Minogue emotional in her final return to set of Neighbours
Kylie Minogue has revealed her final return to Neighbours was full of emotion. Minogue and Jason Donovan reprise their roles as Scott and Charlene, which they confirmed at the start of this month. She said it was Donovan who convinced her to film a farewell to the soap, reports News Corp’s Jackie Epstein.
“For so long it was just like, well maybe,” Minogue said on the Today Show on Monday.
“I’m still in touch with Jason and Guy (Pearce), Jason is quite a softie I have to say, and Jason said this could be a really nice opportunity to buckle the buckle. As an ex-boyfriend of mine would say, to circle the circle, and say thank you.”
Sports Media
Network 10 ‘happy’ despite A-League struggles as AFL broadcast bid looms
Undeterred by poor linear ratings, Network 10 insists it is “incredibly happy” with the first season of its long-term investment in the A-Leagues while reaffirming its strong interest in the AFL’s broadcast rights, saying it can help put Australia’s indigenous game in front of an international audience, reports SMH’s Vince Rugari.
10’s five-year, $200 million deal to show the A-Leagues is off to a challenging start, with the men’s competition in particular struggling for mainstream relevance amid a continued downturn in crowds, TV ratings and general interest.
Most games are hidden away on 10’s nascent streaming service Paramount+, which launched in August, but ratings for the A-League Men on the network’s main channel have declined during the season, averaging just 86,000 according to OzTam – a marginal increase on last season’s ABC numbers. The elimination final between Western United and Wellington Phoenix last weekend rated so poorly that 10 had a lower audience share than secondary channels 10 Peach and 10 Bold.