News Brands
It’s a good Friday for premium inserted magazines in AFR & The Australian
Consumers of glossy newspaper inserted magazines usually get their fix in the weekend newspapers published by News Corp and Nine Entertainment on Saturdays and Sundays.
However Fridays also offer treats across the year and today is one of those.
The Australian Financial Review has been celebrating its 70th anniversary all week with a series of features that culminates today with a platinum 70th birthday edition of The AFR Magazine.
During the week and today in the magazine the national business daily has been publishing anniversary features with some of its former editors and contributors. Some not to miss include:
Five Financial Review editors reflect on what makes the newsroom tick
AFR editor Paul Bailey leads a nostalgic talk with former and current editors Alan Kohler, Greg Hywood, Colleen Ryan and Michael Stutchbury.
How Singo turned advertising into a blood sport
With his rags to riches story, AFR Rich Lister John Singleton could have been the original Don Draper – and it was The Australian Financial Review that first discovered him reports Fiona Carruthers.
At last, a prospectus just for you! Pierpont is back for a milestone
The first Pierpont column appeared in 1972, shortly after the Poseidon boom went bust. Columnist Trevor Sykes penned his last Pierpont column in 2017, but has emerged for our 70th anniversary.
See also: 70 Years: How The Australian Financial Review went from one shilling to industry staple
Meanwhile The Australian has published a special magazine paying tribute to Australia’s Top 100 Innovators.
Edited by David Swan, it reports on the people spearheading the next generation of founders. Their companies are coming through, and they’re bringing the economy – and Australia’s future – along with them.
The List features 100 of Australia’s top innovators compiled by The Australian alongside a world-class panel of experts.
See also: How The Australian constructed The List of 100 Innovators in Australia
The Australian Press Council rules against The Australian over Joe Biden cartoon
The Australian Press Council has delivered a ruling on whether its standards of practice were breached by the publication of a cartoon that depicts a scene of the then United States Presidential candidate Joe Biden giving a speech congratulating Kamala Harris on being the Vice-Presidential candidate. Joe Biden is depicted saying “It’s time to heal a nation divided by racism” followed by “So I’ll hand you over to this little brown girl while I go for a lie down”.
The Australian Press Council said:
“While the Council notes that the publication and the cartoonist have strongly stated that there was no intention to cause offence, distress or prejudice, the Council considers the prejudice to women and particularly women of colour which the cartoon contributes to is substantial and that it offended a wide range of people, in particular women. The Council considers the public interest in questioning Joe Biden’s words and actions was not sufficient to justify the substantial offence and prejudice caused, and that criticism of identity politics could have been achieved without such offence and prejudice. Accordingly, the Council concludes that the publication breached General Principle 6.”
Business of Media
HT&E looks ahead to consolidation of media sector
Australia’s media industry will probably consolidate into bigger, scaled companies to better compete with the likes of YouTube and Facebook for advertising dollars, says Here, There & Everywhere chief executive Ciaran Davis, reports AFR’s Miranda Ward.
“The need of advertisers in the coming years is going to be increasingly around access to scale of audience, the ability to get campaigns delivered on multi-platform content devices and ease of trading … and also addressable IDs, and the ability to target one to one in a digital environment,” he said.
“The advantage and the opportunity in terms of consolidation, though, is to do that at scale and to really target the likes of YouTube, Facebook, Google, Instagram, Snapchat.”
News chief Michael Miller urges bosses to champion the rollout
News Corp Australasia boss Michael Miller has penned an open letter to the country’s business leaders and owners, calling on them to champion the vaccination rollout as part of an urgent nationwide effort to “get Australia working again”, reports News Corp’s James Madden.
Miller, the media group’s executive chairman, warned that Australia was “falling behind”, with the country lacking a “clear path forward”.
“We have to urgently rediscover our Australian sense of purpose and unity, and show the world what a fully vaccinated, fully functioning nation can achieve,” he wrote in the letter.
‘Taxpayers should know’: Senator calls for audit of ABC payment for ‘upskirting’ tweet
A federal Liberal Senator has asked the Auditor-General to examine the ABC’s decision to pay the defamation costs of star reporter Louise Milligan after she was sued by Federal Liberal MP Andrew Laming over a series of tweets alleging he had taken an “upskirting” photo of a woman, reports SMH’s Zoe Samios and Lisa Visentin.
Tasmanian Liberal Senator Eric Abetz, a vocal critic of the public broadcaster, wrote to the Auditor-General Grant Hehir this week requesting he review the “appropriateness” of the $79,000 damages plus legal costs paid by the ABC to Dr Laming to settle the case.
The broadcaster was not a party to the suit, with Dr Laming suing Milligan over tweets she made from her personal account that suggested he had admitted to the criminal offence of taking an “upskirting” photo of a woman’s underwear.
Radio
KIIS FM’s Kyle and Jackie O show forced off-air after fire alarm evacuation
A false fire alarm caused panic for three radio stations in North Ryde on Thursday morning, reports News Corp’s Mibengé Nsenduluka.
Fire crews were called to KIIS studios, which is home to the Kyle and Jackie O show, after an alarm went off forcing dozens of staff to evacuate while live on-air.
Other stations including The Edge 96.1 with Mike E and Emma and WSFM’s Jonesy and Amanda were also forced to evacuate the building.
KIIS radio host Kyle Sandilands told listeners “I can smell something burning” before reluctantly leaving the building and later joked that the incident may have been caused by “The Taliban”.
Entertainment
Ed Sheeran confirms new record Equals and releases moving single about his late mate Michael Gudinski
Pop superstar Ed Sheeran has shared the heart-wrenching musical tribute he wrote in quarantine in Australia for his mate and mentor Michael Gudinski to launch his new record titled = (Equals), reports News Corp’s Kathy McCabe.
The Bad Habits chartslayer enlisted Kylie Minogue and Jimmy Barnes to add their vocals to the album version of Visiting Hours, the song he broke down while performing at Gudinski’s memorial in March.
It launched an ocean of tears among Gudinski’s family and friends with its deeply personal lyrics about the close relationship the pop star and the promoter shared.
Podcasts
Two Blokes record ep 500 of one podcast…and launch ep 1 of another
The new edition of Podcast Week yesterday reported on the 500th episode of the podcast Two Blokes Talking Tech. The special recording was set to broadcast live on Facebook on Thursday night. Ironically it faced a couple of tech issues early on, yet eventually the live video feed spluttered to life as Trevor Long and Stephen Fenech got into their latest episode.
Talking about security measures on social media platforms, Fenech revealed that somebody stole his IP and set up a copy-cat website on Facebook. Fenech reported it to Facebook security several times before he was able to finally to get it taken down.
The episode was sponsored by Arlo and NetGear and included debate about the worthiness of the new Optus SubHub. Long is big fan, yet Fenech noted, “Without Netflix it would have been nothing”.
You can watch the episode at the Two Blokes Talking Tech Facebook page or as usual also as a podcast on your preferred podcast platform.
The two hosts this week also launched their second podcast partnership called The Best Movies You Have Never Seen. Sponsored by Fetch, the series features movie buff Fenech introducing Long to the world of classic movies as they both watch the film and then discus its merits. The first movie they tackle is The Godfather.
Sport Media
‘I should’ve reacted differently’: Langer’s frustration at Amazon doco pay deal
Justin Langer is clinging to his prized job as coach of the Australian cricket team for dear life, but not that long ago he was the star of the show – literally.
Released in March last year, Amazon Prime’s The Test was an eight-part fly-on-the-wall series focussed on the national side’s rehabilitation from Sandpapergate to Ashes glory, but its leading man was undoubtedly Langer.
While Langer’s team ethos is all about unity, it can be revealed it was anything but when negotiating appearance fees for the series.
Langer cut a deal with Amazon Prime for a payment of about $40,000, according to sources familiar with negotiations, leaving the players to work out their own arrangement.
Imagine their joy, then, when the Australian Cricket Association told them they were each receiving $81,000, regardless of how long they spent on camera. Fringe players like Jack Wildermuth, who was on screen for a matter of seconds, received the same as Steve Smith and Dave Warner – and double the coach.