Business of Media
Ben Roberts-Smith sues ex-wife ahead of defamation trial
Ben Roberts-Smith has followed through on a threat to sue his ex-wife who is set to testify against him in his defamation case against The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, reports AFR‘s Max Mason.
In April, the Victoria Cross recipient threatened to potentially undo a property settlement if his former wife breached a confidentiality agreement in giving evidence against him in a major defamation trial against Nine.
It was revealed in March that Emma Roberts had flipped and would testify for Nine in defamation proceedings brought by her ex-husband.
The latest case is listed for a hearing before Federal Court Judge Robert Bromwich at 2.15pm on Friday.
ABC board member Joe Gersh concedes the public broadcaster needs more conservative voices
ABC board member Joe Gersh has admitted the public broadcaster needs a larger cohort of conservative voices. But he said the organisation is in the process of shifting journalists outside of inner-city areas to get broader views into its reporting, reports News Corp’s Sophie Elsworth.
The Melbourne-based businessman, who has been on the board since 2018, said the public broadcaster needed to steer away from having too many left-leaning commentators and journalists.
“I do think the ABC has to be vigilant … there could be more diverse voices on the ABC, there could be more debate, there can be more conservative spokesmen,” he said on ABC Melbourne’s morning radio program hosted by Virginia Trioli.
News Brands
ABC managing director David Anderson blocks Four Corners episode
A Four Corners episode about an alleged association between Scott Morrison and a supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theory has been delayed by ABC managing director David Anderson on the grounds it failed to meet “editorial and legal requirements”, reports News Corp’s James Madden.
The Four Corners story by reporter Louise Milligan was slated to air next Monday. But Anderson refused to approve the program after it was “upwardly referred” to him by news director Gaven Morris, according to a report in Nine newspapers on Thursday.
The timing of Anderson’s decision is noteworthy — he is due to appear before Senate Estimates next Monday to face further questions about the defamation case brought by Industry Minister Christian Porter against the ABC.
Trump justice department secretly obtained New York Times reporters’ phone records, paper says
The justice department under Donald Trump secretly obtained the phone records of four New York Times reporters as part of a leak investigation, according to the newspaper, reports The Guardian and Associated Press.
The case announced on Wednesday is the third instance in the past month in which a news media organisation has disclosed that federal authorities seized the records of its journalists in an effort to identify sources for national security stories published during Trump’s administration.
President Joe Biden has said he would not allow the department to continue the practice of obtaining reporters’ records, calling it “simply, simply wrong”.
Radio
Erin Molan confident over 2Day FM radio ratings despite getting ‘smashed’
Erin Molan says she expects to continue to be “smashed” in the radio ratings, reports News Corp’s Jonathon Moran.
The television and radio presenter this year joined Southern Cross Austereo’s beleaguered 2Day FM breakfast show alongside comedians Dave Hughes and Ed Kavalee.
In the third of eight survey releases of the year this week, the Hughesy, Ed and Erin show dropped 0.5 of a percentage point to an overall 3.3 per cent share of the breakfast market, well below market leader Ben Fordham on 2GB with 13.5 per cent.
“We are not worried on any level at all,” Molan told Confidential. “We will get smashed for the next few surveys, we have no doubts whatsoever about that but this is the long haul. This is going to take a long time. While the numbers aren’t there at the moment, absolutely, we are really confident they will be. The show and the content is far better than we ever hoped for at this stage, the rest will come.”
Steve Price to replace Ray Hadley on Triple M regional radio stations
Ray Hadley will be replaced by Steve Price on regional NSW radio stations after Southern Cross Austereo moved to dump the 2GB broadcaster’s show from Triple M, reports News Corp’s Mitchell Van Homrigh.
Price’s Australia Today will be syndicated into several SCA stations from July 1.
Triple M has been broadcasting Hadley’s 2GB program but will cease to do so when their contract ends with the Nine Entertainment owned station in June.
Australia Today brands itself as “the country‘s first truly digital audio live to air conversation” and is hosted by Price and newsreader Natarsha Belling.
Kyle’s 50th birthday plans
Kyle Sandilands is set to ring in his 50th birthday next Thursday, followed by a lavish yacht party on the Saturday evening – and the media personality certainly has a lot to celebrate, reports Stellar’s Bree Player and Joe Hildebrand.
Earlier this week, the breakfast show he co-hosts with Jackie Henderson (aka Jackie O) on KIIS 1065 hit its highest-ever share in the Sydney radio ratings, closing in on AM station 2GB in its race to become the number- one breakfast show in Sydney.
Sandilands, who confesses he’s usually something of a hermit and prefers to stay at home rather than party, will be joined on the boat by his co-host, his partner Tegan Kynaston, staff from the radio show, family, friends and, as he tells Stellar On Friday with a cheeky grin, “[Karl] Stefanovic has weaseled his way in.”
Television
Auditions: MasterChef Australia
10 is now calling for contestants for MasterChef Australia for 2022, reports TV Tonight.
This follows 10 recently announcing a Celebrity MasterChef edition, tipped for Q4.
Applicants must be aged 18 years or above by Monday 18th October 2021, be an Australian citizen or permanent resident and have no any formal tertiary or other professional catering qualifications in the last 10 years.
All contestants must be amateurs, if you have previous professional or semi-professional kitchen experience, in the past 20 years, you will not be eligible. Your main source of income cannot come from preparing and cooking fresh food in a professional environment (e.g. restaurants, hotels, cafes, catering etc) or within a digital environment (eg. online paid or sponsored content relating to cooking and/or food, paid cooking classes etc.)