Business of Media
What inflation, rates and house prices mean for Murdoch’s next deal
It’s unlikely that Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan spent much time worrying about Australia’s surprisingly high inflation data that was released on Wednesday morning, given it came just hours after the announcement that they had abandoned plans to merge News Corporation and Fox Corporation in a deal that would have been worth as much as $40 billion, reports Nine Publishing’s James Thomson.
But the path of inflation around the world – and its influence on the path of interest rates, and therefore house prices – could matter quite a bit to the Murdochs’ next deal.
The decision to abandon examination of the merger caught some in the News Corp camp by surprise. While there had been vocal opposition to the deal from some shareholders, it’s unusual that the Murdoch family does not get its way. Was this a rare retreat?
Apparently not. It quickly emerged that News Corp was in talks to sell its Move Inc business – owner of US real estate classifieds business Realtor.com – to a Nasdaq-listed company called CoStar.
The view from Murdoch insiders is that the potential sale of Move (80 per cent of which is owned by News, with the remaining 20 per cent owned by ASX-listed REA Group, in which News has a 61 per cent stake) made contemplation of the News/Fox merger impossible.
Meta to reinstate Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts
Just over two years after Donald J. Trump’s accounts were suspended from Facebook and Instagram, Meta, the owner of the platforms, said on Wednesday that it would reinstate the former president’s access to the social media services, report the New York Times’ Sheera Frenkel and Mike Isaac.
Trump, who had the most followed account on Facebook when he was barred, will “in the coming weeks” regain access to his accounts that collectively had hundreds of millions of followers, Meta said. In November, Trump’s account was also reinstated on Twitter, which had barred him since January 2021, collectively giving the former president more of a megaphone as he campaigns for the White House in 2024.
Meta suspended Trump from its platforms on Jan. 7, 2021, the day after hundreds of people stormed the Capitol in his name, saying his posts ran the risk of inciting more violence. Trump’s accounts on other mainstream social media services, including YouTube and Twitter, were also removed that week.
But Meta, which critics have accused of censoring Trump and other conservative voices, said on Wednesday it had decided to reverse the bans because it had determined that the risk to public safety had “sufficiently receded” since January 2021. The company added that it would add guardrails to “deter repeat offenses” in the future.
Donald Trump’s Truth Social posts bode ill for his return to Facebook
If Donald Trump’s activity on his Truth Social account is a reliable indicator of what his return to Facebook and Instagram will unleash, then Nick Clegg is going to be busy, reports The Guardian’s Dan Milmo.
The former US president has used his rightwing social media platform to push baseless claims of election fraud and amplified content related to the QAnon conspiracy multiverse. These were two issues that received a special mention from Clegg, the former British deputy prime minister turned president of global affairs at Meta, Facebook and Instagram’s parent, as he explained the decision to end Trump’s two-year exile on Wednesday.
Clegg, who presided over the Trump reinstatement process, said content that “deligitimises” an upcoming election or is related to QAnon could be blocked from appearing in other people’s feeds or have the reshare button removed.
He said such content did not violate Meta’s community standards – or content guidelines – but could increase the risk of a repeat of the Capitol riot that got Trump banned in the first place. According to US campaign group Media Matters, nearly half of the posts on Trump’s Truth Social account in the weeks after the US midterm elections pushed election fraud claims or amplified QAnon accounts or content.
If Trump continues in that vein on Facebook and Instagram, then he will immediately hit the “guardrails” that Clegg outlined in his post.
ACCC to crack down on misleading influencer endorsements across social media
Australia’s consumer watchdog is taking a close look at more than 100 social media influencers after receiving tip offs that they might not be disclosing sponsored content, reports The Guardian’s Josh Taylor.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said it received more than 150 tip-offs after its call-out on Facebook last week, most of them about influencers in beauty, lifestyle, parenting and fashion who tipsters believed had failed to disclose their affiliation with the product or company they were promoting.
“The number of tip-offs reflects the community concern about the ever-increasing number of manipulative marketing techniques on social media, designed to exploit or pressure consumers into purchasing goods or services,” ACCC’s chair, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, said.
The ACCC has started a sweep this week to spot misleading testimonials and endorsements by influencers. The ACCC is looking at a range of platforms – including Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook and Twitch – with a particular focus on sectors such as fashion, beauty, travel, health and fitness where influencer marketing is widespread.
Squid Game reality show contestants threaten to launch class action against Netflix
Netflix could face a class action as dozens of contestants in a real-life Squid Game show claim they were “treated like animals”, report News Corp’s Julia Atherley and Roderick McPhee.
A large number of players told The Sun they are considering suing the company.
Participants said the game show – based on the gruesome TV Squid Game hit about a deadly contest – quickly became a nightmare on Monday when they were made to stand for hours in temperatures of -3C.
One player said: “We were tortured for eight hours. We were just fodder. You wouldn’t treat animals like that.
“I know the show was supposed to be tough but it felt inhumane.
“At one point I could see they were bringing on a black coffin with a pink ribbon just like in the original show.
“I feel like they prioritised getting a good shot over helping us.”
News Brands
BuzzFeed to use ChatGPT creator OpenAI to help create quizzes and other content
BuzzFeed Inc. said it would rely on ChatGPT creator OpenAI to enhance its quizzes and personalize some content for its audiences, becoming the latest digital publisher to embrace artificial intelligence, reports The Wall Street Journal’s Alexandra Bruell.
In a memo to staff sent Thursday morning, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Chief Executive Jonah Peretti said he intends for AI to play a larger role in the company’s editorial and business operations this year.
In one instance, the company said new AI-powered quizzes would produce individual results.
For example, a quiz to create a personal romantic comedy movie pitch might ask questions like, “Pick a trope for your rom-com,” and “Tell us an endearing flaw you have.” The quiz would produce a unique, shareable write-up based on the individual’s responses, BuzzFeed said.
Radio
Secrets of Triple J 2022 Hottest 100 revealed
Triple J stars Bryce Mills and Concetta Caristo have opened up about the secrets and security surrounding the station’s popular annual countdown, the Hottest 100, reports News Corp’s Nui Te Koha.
Mills and Caristo, Triple J’s breakfast show hosts, will count down pointy end of the Hottest 100 — the top 25 — on Saturday.
The public vote for JJJ’s most popular song of the year, conducted by online poll, is considered the world’s biggest radio event.
“It’s funny because all we’re doing is reading out the results,” Mills said.
“There’s not really much we can do. The only thing we can do is encourage people to have their say, then Saturday rolls around. We open the envelope and read it out. It feels so crazy.”
Television
The Last of Us is just the start for Sony
HBO’s new post-apocalyptic series The Last of Us, adapted from a PlayStation game, is a smash hit—and symptomatic of a larger shift in the entertainment world. Videogames will increasingly inspire popular movies and television series. Sony is in a unique position to take advantage of the trend, reports The Wall Street Journal’s Jacky Wong.
The Last of Us television series, released earlier in January, is off to a flying start. The premiere episode attracted 4.7 million viewers—including through HBO’s streaming service HBO Max—on its first day in the U.S., making it the second-largest debut for the network since 2010. After about a week, around 18 million viewers had watched the first episode. The show tells the story of a smuggler and a teenage girl in a zombie-infested imaginary U.S.
It isn’t exactly a surprise that the series has become a hit: Sony has sold more than 37 million of The Last of Us themed games since the first offering came out in 2013. But the television show is apparently drawing in new game players too. Sales jumped in the U.K. after the show launch, according to industry website gamesindustry.biz.
With streaming services and movie studios all eagerly searching for the next blockbuster, videogames are shaping up as increasingly promising source material—that comes with a built-in fan base.
Rick and Morty creator dumped from show after domestic violence charges
Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland, who voices the cartoon show’s two titular characters, has been dumped from the hit animated comedy by its network after domestic violence charges against him were revealed, reports Nine Publishing’s Lachlan Abbott.
A post on Rick and Morty’s official social media account on Wednesday (AEDT) said Adult Swim, the network that airs the show, had ended its association with Roiland, but the show would continue. “The talented and dedicated crew are hard at work on season seven,” the post said.
Prosecutors in Orange County, California, have charged Roiland, 42, with corporal injury and false imprisonment by menace, fraud, violence or deceit against a woman, according to a criminal complaint obtained by Associated Press. The woman – who Roiland was reportedly living with and dating at the time – was not identified in court documents. Roiland has pleaded not guilty.
The incident occurred in January 2020 and Roiland was charged in May of that year, but the charges apparently went unnoticed by media outlets until NBC News reported them on January 12, when a pre-trial hearing was held.
David Walliams replaced by Bruno Tonioli as Britain’s Got Talent judge
David Walliams has been replaced by former Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli on the judging panel for the new series of Britain’s Got Talent, reports the BBC.
Walliams spent a decade alongside Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon and Amanda Holden.
But in November, he admitted making “disrespectful comments” about two contestants during a previous series.
Tonioli, who left Strictly in 2021, joined his new co-stars at the first judges’ audition of the new series at the London Palladium on Tuesday.
“Here we are, Britain’s Got Talent. I am so excited,” he said. “It’s my first show, I have no idea what’s going to happen, but I’m sure it’s going to be brilliant.”
Sports Media
Michael Clarke’s commentary replacements for India tour revealed
A trio of former Australian cricket stars will replace Michael Clarke on commentary duties during Australia’s looming tour of India after the ex-national captain was passed over by the BCCI following his Noosa dramas, reports Nine Publishing’s Daniel Brettig.
Senior cricket sources told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald that Mark Waugh is set to accompany Matthew Hayden as the Australian commentators for the first two Tests of the series in Nagpur and Delhi.
For Tests three and four, Waugh will swap out for Mitchell Johnson, one of the four Australian cricketers suspended during the “homework” episode on the 2013 India tour when Clarke was captain.
During the three one-day games that follow the Tests, Johnson is likely to be joined by the recently retired Australian ODI captain Aaron Finch, who is currently leading the Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League.
A host of commentators were in the mix after the BCCI’s decision not to call upon Clarke for the series, but the short-notice nature of the assignment and its short turnaround to the Indian Premier League contributed to numerous names being unable to take part.