Weekend roundup
Business of Media
ABC chair Kim Williams says he won’t be seeking additional role as managing director
ABC chair Kim Williams has ruled out any possibility of adding the available role of managing director to his existing duties, stating that an international search will be conducted to find the most suitable candidate – as long as they’re Australian, report The Australian’s James Madden and James Dowling.
Williams – who in recent months has made a series of sharp observations about the editorial direction of the organisation – said he would not be interested in adopting the more “hands on” operational role of MD.
“I am not and would never be a candidate. Period. Don’t be silly,” Williams told The Weekend Australian.
During an interview with ABC Radio National’s Patricia Karvelas on Friday morning, David Anderson downplayed the degree to which editorial differences between himself and Kim Williams had influenced his decision to leave the public broadcaster just a year after signing a contract extension through to July 2028.
“The organisation is in good hands with Kim Williams here as chair,” Anderson said. “Kim tried to talk me out of this. He sent me away on holiday for most of July, where I (decided) the decision was the right one for me.”
Calum Jaspan details Kim Williams reading and watch list
In a profile of Kim Williams for Nine newspapers, reporter Calum Jaspan finds out what the ABC chair reads and watches:
How does Williams relax and unwind from such a high-pressure, hectic job? Aside from music, Williams says reading is “core to his being” and that he is an “obsessive consumer of media”.
His media diet includes the major Australian newspapers, The New York Times, The Economist (his favourite general news and commentary publication), The New York Review, The New Yorker, The Australian Book Review, The Griffith Review, The Monthly, The Saturday Paper, The Quarterly Essay, Australian Foreign Affairs and The Jewish Quarterly.
This is a “small summary” of the large number of subscriptions he has, which also includes Spotify, Netflix, Disney+, Foxtel (and its digital platforms), Mubi, DocPlay, AppleTV+, Amazon Prime Video, and others – but recently, he and his wife watch little other than the ABC. He also reads lots of books and listens to many podcasts.
I wonder how he finds time to do anything else.
Back to Beijing: China reopens its doors to The Australian
After a four-year forced hiatus, The Australian is back in Beijing and the paper’s China correspondent Will Glasgow wrote about the return on the weekend:
Years of meetings over tea with Chinese diplomats preceded my return. Then in May, to my surprise, came an invitation letter from the Chinese government. After that it was off to Canberra for discussions with the Australian government.
A fortnight ago, after receiving the final necessary green light, I flew into Beijing from Taipei to become the first journalist working for Australian media to be based here since August 2020. Following the clearing of a series of further Chinese bureaucratic hurdles, this week I was issued a foreign reporter’s press card — and with that little piece of plastic, China’s almost four-year black-listing of Australian media came to an end.
The size of the English-language foreign-media presence here is a fraction of what it was when I was based in Beijing for The Australian in the first half of 2020.
There’s not a single Canadian outlet. The American headcount is about a tenth of what it was. European correspondents tell me it has also got much harder for them as Beijing’s relationship with Brussels has deteriorated.
Even in our depleted numbers, foreign journalists are not a popular species in China — no surprise considering the routine demonisation of international media by Beijing’s propaganda machine.
News Brands
Talented journalist’s death sends shockwaves through local community
Senior reporter Bronwyn Farr is being remembered by the Far North Queensland community as a passionate journalist, a marvellous storyteller and a warm-hearted friend and mentor to many, reports The Cairns Post’s Sian Jeffries.
Bronwyn was smart as a whip, courageous and tenacious and her sudden death on Sunday, August 11, aged 59, has saddened loved ones, her media colleagues and readers across the region.
With decades of journalism and communications experience under her belt, Bronwyn joined The Cairns Post newsroom as a senior journalist in December 2020.
News Corp NewsWire added:
At the start of her career, Farr began as a reporter in Queensland’s northwest before moving to Sydney with Australian Associated Press (AAP) in 1992.
Throughout her nine years at AAP, Ms Farr had multiple roles, and spent time reporting on general and international news.
She was an advocate for regional communities and covered major court cases. She also spent time as a thoroughbred and breeding reporter.
Farr remained in Sydney to work in the horseracing industry before she returned to journalism in 2010 to work for The Land.
She spent time working in marketing and public relations before joining The Cairns Post as a senior reporter in 2020.
Texts between Samantha Maiden and Brittany Higgins’ husband revealed
Hundreds of text messages between Brittany Higgins’ husband, David Sharaz, and the journalist who broke the story of her rape in parliament have been released, reports News Corp’s Nathan Schmidt.
The messages, released as part of Linda Reynolds’ defamation trial, chronicle months of exchanges between Sharaz and News.com.au journalist Samantha Maiden.
Beginning in January 2021 with back-and-forth messaging about the airing of the allegations, the texts canvas behind-the-scenes reaction to the political and media fallout.
The messages also reveal paranoia from Sharaz about the government’s response to the allegations, including claims they had “outsourced bots” to attack him online.
Outgoing Sydney Morning Herald illustrator departs with a self-portrait
“Great illustrator, better person: Go well, Shakes” is how Peter Fitzsimons started a farewell to his friend and colleague John Shakespeare, one of 85 staffers departing on redundancy packages:
Sad news. My friend and yours, John Shakespeare, who has been doing illustrations at the Herald for the better part of the last four decades, is signing off . . . today. As great an artist that he is, he is a better man and has always stood out as a gentle, selfless soul, always with a quiet smile, an endlessly cheery presence in whatever room he entered. So here is my request to you, John, on your last day. How about a self-portrait on your last day at the mighty Herald? I’ll back-announce, and you come out from behind the curtain to give us your farewell, image.
John Shakespeare self portrait
Television
Skating star Arisa Trew to star Reese Witherspoon doco coming to Netflix
Gold Coast skateboard sensation Arisa Trew is set to star in an upcoming Netflix documentary made by Hollywood actor Reese Witherspoon’s production company, reports News Corp’s Georgia Clelland.
Arisa and her best mate from the Coast’s Level Up skateboarding academy, Jada Ward, feature in the docco which was shot in the US before the Paris Olympics where Trew became Australia’s youngest-ever Olympic gold medallist.
Witherspoon founded a female-focused media company called Hello Sunshine in 2016 which she still part-owns after selling a large stake to Candle Media for A$1.3bn.
Level Up Academy Founder and father of Jada, Trevor Ward, says the documentary is expected to be out around October.
He says it’s one of a number of exciting projects involving Arisa and Jada, including a children’s TV show.
Monday
Business of Media
David Anderson, Kim Williams, in Four Corners ‘dispute’ after episode about Seven
ABC chair Kim Williams and outgoing managing director David Anderson had a “difference of opinion” over the recent Four Corners investigation into the workplace culture at Seven West Media in the fortnight prior to Anderson’s resignation, insiders claim, reports The Australian’s James Madden.
Multiple sources have told The Australian that Williams expressed a view that the episode, fronted by investigative reporter Louise Milligan, failed to meet the high editorial standards of Four Corners; Anderson, and his director of news and current affairs Justin Stevens, thought otherwise.
The decision to screen the Four Corners investigation into Seven ultimately fell to Anderson.
The Australian is not suggesting that the divergent views of Williams and Anderson in relation to the Four Corners episode contributed to Anderson’s decision to resign from the ABC, just one year into his second five-year term.
CFO the favourite in long race to be ABC boss
The Australian also reports: The race to find the next managing director of the ABC is a marathon not a sprint, given the board is not expected to announce the chosen one until early 2025.
But, the early (internal) frontrunner is Melanie Kleyn, who has been the chief financial officer of the national broadcaster for the past five years.
Kleyn first made a name for herself at Network Ten, where she rose through the ranks to become head of commercial finance before shifting to the ABC in 2017.
Google wants to slash what it pays news outlets as levy calls grow
Google is trying to reduce what it spends on commercial deals with some smaller digital news publishers, amid growing calls for a levy on technology giants to fund journalism after Meta walked away from the News Media Bargaining Code, reports The AFR’s Sam Buckingham-Jones.
Two sources with knowledge of Google’s dealings with news outlets, who are not permitted to speak on its behalf, said the search giant was looking to significantly shrink the size of some of its deals under the code.
Google signed deals with more than 80 Australian news businesses, representing 200 mastheads. The future of these deals is in doubt after Facebook’s parent company Meta declared in March it would not renew its own agreements struck with publishers.
Radio
Ex-footy star Peter Tunks sues 2SM for underpayment on sports program
Prominent former rugby league player Peter Tunks is suing Australian broadcaster Radio 2SM for two decades worth of lost wages, claiming he was told he would get the sack if he kept raising concerns with management, reports The Australian’s Angelica Snowden.
Tunks, who was a premiership player with the Canterbury Bulldogs in the 1980s and played 10 Test matches for Australia, co-hosted Radio 2SM’s Talkin’ Sport from 2004 alongside well-known sporting identities including former Test cricketer Gavin Robertson, former rugby league player and commentator Graeme Hughes, and one-time rugby union player Brett Papworth.
But, one year ago, Tunks left the program suddenly.
It can now be revealed the Sydney-based broadcaster has lodged a Fair Work application in the Federal Circuit and Family Court, alleging the radio station — through director Bill Caralis — offered him “sham” oral agreements for ongoing shifts at a rate which dropped from $400 to $300 per shift, starting once a week on Saturdays and eventually three days a week on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Kate Ritchie puts her money where her mouth is for daughter Mae
TV and radio star Kate Ritchie doesn’t expect her 10-year-old daughter to try anything she wouldn’t herself, reports News Corp’s Jonathon Moran.
Ritchie stepped out of her comfort zone at the weekend to play a friendly game of football with the Menai Hawks against Grays Point Possums. The Nova 96.9 breakfast co-host even scored a goal with the game ending up a draw at Buckle Reserve, Menai, on Saturday afternoon.
“Everything I did was about proving to myself I could and committing to something hard,” Ritchie told Confidential. “This year has been the first year of team sport for my daughter. I have seen her courage taking on this new challenge. I’ve seen the absolute joy on the field and the lessons learnt, even on the days when you’re not winning. I wanted some of that too.”
Television
Hamish Blake reveals A-lister’s ‘life-changing’ interview answer
Hamish Blake has interviewed some of the most famous people in the world – but there was one celebrity conversation he still thinks about “all the time”, reports News Corp’s Bronte Coy.
The beloved radio and TV personality appeared on ABC’s new series, The Assembly, which sees high-profile figures appear in front of a classroom of Australian university students, all of whom are autistic and studying journalism – and all of whom are allowed to ask whatever they want. The result? An extraordinarily honest and wide-ranging conversation.
“You’ve interviewed a lot of people over the years, what answer to a question has most changed your perspective on life?” one of the students, Silas, asked a clearly-impressed Blake. “Ooooh … really good,” he responded.
“We had Richard Branson on [Hamish and Andy], and one of the guys on our radio show, Jack, he basically said to him, ‘You are a billionaire. Can we just go downstairs to the ATM, can you give me a thousand dollars? It’s nothing to you but it will change my month’.”
Blake went on to explain that the British entrepreneur gave a surprising response that has stayed with him ever since. “He was like, ‘I’ll tell you what – there’s something I’d give you all my money for’, and Jack’s like, ‘really?’ and [Richard] goes, ‘your age’.
TV producer speaks about his split from awarding-winning broadcaster
Carrie Bickmore’s ex-husband Chris Walker has broken his silence on the pain of his split from the award-winning television and radio star, reports News Corp’s Nui Te Koha.
“We built a family together. It’s what I thought our life would be. But life had a different plan,” Walker said on broadcaster Luke Darcy’s Empowering Leaders podcast.
Bickmore, a syndicated radio show host and former The Project anchor, and Walker, a TV producer, split last January after 11 years together. They have two children, Evie and Adelaide. Walker is also stepfather to Ollie, Bickmore’s son from a previous marriage.
Walker’s TV producer credits include Hard Quiz and The Weekly with Charlie Pickering.
Darcy’s podcast with Walker goes live on Wednesday.
Adelaide news shakeup: Alice Monfries joining Nine’s weekend bulletins
After more than a decade solo on Channel 9’s weekend newsdesk, Will McDonald will finally have a co-anchor, reports The Advertiser’s Antimo Iannella.
Award-winning journalist Alice Monfries will join the veteran newsreader for Nine’s weekend bulletins starting on August 31 – the first time the station will have two presenters in the timeslot.
A regular fill-in on Nine’s newsdesk, Monfries said she’s thrilled to be joining her good friend McDonald full-time on the weekend shift.
“I’m really looking forward to sitting alongside Will each weekend and bringing South Australians the news that matters most,” she said.
Julian Cress reveals how The Block was originally pitched to Nine
It took less than a week from concept to commissioning for The Block to become a reality, and a show that would still be a smash hit 20 seasons later, reports TV Tonight.
But the show was very nearly called Blockbuster -except Nine’s lawyers were worried they would be sued by the video rental store.
Creators Julian Cress and David Barbour settled on The Block in 2002 with plans to film their show in the summer in Bondi and screen it in the winter of 2003.
Cress told TV Tonight the idea for the show was dreamt on a Thursday, crafted into a pitch document over a weekend and pitched to Nine’s executive in charge of Reality TV genre on the Monday.
“We pitched it to (news exec) Peter Meakin, who, at the time was the head of Reality and Current Affairs. Reality was brand new. It had only been around for a year. When they were looking for an executive to put in charge of it they decided News and Current Affairs would be best, so they gave it to Peter Meakin and he saw merit in it immediately,” Cress recalled.
Ted Lasso heads toward Season 4 greenlight with core cast returning
Ted Lasso fans, this is not a drill. In a major step toward the long-awaited fourth season of Apple TV+’s hugely popular soccer comedy, the series’ studio Warner Bros. Television has picked up the options on the three original cast members who had been contracted under the aegis of the UK acting union Equity, reports Deadline.
They are Hannah Waddingham, who plays AFC Richmond owner Rebecca Walton, Brett Goldstein, who plays hardman Roy Kent and Jeremy Swift, who plays Director of Football Operations Leslie Higgins.
After securing the trio, the studio is expected to start reaching out to Ted Lasso cast members with SAG-AFTRA contracts whose options had expired, so they will need to make new deals, we hear. In addition to co-creators/executive producers Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso) and Brendan Hunt (Coach Beard), that is believed to include Juno Temple (Keeley Jones). We hear one of the Ted Lasso OGs, Phil Dunster (Jamie Tart), has not been picked up, presumably due to a conflict with another series; he is on both Prime Video’s The Devil’s Hour and Apple’s Surface.