Business of Media
Trust in journalism drops as ‘fatigued’ readers return to print
The pandemic-induced boost in Australians’ interest and trust in news and media is waning, and social media is the biggest loser as readers return to print editions of newspapers, reports AFR’s Julie Hare.
Consumption of news in print has increased for the first time in six years, largely in regional and rural areas, according to the 2022 Digital News Report, compiled by the News & Media Research Centre.
However, the number of Australians avoiding or reducing their consumption of news is growing as feelings of being overwhelmed and fatigue hit home.
“The top reason why people avoid news is because they are sick of politics and coronavirus,” said Sora Park, the report’s lead author.
“They are overwhelmed by the volume of news and switch on again when they have to.”
Encrypted messaging apps should be regulated to tackle extremism, Victorian inquiry hears
The federal government needs to take action against encrypted messaging apps like Telegram to curb the rise of far-right extremism, a Victorian inquiry has been told, reports the Australian Associated Press.
Dr Belinda Barnet, a media lecturer at Swinburne University, told a hearing that far-right extremists had initially been sharing hateful content on mainstream sites such as Facebook and Twitter but were increasingly being deplatformed.
Groups were now moving to spaces like Telegram to share their ideas without censure or detection from the authorities, which Barnet said was dangerous.
She told the parliamentary inquiry that governments need to ensure the regulations placed on mainstream social media sites to tackle far-right extremist messaging are expanded to encrypted apps.
Local papers lose out to Facebook as UK towns become ‘news deserts’
Local Facebook groups have supplanted local newspapers as the default source of information in many British towns, according to a report into so-called “news deserts”, reports The Guardian’s Jim Waterson.
The catastrophic financial collapse of the local news industry over the last two decades has destroyed the business model of local newspapers, according to the Charitable Journalism Project. Although consumers sometimes described these Facebook groups using terms such as “toxic” and “racist”, many said they provided more up-to-the-minute information than their local newspaper.
Dr Steven Barclay of City, University of London, who conducted the research, said local audiences increasingly turned to online community groups, with few of the people he interviewed directly visiting their local newspaper website for the latest updates. In one example, the town of Trowbridge in Wiltshire has 44,000 residents – and more than 30,000 of them are in a single Facebook group.
Agencies
Cummins & Partners appoints Michael McConville as global CEO
Cummins & Partners has announced the appointment of Michael McConville as global CEO, leading its offices in Sydney, Melbourne and New York.
The newly appointed CEO is returning home to Australia after almost nine years in the UK and will join the independent agency in August.
Michael McConville
McConville spent almost five years as managing partner of adam&eveDDB and was previously at WCRS/Engine as client managing director and partner.
McConville said of the joining Cummins & Partners: “I was open to coming home but it had to be for the right thing. The right thing meant finding an agency with a global mindset, coupled with the ability to make brilliant local work.
“It meant seeing greatness in some of what an agency had done before, while seeing the ambition to go bigger and better than ever. Having an agency with experience is great but when you combine that experience with incredible potential… that’s what really excites me. From the first conversation onwards, what can I say, Sean (Cummins & Partners founder Sean Cummins) and I knew it was right.”
Edelman announces the appointment of Tom Robinson as CEO
Edelman has announced the appointment of Tom Robinson as CEO.
Robinson joins the agency from MediaCom and steps into the role after Michelle Hutton was promoted to APAC vice-chair last year. His appointment is effective August 1 and will report to Stephen Kehoe, Edelman’s CEO for Asia Pacific.
Tom Robinson
During his 11-year tenure at MediaCom Australia, Robinson led agency teams across the content and integrated communications landscape, most recently serving as the managing partner for creative systems, a business unit he established in 2019. He also lead the integrated content and creative business to better connect creative and media for brands such as Dell, Mars, KFC, Universal Pictures and Hasbro.
Robinson brings a proven culture-building leadership style to Edelman – empowering employees at all levels and instilling a people-first approach.
CX Lavender appoints Craig Page as chief strategy officer
CX Lavender has announced the appointment of Craig Page as chief strategy officer.
Page joins the agency’s executive team from VMLY&R after more than three years as the head of strategy. He led VMLY&R’s Sydney strategy team and headed up strategy for the Melbourne-based Defence Force Recruiting account.
Craig Page
Before his sting at VMLY&R, Page was previously the executive strategy director at R/GA, working on clients including Telstra, Samsung, Toyota, Google and NRL. He also spent time at Ogilvy PR, Havas Worldwide, M&C Saatchi and Foxtel.
CX Lavender founder Will Lavender said of Page’s appointment: “In Craig, we’ve found a seriously smart and exceptionally nice person with the passion, experience and curious nature to take our strategic capabilities to the next level and help us deliver results for our clients.
“It’s always exciting to bring in new talent with a fresh perspective who can help us set new directions as a business, strengthen our offering and ensure we continue to innovate. I’m confident Craig will enhance our agency and our clients’ businesses. We’re excited to have him on board,” he added.
Television
Amazon’s most-viewed series: behind the numbers for Prime Video Originals
Amazon was among the early players in the streaming landscape, with its first original series debuting in 2013, a couple of months after Netflix’s House of Cards. In the intervening nine years, however, it would not be easy to discern a cohesive strategy behind the programming on the tech giant’s Prime Video streaming service, reports The Hollywood Reporter’s Rick Porter.
Prime Video doesn’t have near the volume of programming that Netflix does, nor is it as franchise-driven as streamers attached to legacy studios (and their troves of IP) are. But where it doesn’t have a decades-long string of movie and TV titles it owns on which to draw, the company has turned to its roots as an online bookseller to adapt a number of best-selling novels as series.
In fact, Prime Video’s three biggest original series in the past two-plus years, as measured by Nielsen — Reacher, The Wheel of Time and The Boys (season two) — are based on books. Shows like Bosch, which ended its seven-season run on Prime in 2021, and Jack Ryan also have best-sellers as their source material.
The Logies are back after a two-year hiatus. Here’s everything you need to know
It’s bewildering to think that the last time the Logie Awards were on COVID wasn’t a thing, RAT was a rodent not an acronym, and “iso” had yet to enter the national lexicon, reports SMH’s Thomas Mitchell.
It was back in June 2019 when Hard Quiz host Tom Gleeson won the Gold Logie for most popular personality on Australian television. Little did we know he would be the reigning champion for a further two years.
The pandemic triggered the cancellation of both the 2020 and 2021 ceremonies, but now the Logies are finally back.
Bachelor shakes up opening episode
This year’s Bachelor is shaking things up for the format with three single men on the Gold Coast. But it won’t be the only change, reports TV Tonight.
TV Tonight understands there won’t be the traditional parade of girls stepping out of a limousine onto a red carpet either.
In fact it could be that the women have already met their men and have to be invited to the new-look Bachelor pad.
Sports Media
ABC presenter Tony Armstrong announces football comeback
Popular ABC presenter Tony Armstrong is coming out of retirement to play for a local Victorian football club, reports News Corp’s Tyson Otto.
The 32-year-old has signed on with Barwon Heads Seagulls for the remainder of the 2022 season — and hopes he will be able to juggle his football comeback with his many other media commitments.
His AFL career included six seasons at the top level where he played for the Swans, Magpies and Crows.
Now the much-loved ABC News Breakfast reporter is ready to pull on his footy boots for the first time in three years.