Business of Media
‘Courageous’ journo Jane Hansen dies
Journalist Jane Hansen has been remembered as a compassionate and courageous person, whose reporting made a significant difference to the lives of others, reports The Australian’s James Madden.
Hansen, who enjoyed long stints at Nine (A Current Affair) and News Corp (The Sunday Telegraph), died on Tuesday night, two years after she was diagnosed with glioblastoma.
Hansen came to prominence as a TV reporter in the early 1990s, reporting from war zones in Bosnia and Iraq, before moving to A Current Affair, where she worked from 1995 to 2008. In 2009, she moved to News Corp.
Elon Musk is being ridiculous. Companies are free to choose where to advertise
It is less than a year since Elon Musk told advertisers who were shunning his social media site, X, that they could take their business elsewhere permanently. In fact, he encouraged them to do so. “Don’t advertise,” he said, amid a backlash over his endorsement of an antisemitic tweet. “If someone’s going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go fuck yourself,” reports The Guardian’s Nils Pratley.
The instruction had the virtue of clarity. Everybody knew where they stood. Advertisers who took the view that X has become a poisonous sewer under Musk’s ownership – or even just those who merely regarded the site as the wrong place to promote soap and suchlike – could seek other venues. And X would thrive or fail without them.
See also: ‘Now it is war’: Elon Musk’s X sues major companies over advertiser boycott
New punters to halve under Labor’s gambling crackdown, brokers warn
Labor’s proposed crackdown on gambling advertising will halve the number of new bookmaker customers and leave the racing industry $6.4 billion worse off over time as fewer accounts are opened, reports Nine Publishing’s Sam Buckingham-Jones.
That is the view of Taylor Collison’s Andrew Orbach, a respected industry analyst, who told clients that the number of customers signing up every year could fall to 225,000 from 450,000. After accounting for an annual churn of 250,000 customers, bookmakers would be losing punters.
Labor’s silence is TikTok’s boon
In the clearest sign Anthony Albanese’s government will do absolutely nothing about security concerns surrounding Chinese-owned TikTok, the viral video platform is expanding in Australia by more than a third, reports Nine Publishing’s Max Mason.
TikTok revealed in questions on notice from teal MP Zoe Daniel that it has 500 Australian staff, and a quick perusal of its hiring page shows it’s got 126 jobs going in Sydney. That is, even assuming some natural attrition, it’s hiring for 35 per cent of its current workforce. So, it’s not the entire media sector which is struggling!
News Brands
The $220 million ‘double-edged sword’ that’s bothering Nine
Nine Entertainment Company will cease its share buyback next month after spending more than $220 million over the past two years as part of its capital management program, reports Nine Publishing’s Anne Hyland.
Nine, the owner of this masthead, reports its full-year results at the end of August. Its profits have been hit by a decline in advertising demand amid a weak economy.
The fall in advertising revenue, and also the end of a commercial deal with Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, has forced the media company to cut costs, including laying off up to 200 staff across the business.
Sony says a deal for Paramount “does not fit well with our strategy”
Even though Shari Redstone has inked a deal with David Ellison’s Skydance Media to relinquish control of Paramount Global, the company has until Aug. 21 to mull any other takeover options during a “go-shop” window. But one contender that had been considered a serious suitor has reiterated that it won’t be making another proposal for Paramount, reports The Hollywood Reporter’s Erik Hayden.
“At this point in time … it does not fit well with our strategy, and that is a judgment that we have handed down,” said Sony president, COO and CFO Hiroki Totoki during an Aug. 7 earnings call when asked whether the company would make another proposal for the Redstone-controlled film and TV empire.
Publishing
Cosmos Magazine publishes AI-generated articles, drawing criticism from journalists, co-founders
A decision by popular Australian science magazine Cosmos to use a Walkley Foundation grant to publish articles generated by artificial intelligence (AI) has drawn criticism from its own contributors and former editors, including two co-founders, reports the ABC’s James Purtill.
The CSIRO, which publishes Cosmos, says it backs the “experimental project”, which is designed to investigate the “opportunities and risks of using AI”, and scheduled to run until February 2025.
But critics say the AI service undermines journalism and was built without proper consent.
Television
Willie Mason to join Channel 7’s news
He’s been dubbed a walking, talking headline and now Willie Mason is set to provide the latest wildcard element to Channel 7’s 6pm news delivering a new NRL segment, reports News Corp’s Samantha Maiden.
As Channel 7 braces for the impact of the ABC’s Four Corners investigation into the station’s workplace culture to air next Monday night, a new face has been preparing for his television debut.
Channel 7 insiders have sent news.com.au a screenshot of the new recruit Willie Mason flexing his broadcast muscles on the set of 7’s 6pm news set.
‘Absolutely terrifying’: Why you’ll never catch Celia Pacquola stepping through the blue door
The closest Celia Pacquola has come to walking through the big blue door of infinite comic possibility on the set of Thank God You’re Here was when her sister surprised her in costume at her own front door, reports Nine Publishing’s Bridget McManus.
“That was super cute,” says Pacquola, who returns to host the second season of Working Dog’s reboot of its popular theatresports show. “Last season, they were coming over to my place for dinner. And they did a Thank God You’re Here on me! I opened the door to them and the scenario was [that] it was an awards night, and I was on the red carpet, and I was getting an award. My niece Evelyn, who was 10, had written a full script, and my sister was in a feather boa and had picked up the fish and chips dressed like that.”
How ‘the most pointless TV show ever’ became an Aussie hit
To say that viewers were sceptical of Gogglebox Australia before its 2015 debut is an understatement, reports Nine Publishing’s Michael Lallo.
“Will this be the most pointless TV show ever?” asked one Reddit user. “An incredible lazy format,” scoffed another. But the most common objection was this: “Why would anyone watch a TV program about other people watching TV?”
David McDonald, head of comedy at Endemol Shine Australia, had a similar reaction when the concept was pitched to him.