Business of Media
Jim Chalmers’ conflict of interest for the media bargaining code fray
The roughly $100 million a year that flows from Facebook to 13 Australian media companies under the News Media Bargaining Code comes up for renewal in the next 12 months. From just about all vantage points, yesteryear’s favourite social platform looks ready to slowly and steadily raise a large middle finger emoji to everyone involved, reports Nine Publishing’s Sam Buckingham-Jones and Mark Di Stefano.
And why wouldn’t it? Canadians are currently in a Meta news blackout that appears far less disastrous than its knee-jerk Australian ban. Even raging wildfires and a prime minister slamming the company for “putting corporate profits ahead of people’s safety” hasn’t changed the outcome.
Meta is adamant news is now only 3 per cent of what people see on Facebook. It should know – it made it that way, filling the void with AI-recommended pages and videos nobody ever cares about. One-fifth of Australians and Canadians apparently believe there was too much news on there anyway, according to data in a study commissioned by Facebook. How the landscape has changed since 2021.
Sky News Australia takes legal action against RMIT FactLab
Sky News Australia has begun legal action against RMIT FactLab, demanding the retraction of false fact-checking verdicts on the TV channel’s online content, and reimbursement for lost revenue, reports The Australian’s Sophie Elsworth.
The broadcaster’s lawyers, Ashurst, have written to RMIT University and listed at least five fact checks published since December last year – four relating to voice referendum content – that claim Sky’s content is false.
RMIT FactLab, led by director Russell Skelton, published the five fact checks despite its International Fact-Checking Network certification expiring on December 2 last year. To issue fact-checking verdicts, RMIT FactLab must hold a valid IFCN certification as part of its agreement with social media giant and Facebook owner, Meta.
Bots on X worse than ever according to analysis of 1m tweets during first Republican primary debate
Bot activity on the platform formerly known as Twitter is worse than ever, according to researchers, despite X’s new owner, Elon Musk, claiming a crackdown on bots as one of his key reasons for buying the company, reports The Guardian’s Josh Taylor.
“It is clear that X is not doing enough to moderate content and has no clear strategy for dealing with political disinformation,” associate professor Dr Timothy Graham tells Guardian Australia.
A researcher at the Queensland University of Technology, Graham has tracked misinformation and bot activity on social media for several years including until Musk took over Twitter in October last year.
News Brands
Seven news boss Craig McPherson embraces the changing habits of viewers as streaming booms
Seven’s news boss Craig McPherson leads one of the biggest and most successful television news operations in the country and the station is winning the ratings war for now, but he knows his rivals are never far behind, reports The Australian’s Sophie Elsworth.
While millions of Australians still embrace the traditional 6pm one-hour news bulletins each night, competition is always fierce between Nine and Seven, and thrown into the mix is the booming streaming industry that offers customers more choice than ever before.
“The one great thing about what we do in terms of domestic localised news, is that it’s not going to be challenged by the big streamers because they don’t do it, that’s not their ball game,” McPherson told The Australian in a sit-down interview at Seven’s Eveleigh headquarters this month.
Televison
The Block stunningly quits Daylesford and is searching for a new location after permit struggle
The Block has pulled the pin on plans to base its 2024 season in the country Victorian town of Daylesford and with just five months before production is due to start on the new series the show does not have a filming location, reports News Corp’s Fiona Byrne.
The shock decision to up stumps from Daylesford came after delays in getting planning permit approval, and objections from a small number of locals, for the site at 1 Raglan Street, on the outskirts of the Hepburn Shire township, that the production had pinned its hopes on.
“We’ve had so many successful series in so many different locations, but we don’t go where we are not welcome,” a production insider told the Sunday Herald Sun.
Kochie to take action on fake ads
Former Sunrise host David Koch is taking legal action over fake ads which repeatedly use his likeness and name to sell products or scam unsuspecting users, reports TV Tonight.
“I’m involved in an action with the ACCC that will come to light soon. And I’m looking at taking other action against platforms in the near future,” he recently told TV Tonight.
“I got an email yesterday from a lady who invested $10,000 in one of these fake ads. She’s 72 and the ad came on her Holy Bible app. I never knew there was a Holy Bible app but I shouldn’t be surprised, there’s an app for everything. She got sucked in with one of these fake ads on the Holy Bible. It’s getting frickin’ ridiculous.”
Jeremy Fernandez on becoming the main anchor of ABC NSW 7pm News, his path into journalism and diversity in media
He’s one of the ABC’s most prolific and versatile presenters, hosting everything from rolling news coverage, to roles in state and federal election coverages, and live broadcasts of New Year’s Eve and the Sydney Mardi Gras, reports the ABC’s Natasha Johnson.
But a younger Jeremy Fernandez never imagined a role on TV was a possibility — in fact, he was actually told by well-meaning career advisers not to even think about pursuing an on-air role. Next week, Fernandez takes over from Juanita Phillips as the main presenter of the ABC’s NSW 7pm News after 14 years hosting the weekend bulletin.
“The moment when the significance of this really hit me was when ABC Sydney presenter Richard Glover said to me, ‘you know, you’re only the fourth anchor since 1956’, and I thought, ‘wow, that’s a pretty big title to take on and I’m very humbled by it,” he says.
Sports Media
Graveyard shift: Kent works at funeral home while waiting for court return
Fox Sports personality and Daily Telegraph columnist Paul Kent has found a new line of work with a funeral home as News Corp considers whether he will be replaced as a full-time TV host. There is no official word on Kent’s future as he prepares to return to court in December, but Gorden Tallis has filled the void well so far, reports Nine Publishing’s Danny Weidler.
See Also: Foxtel reportedly pulls NRL 360 back catalogue after Paul Kent arrest
He is now working in one of the most sensitive jobs at Mannings Funerals in Rozelle. I contacted the funeral home during the week and it confirmed Kent was working as a part-time limousine driver.
Funeral director Michael Manning, from Mannings Funerals, said: “He’s been down a few times to work with us. If he wants a job full-time I’d have no problem with that.
“He said he has an interest in the funeral business and I’d show him the ropes. He told me he wants to write a book about the funeral business and I’d help him out with that for sure. And if he needs more work, I’d help with that, too.”