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Internet sabbaths and surveillance capitalism in the COVID-19 era: William Powers on what's changed since Hamlet’s Blackberry
COVID-19 has affected our relationship with technology in many ways, from the pleasures of mass online choirs to the perils of the endless Zoom meetings rendering us "zoombies". Connectivity is so hard-wired in our lives, many are re-assessing the virtues of being disconnected. Ten years ago, US journalist William Powers published Hamlet’s BlackBerry: Building a Good Life in the Digital Age, a book…
1 Host: Matthew Ricketson
'Suck it and see’ or face a digital tax, former ACCC boss Allan Fels warns Google and Facebook
Have you used Google lately and been greeted by a yellow warning saying that the way Australians search on Google is under threat? To understand why these messages are appearing, Media Files interviewed former chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Professor Allan Fels, and CEO of the Public Interest Journalism Initiative (PIJI), Anna Draffin (full recording above, recorded…
2 Hosts: Andrea Carson and Andrew Dodd
Media Files: Media companies are mad as hell at tech giants and don't want to take it anymore. But what choice do they have?
Media companies around the world are in an existential funk. The tech giants - Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon - have built a better mousetrap for profiting from consumers' attention than the traditional media can offer. To add insult to injury, they use the media companies' journalism as bait but don't want to pay for it. Big Tech firms also don't see themselves as publishers and operate untroubled…
2 Hosts: Matthew Ricketson and Andrew Dodd
Media Files: investigative journalist Bastian Obermayer, who led the Panama Papers tax exposé
Today on Media Files, a podcast on major themes and issues in the media, we meet Bastian Obermayer, the Pulitizer prize-winning journalist who led the Panama Papers investigation into global tax evasion and money laundering. It was the biggest-ever collaboration for investigative journalism, involving 400 journalists in 80 countries who collectively produced 6,000 stories in 100 different media outlets…
1 Host: Andrew Dodd
Media Files: ACCC seeks to clip wings of tech giants like Facebook and Google but international effort is required
In a landmark report, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has urged the federal government to fix the uneven market power of digital companies like Facebook and Google that make it almost impossible for traditional media companies to compete for advertising and audiences. The Digital Platforms Inquiry report, released in late July, lists 23 recommendations that cover all aspects of how…
4 Hosts: Andrea Carson, Andrew Dodd, Matthew Ricketson and 1 other
Media Files: Washington Post weather editor Jason Samenow on how weather coverage is evolving – and building audience growth
When he founded the blog CapitalWeather.com 15 years ago in Washington DC, Jason Samenow was working for the US government as a climate change analyst. A full-time media career was probably the last thing on his mind. But the blog – which became known as the Capital Weather Gang – gained traction, and was gradually absorbed by The Washington Post. These days, Samenow is chief meteorologist and weather…
2 Hosts: Andrea Carson and Lawrie Zion
Media Files: Australians' trust in news media is falling as concern over 'fake news' grows
On today's episode, we hear from Caroline Fisher, an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Canberra and lead author of the 2019 Australian edition of the the Digital News Report. The annual report has found that public trust in the news media is falling. It also finds that Australians are worried about "fake news". Perhaps as a result, we access news less often and have lower interest…
3 Hosts: Andrea Carson, Matthew Ricketson, and Caroline Fisher
Media Files: Investigative reporter Louise Milligan on Cardinal Pell and redactions in the Royal Commission's report
Cardinal George Pell's appeal against child sexual assault convictions kicks off this week, but when that's over Pell still has another reckoning to face: the unredacted findings of Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. When the royal commission handed down its massive report in late 2017, several sections were redacted until after any legal proceedings against Cardinal…
1 Host: Matthew Ricketson
Media Files: Facebook's Mia Garlick on #Ausvotes2019 and how Australian MPs use social media
As we enter the final straight of the Australian election campaign, we ask you: how much of your information about the issues and the candidates comes from social media? Today's Media Files podcast examines the role of social media in election campaigns, including the spread of "fake news" and foreign political interference. Joining us is Facebook's policy director Mia Garlick to help us understand…
2 Hosts: Andrea Carson and Andrew Dodd
Media Files: Investigative journalist Adele Ferguson on the 'disappointing' banking royal commission and how she works with whistleblowers
Today on Media Files, it's journalism versus the big banks. We're hearing from Adele Ferguson, the celebrated journalist who many credit as the driving force behind the banking royal commission. Adele Ferguson is a reporter with the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age and a columnist for the Australian Financial Review. Over many years, her reporting has exposed the way financial institutions have flouted…
3 Hosts: Andrew Dodd, Andrea Carson, and Matthew Ricketson
PODCAST: Pell trial reporters, a judge and a media lawyer on why the suppression order debate is far from over
When Judge Peter Kidd sentenced Cardinal George Pell last week, it was broadcast live on radio and television. It was a stark contrast to the preceding trial, which was subject to a suppression order that prevented any coverage of the proceedings. Today on Media Files we look at the suppression order that prevented the Australian media reporting the case, even when the verdict was widely known and…
3 Hosts: Andrew Dodd, Denis Muller, and Jason Bosland
Media Files: Covering Trump, funding news and the rise of impunity. The Guardian's Kath Viner on the big media stories of 2018
Today we're taking a look back at some of the biggest issues of 2018 with special guest Kath Viner, editor-in-chief of The Guardian. As the media grappled this year with how to cover Donald Trump and his "alternative facts", Viner says it may be time for the media to pay less attention to what he says. "Surely the thing to do is report on what is actually happening. So less on what Trump is saying…
3 Hosts: Andrew Dodd, Andrea Carson, and Matthew Ricketson
Media Files: What does the future newsroom look like?
Today on Media Files, a podcast about the major themes and issues in the media, we're looking at the future newsroom. We often hear about the doom and gloom of established media companies as they shed staff and revenues, but is there hope for journalism and a new style of digital newsroom? We ask of the man with an ambitious mission to launch 100 media start-ups in three years: what does the future…
2 Hosts: Andrea Carson and Andrew Dodd
Media Files: Guardian Australia's Katharine Murphy and former MP David Feeney on the digital disruption of media and politics
Today on Media Files, a podcast about the major issues in the media, we're taking a close look at the role of the news media in politics. As the Wentworth by-election looms, we're asking: is digital disruption changing the rules of journalism and politics in Australia? It is easy to miss how disorienting it can be to work in the always-on-at-fire-hydrant-strength world of political journalism these…
2 Hosts: Andrea Carson and Matthew Ricketson
Media Files: ABC boss Michelle Guthrie sacked, but the board won’t say why
The major question following the sacking of ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie is why? Why did the ABC board move so decisively and why now? Was it just about tension between her and the corporation chair, Justin Milne, or was it about strategic direction for the national broadcaster? In this special edition of Media Files, Monash University’s Margaret Simons and former ABC staff-elected director…
3 Hosts: Andrew Dodd, Margaret Simons, and Matthew Ricketson
Media Files: On the Serena Williams cartoon -- and how the UK phone hacking scandal led to a media crackdown in South Africa
Mark Knight's cartoon in The Herald Sun has become a global topic of condemnation and debate because of its negative portrayal of American tennis player Serena Williams. It was widely described as racist. The news of the cartoon broke last week while we were both at a conference in South Africa. We decided to show the cartoon to some local academics with expertise in the study of media, race and gender…
3 Hosts: Andrew Dodd, Matthew Ricketson, and Glenda Daniels
Media Files: Spotlight's Walter V. Robinson and the Newcastle Herald's Chad Watson on covering clergy abuse - and the threats that followed
If you've seen the movie Spotlight, about the Boston Globe investigative reporters who uncovered the staggering extent of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in the US, you're already familiar with the work of Walter V. Robinson. He's the one played by Michael Keaton in the film. In today's episode of Media Files - a podcast about the media and how it works - Robinson shares some insights into…
1 Host: Andrew Dodd
Media Files: What does the Nine Fairfax merger mean for diversity and quality journalism?
You don't need to be a journalist or a news junkie to be affected by the media. Its enormous influence in shaping our culture, politics and society means we all have a stake in how it functions, who it serves and the way it's changing. That's why, today, we're launching the first episode of Media Files, a new podcast featuring leading journalism researchers and working journalists taking a critical…
2 Hosts: Andrew Dodd and Andrea Carson
Media Files: a new podcast from The Conversation
No matter what we read, watch or listen to, we're all affected by the media and how it works. It shapes our culture, drives policy and politics, and is an essential part of a functioning democracy. But how is the media in Australia changing? And is the media getting it right? Media Files is a new monthly podcast, featuring discussion between media researchers, experts and working journalists on the…
1 Host: Andrew Dodd