Last week, The Guardian informed us the Eurozone Crisis will Cost World’s Poorest Countries US$238bn. Really? Not US$237 billion or US$239 billion? Perhaps it was just a wonky headline, and the article…
Peter Fray will walk away from Fairfax.
AAP/Paul Miller
Andrew Holden, editor of Christchurch’s The Press, will move to Melbourne to take the reins as editor-in-chief of The Age ahead of a major restructure at Fairfax Media, the company has announced. He will…
Newsrooms across the country are emptying fast.
Flickr/hellvetica
This week’s unfolding print news crisis may have taken newspaper workers by surprise, but it has an inevitable feel to those who’ve been studying the latest phase of restructuring in our digital media…
As private newspaper companies decline, it will be up to publicly funded media to provide large-scale journalism.
Flickr/ finishrunfault
Newspaper revenue is sliding. The economics of supporting large teams of journalists no longer work. The collapse of the print business model will diminish the remaining large private news-gathering organisations…
The ABC has nothing to fear from an Abbott government, Malcolm Turnbull says.
AAP
Shadow communications minister Malcolm Turnbull says the ABC will take on a crucial role as a source of well-funded, independent news as the nation’s biggest newspapers continue their demise. Mr Turnbull…
Fairfax Chief Executive and Managing Director Greg Hywood has embarked on the biggest restructure in the company’s history.
AAP/Tracey Nearmy
Fairfax Media has announced it will slash 1,900 jobs, shut its main printing plants, and take its two iconic mastheads - The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age - tabloid in preparation for a “digital-only…
Gina Rinehart is poised to seize control of Fairfax.
AAP
The next two weeks will be defining moments for Australia. It’s when Fairfax is likely to morph into Gina-fax. On Tuesday Gina Rinehart, the world’s richest woman, is expected to confirm that she has acquired…
The world’s wealthiest woman regards Australian media as “a creature of the left”.
AAP/Tony McDonough
The push by billionaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart for representation on the Fairfax board has become irresistible after she lifted her stake in the company to 18% today, media experts said. But her…
Most climate researchers expect to work quietly in a lab, not deal with an angry and threatening public.
Danny Wolpert
When the denial machine goes after climate scientists it is, as one of them said, like the marines going into battle against boy scouts. The brutality of the attacks has once again been confirmed by the…
Will Google be subject to Australian media regulation?
Stuck in Customs
It’s been a remarkably busy year for Australian media policy. There have been three major reports released that address the future of media policy and regulation in the context of convergent media: the…
If your morning newspaper disappeared, would you miss it?
flickr/NS Newsflash
The hares are running on the proposition that the Fairfax Media board is considering a medium-term plan to give up on printed Monday to Friday editions of its main mastheads in favour of a digital-only…
Andy Coulson, former News of the World editor and British Prime Minister David Cameron’s former Director of Communications, leaving the Leveson Inquiry.
EPA/Karel Prinsloo
Andy Coulson, Former News of the World editor and British Prime Minister David Cameron’s previous Director of Communications, was arrested and charged with perjury last night in relation to evidence he…
Why should freedom of the press trump the right of academics to have their say?
Linda Cronin
There has been much discussion about the role of free speech and a free press since the publication last week of the report from the independent inquiry into the Australian media. The review was conducted…
Penny Wong’s rare moment of sincerity on Q&A betrayed the paucity of Australia’s political commentary.
ABC
If there is a turning point in the Australian debate on same-sex marriage it may well be Penny Wong’s remarkable grace and honesty when answering Joe Hockey on last night’s Q&A. Wong was asked by host…
The Federal Court decision means Optus will not be able to broadcast AFL and NRL on its TV Now service.
AAP/Dan Peled
The significance of last Friday’s Federal Court decision to prevent Optus’ “TV Now” service from broadcasting was made clear to me while waiting for a bus in Melbourne’s suburbs. Earlier that day, I had…
The Convergence Review came close to understanding the nature of user-generated content but not quite.
Flickr/Bruce Clay, Inc
The Australian Federal Government’s Convergence Review, released yesterday, had a mammoth task. It was trying to establish just how to regulate the future standards, conduct, and technical aspects of today’s…
Dull grey tone: media organisations are “Content service enterprises”, according to the Convergence Review.
AAP
The Convergence Review’s final report is remarkable for its blandness and predictability. Despite the cries of fear and loathing from the Murdoch stable that the cold hand of government intervention was…
The Convergence review’s final recommendations have fallen short when it comes to Australian content.
AAP/Dean Lewins
The Convergence Review Final Report released yesterday appears at first blush to promise major changes to the Australian media landscape. The report flags the creation of a new communications regulator…
Communication Minister Stephen Conroy will oversee the government’s response to the Convergence Review.
AAP/Dean Lewins
I’m looking forward to the next few days. The Convergence Review’s key recommendation to introduce a new body to “regulate” the activities of our major 15 media operators – including newspapers – is significant…
Fetishes come in many forms, and often in small packages.
MildlyDiverting
If you’re reading this, Apple thanks you. So does the Air Aroma scent marketing company and the Australian artist collective Greatest Hits. They’re thanking you for the free advertising supplied by this…