The New York Times’ (NYT) entry into the Chinese media market is off to a seemingly rocky start. Two days ago, the company launched its Chinese website – cn.nytimes.com – and a corresponding Sina Weibo…
Fairfax reporters will be expected to file stories throughout the day into an internal “wire” that will hold copy for use on any platform - print, online, tablet, social media and mobile, under a blueprint…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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 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…
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 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…
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…
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…
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 previous Director of Communications, was arrested and charged with perjury last night in relation to evidence he…
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…
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 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 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…
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 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…