Attorneys general give in-principle support to changes including new innocent dissemination defence for intermediaries
Australian media companies may avoid liability for defamatory third-party comments on their social media posts if reforms supported by the nation’s attorneys general become law.
The Standing Council of Attorneys General has given in-principle support to reforms to modernise the nation’s defamation laws relating to search engines and social media platforms.
Continue reading...Company says ‘the welfare of our staff is our absolute priority’ and it will ‘take these allegations very seriously’
Sky News host Chris Smith has been suspended after accusations that he behaved inappropriately toward colleagues after the broadcaster’s Christmas party over the weekend.
Smith was with other Sky News Australia employees at The Establishment in Sydney. He reportedly joined colleagues at The Ivy Sunroom at midday on Saturday for the formal event before going on to The Establishment. After concerns about his behaviour were raised with senior executives, he was stood down immediately.
Continue reading...Heston Russell’s lawyer tells federal court readers were given ‘impression’ he was responsible for shooting an unarmed prisoner in Afghanistan
Lawyers for a former special forces officer have argued an ABC article portrayed him as a war criminal, despite not directly alleging he had committed crimes.
Heston Russell is suing the ABC and two of its investigative journalists over stories published in 2020 and 2021 which he argues gave readers the “impression” he was responsible for shooting an unarmed prisoner and was being investigated.
Continue reading...Channel Nine appointments follow the departure of veteran broadcaster Tracy Grimshaw
Allison Langdon will replace the veteran broadcaster Tracy Grimshaw as the host of Nine’s A Current Affair, while Sarah Abo has been named the new co-host of the Today show.
Langdon, who was widely tipped to succeed Grimshaw in the role, has been a journalist at Nine since 2002 and became the co-host of Today in January 2020.
Continue reading...In one case the Courier-Mail columnist and Sky News presenter filled almost half a column with the unattributed reporting of a regional ABC journalist
The Sky News presenter and Courier-Mail columnist Peter Gleeson has left News Corp after multiple instances of plagiarism were uncovered.
The Courier-Mail announced his fate on Thursday, and it did not pull any punches: “In a personal note to The Courier-Mail editor Chris Jones today Mr Gleeson said: ‘I apologise for breaching News Corp’s Code of Conduct and instances where I have not met the standards required’.
Continue reading...Studio 10 presenter will co-host Ten’s flagship news program with Waleed Aly in a move the executive producer says will ‘re-energise’ the show
Ten’s Sarah Harris is joining Waleed Aly as a co-host on The Project next year following the recent exodus of three of the program’s presenters.
While the departures have been framed as a personal choice, sources say flagging ratings and revenue at the flagship news program may be the reason behind the exit of three highly paid presenters within weeks.
Continue reading...Kyle & Jackie O Show radio host reveals on air she is ‘struggling with this fatigue’ and has received medical advice to stop working
Radio host Jackie O is stepping away from her long-running breakfast show with co-host Kyle Sandilands in order to recover from health issues months after contracting Covid-19.
While presenting the Kyle & Jackie O Show on KIIS FM on Monday, Jackie O, real name Jackie Henderson, said she had been struggling to recover after she contracted Covid-19 earlier this year, and that she had received medical advice to stop working in order to address an enduring cough and fatigue.
Continue reading...As number of prepoll votes rise, rule has become redundant and may also encourage misinformation, TV broadcasters and social media groups say
Groups representing TV broadcasters and social media companies have called to change or abolish the advertising “blackout period” before federal elections, claiming the measure is outdated and could even allow for harmful political misinformation to flourish.
Free TV Australia, the peak body for commercial free-to-air-broadcasters, told a parliamentary inquiry into the May election on Tuesday that the blackout period, which prevents radio and TV stations from broadcasting election ads from the Wednesday night before the election, was outdated.
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Continue reading...Bid follows national broadcaster being turned down last election by Scott Morrison to appear in leaders’ debate despite its broad reach
The ABC has called for legislation to ensure it hosts and broadcasts at least one leaders’ debate during a federal election campaign.
The public broadcaster made the case for a mandated ABC election debate in a submission to the inquiry into the 2022 federal election, which continues its public hearings in Canberra on Tuesday.
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Continue reading...Founding co-host outlasted Charlie Pickering and Dave Hughes to be longest-serving panellist on nightly current affairs show
Carrie Bickmore, a founding co-host of The Project, has announced she will leave the Channel Ten show at the end of November after 13 years.
“It’s been the hardest decision of my professional life to make this call, but it’s time for a new challenge, time for the next chapter,” a teary Bickmore, 41, said on Tuesday night’s show.
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Continue reading...Seven West Media says the issue was unique to certain web and mobile platforms for which it does not have broadcast rights
Instead of watching the AFL grand final kick-off on Saturday some frustrated fans found themselves watching episodes of Border Security due to a glitch with Seven’s streaming service.
People who planned to watch the game remotely on 7plus began posting on social media about the technical issue, which saw them served episodes of the popular reality show instead of the game.
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Continue reading...Notice of appeal lodged in federal court says $150,000 in damages paid to Sky News broadcaster is ‘manifestly excessive’
The Daily Mail Australia is appealing a defamation win by Sky News broadcaster Erin Molan, who was awarded $150,000 over an article and two tweets that accused her of appearing to mock Polynesian names in a radio broadcast.
Molan told the federal court last year she did not think she was mocking Polynesian names when she said “hooka looka mooka hooka fooka” on Radio 2GB in 2020.
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Continue reading...Broadcasters launched well-rehearsed plans – including pre-planned outfits – when news broke in the early morning
The sombre black outfits have been ready for years, the studio rehearsals done many times and the obituaries and highlights packages were ready.
Like the BBC and ITV, Australian broadcasters had careful plans to launch on the death of the Queen.
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Continue reading...Fans upset after Foxtel and Kayo awarded exclusive rights to Saturday games for first eight rounds in Melbourne
The Albanese government has welcomed the AFL’s historic broadcast deal with Seven and Foxtel and noted it won’t reduce the number of free-to-air games, while still reiterating concerns about popular sports being locked behind paywalls.
In a statement on Wednesday, the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, noted fans’ concerns about changes to free-to-air coverage of AFL games under the deal.
Continue reading...Grimshaw says decision is hers alone and she’s ‘not being shoved out the door by the boys club because I’m too old’
After 17 years in a prime time spot and 40 years on television, Tracy Grimshaw will step down from hosting Nine’s A Current Affair in November.
Grimshaw broke the news live on the program, telling viewers it was her decision to quit and to ignore the gossip magazines if they “start telling you rubbish”.
Continue reading...News Corp columnist framed himself as among a minority of white men who could no longer voice their opinion
Australia’s press watchdog has received multiple complaints about a widely condemned News Corp column by Steve Price in which he complained he was among a white “minority”, a claim that flies in the face of evidence on media diversity.
The Herald Sun ran Price’s column over a full page on Saturday, allowing him to bemoan the inclusion of “coloured or Asian people” in television advertising, among other things.
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Continue reading...Hit podcast examines Chris Dawson’s extra-marital affair with teen student and 1982 disappearance of wife Lynette Dawson
An Australian former teacher who was the subject of an investigation by a wildly popular true crime podcast has been found guilty of the 1982 killing of his wife.
The New South Wales supreme court on Tuesday found Christopher Dawson, 74, guilty of murdering his former wife Lynette Dawson, who he had wanted to leave so that he could pursue an uninterrupted relationship with a teenage schoolgirl known in the trial as JC. Dawson pleaded not guilty and has always maintained his innocence.
Continue reading...Thomas Mark Rickard, who served in ADF, avoids conviction but is ordered to pay $1,000 good behaviour bond for leaving reporter abusive and threatening voicemail
A Victorian man who served with the Australian Defence Force has pleaded guilty to harassing the ABC journalist Mark Willacy after he reported on alleged war crimes committed in Afghanistan.
Thomas Mark Rickard, from Lara, near Geelong, was arrested late last year after phoning Willacy and leaving an abusive and threatening voicemail.
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Continue reading...James Chessell sends email to staff after both he and the Nine chairman were the subject of an email attack by James Packer
The Sydney Morning Herald and the Age’s publisher,James Chessell, has told staff at the Nine newspapers that he was not contacted by the Nine chairman, Peter Costello, in relation to the group’s award-winning coverage of money laundering at Crown casino.
“I never heard a word from Peter Costello about Crown Unmasked before, during or after publication/broadcast,” Chessell said in an email to staff on Monday morning, after both he and the Nine chairman were the subject of an email attack by billionaire James Packer.
Continue reading...Staff and media beneficiaries perplexed by ‘totally unnecessary disruption’ as institute pivots to promote ‘social change journalism’
The Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas (JNI) has dismissed the remaining members of its international advisory council ahead of a review of the not-for-profit which has now been stripped of its founding board, expert journalism panel and management.
The billionaire philanthropist funded the institute to the tune of $100m in 2018, but blindsided the organisation earlier this year by announcing she wanted to take it in a different direction.
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