Category Archives: Australian media

Michael Rowland to leave ABC News Breakfast after ‘15 years of 3am starts’

Posted on by

The 55-year-old is the program’s longest serving male co-host, and hinted in September that he was ‘looking forward to something less intense’

After 15 years of waking up at 3am to host ABC News Breakfast, Michael Rowland is calling it quits.

The co-host of the public broadcaster’s breakfast offering has told viewers his final show will be on 13 December, followed by a long break.

Sign up to get Guardian Australia’s weekly media diary as a free newsletter

Continue reading...

Laughter and tears as fans farewell ABC radio host Richard Glover after 28 years on air

Posted on by

Host of ABC Sydney Drive wanted to highlight ‘joy in the everyday’ rather than report on ‘terrible things’

In the competitive world of talk radio Richard Glover is the great survivor who stayed on top and chose the manner of his exit after almost three decades on ABC radio.

The former Sydney Morning Herald journalist has owned the Drive slot in Sydney for 26 of his 28 years on the ABC, offering listeners a mix of hard news, insightful interviews and what he says is the “silly and stupid” that makes up the life of a city.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Meta is ‘reckless’ in ‘need-to-know situations’, Canada warns Australia as it braces for early bushfire season

Posted on by

Heritage minister says Facebook made ‘room for misinformation’ after turning news off in 2023 as Australia mulls actions that could lead to Meta doing the same

Twelve months on from Canada’s worst-ever wildfire season unfolding during a news blackout on Facebook, the nation has warned Australia about Meta’s “reckless” behaviour during “need-to-know situations”.

An early start to Australia’s bushfire season is looming for swaths of the country, with large parts of Queensland and the Northern Territory, the south-west of Victoria and south-east corner of South Australia facing higher risk, according to an official assessment in September.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Alan Jones charged with 24 indecent assault and sexual touching offences against eight victims

Posted on by

Former Sydney radio host – who has previously denied all allegations against him – charged over incidents that allegedly occurred between 2001 and 2019

The former Sydney radio host Alan Jones has been charged over alleged historic indecent assault and sexual touching offences spanning two decades.

Jones was arrested by New South Wales police after a “long, thorough, protracted” investigation at about 7.45am on Monday morning at a unit in Sydney’s Circular Quay.

Continue reading...

Fears for local news diversity if rightwing startup buys Southern Cross regional TV network

Posted on by

Fringe news streaming channel ADH TV, which launched with Alan Jones at the helm, confirms offer for 93 regional free-to-air stations

Diversity of local news may be at risk if a rightwing startup, ADH TV, is given the green light to purchase Southern Cross Austereo’s regional television network, an expert has warned.

Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) has confirmed it has received an offer from the fringe streaming news channel to buy its 93 regional free-to-air TV stations. The digital broadcaster, which is chaired by the former ABC chair Maurice Newman, was launched in December 2021 with the former 2GB broadcaster Alan Jones at the helm.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

2GB’s Ben Fordham pulls out of Liberal event, saying he didn’t realise it was fundraiser for party

Posted on by

Nine radio star says he speaks to political organisations, Scouts, charities and preschools but draws the line at political promotion

Nine’s 2GB radio host Ben Fordham has pulled out of a Liberal party fundraiser in Kirribilli, saying he did not realise the event was raising money for the political party when he accepted the invitation to speak.

“Kirribilli Branch is honoured to be joined by Ben Fordham, Sydney’s No.1 radio presenter,” the invitation said. “Ben will provide a review of the major stories he has uncovered and covered this year and the very important election year on the horizon.”

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Media hysteria around Sofronoff report fuelled ‘mob mentality’, Bruce Lehrmann prosecutor Drumgold says

Posted on by

Exclusive: Former ACT director of public prosecutions plans to return to NSW bar after painful experience of losing his ‘dream job’

The ACT’s former director of public prosecutions Shane Drumgold believes “something went terribly wrong” with the Sofronoff report on Bruce Lehrmann’s prosecution, which resulted in Drumgold losing his “dream job”, a court battle over its findings and a subsequent integrity commission investigation.

Drumgold says media “hysteria” into the report’s findings fuelled a mob mentality against him, in what he described as a “terribly painful process”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

ABC to review editorial policies after investigation finds gunshots ‘inadvertently’ added to Afghanistan footage

Posted on by

Director of news Justin Stevens apologises for ‘editing errors’ in the video clips

The ABC will review its editorial policies after an independent review found five additional sounds of gunshots were “inadvertently but inaccurately” introduced into footage showing a commando firing from a helicopter.

But the review by the former ABC editorial executive Alan Sunderland said there was no evidence that anyone at Australia’s national broadcaster “deliberately doctored, falsified, manipulated or distorted information, material or evidence in order to mislead audiences”.

Sign up to get Guardian Australia’s weekly media diary as a free newsletter

Continue reading...

Respawned: Queensland magazine the Cane Toad Times takes aim at a post-truth world

Posted on by

It emerged from the slime of the sunshine state during Bjelke-Petersen’s oppressive regime. Now it’s back – but can it survive more sensitive times?

A man whose pseudonym is Johnny La Rue is holding a yellowed magazine with two toad-headed lovers embracing on the front. He reads aloud a headline that would likely trigger a firestorm on social media were it written today.

“Who wrote that?!” he exclaims.

Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads

Continue reading...

Australia news live: PwC reveals it sacked eight staff over data breaches; Perth man dies after being taken to police watch house

Posted on by

Follow today’s news headlines live

Court to rule in Pauline Hanson-Mehreen Faruqi case

A federal court judge is ready to rule on whether Pauline Hanson made a racial slur when she told Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi to go back to Pakistan.

Continue reading...

ABC chair says pressing ‘digital titans’ for revenue is a ‘mainstream democratic imperative’

Posted on by

Kim Williams says funding local news and public interest journalism is crucial in a world where ‘the distortion of culture poses such a grave threat to democracy’

The tech giants must be pursued for a cut of their substantial revenue to fund journalism in order to fight disinformation and “navigate the dangerous world”, ABC chair Kim Williams has said.

Last week a parliamentary committee recommended the government impose a tech tax on companies like Meta and Google as well as establish a fund to help traditional news media organisations.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Labor concerned Meta may ‘sidestep obligations to pay for news’ as media bargaining code fight reignites

Posted on by

Social media company tells parliamentary committee Facebook and Instagram bring value to news outlets

Social media company Meta has accused a federal parliamentary committee of ignoring “the realities of how our platforms work” and the value Facebook and Instagram bring to news outlets, as a fight reignites over the news media bargaining code and funding of media publishers.

The Albanese government has also given its strongest indication yet it will look to reshape the code or replace the framework entirely, voicing concern that Meta is trying to simply “sidestep obligations to pay for news”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Crikey sacks columnist Guy Rundle for text to ABC that claimed ‘every grope is now sexual assault’

Posted on by

Exclusive: CEO Will Hayward calls comments ‘appalling’ and that he would ‘no longer be publishing his work’

Crikey’s correspondent-at-large Guy Rundle has been sacked after he sent a text to ABC Radio saying sexual assault complaints have gone up because “every grope is now a sexual assault”.

Guardian Australia understands the ABC told the publisher of Crikey, Private Media, that the message was one of dozens of “inflammatory” texts sent by the writer on a variety of topics in recent months to the RN Breakfast show, hosted by Patricia Karvelas. The sexual assault text is the first one Karvelas has read out on air along with his name.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Nine apologises unreservedly after bombshell report reveals systemic bullying and harassment

Posted on by

Nine board commits to implementing all recommendations for a ‘reset of culture’

Nine Entertainment has a systemic issue with the abuse of power and authority, bullying, discrimination and sexual harassment across the company, an independent report has found.

“Driving these behaviours is a lack of leadership accountability; power imbalances; gender inequality and a lack of diversity; and significant distrust in leaders at all levels of the business,” the company said in a statement after receiving the report on Thursday.

The Nine board has apologised to affected staff and pledged to implement all 22 recommendations in the report for a “reset of culture at Nine”.

Continue reading...

ABC Radio’s Sydney Drive host Richard Glover to retire after 26 years with station

Posted on by

Announcement is second major move this week by a presenter at the broadcaster, with Patricia Karvelas to leave Radio National Breakfast

ABC Radio’s Sydney Drive host, Richard Glover, will retire next month after a record 26 years behind the local radio microphone.

The announcement, made on his program on Friday afternoon, is the second major move this week by a presenter at ABC Radio. Patricia Karvelas is leaving Radio National Breakfast after three years.

Sign up to get Guardian Australia’s weekly media diary as a newsletter

Continue reading...

Assange says he is free because he ‘pled guilty to journalism’ – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed

National weather forecasts

Sticking with the weather, here’s a look at the forecasts across Australia’s capital cities today:

Continue reading...

ABC rejects Russian claim two journalists involved in ‘illegal’ border crossing

Posted on by

Australian broadcaster’s Europe correspondent Kathryn Diss and camera operator Fletcher Yeung accused of ‘illegally’ crossing into Russia from Ukraine on 31 August

The ABC has rejected Russian claims two of its journalists acted illegally after they entered the Ukraine-occupied Kursk region.

Europe correspondent Kathryn Diss and camera operator Fletcher Yeung are accused of “illegally” crossing into Russia from Ukraine on 31 August.

Continue reading...

Walkley-award winning journalist to investigate potential issues in ABC’s Line of Fire reports

Posted on by

Alan Sunderland to undertake independent review of online article and 7.30 story about an Australian military operation in Afghanistan

The ABC has appointed veteran journalist and media executive Alan Sunderland to undertake an independent review of the broadcaster’s Line of Fire reports about an Australian military operation in Afghanistan.

The Line of Fire reports concern an online article and 7.30 story by one of the ABC’s most experienced journalists, Mark Willacy from the ABC’s Investigations unit.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Fatima Payman singles out Rupert Murdoch as she decries mainstream media’s treatment of Muslim women

Posted on by

Independent senator accuses mogul of causing ‘division, marginalisation and fearmongering’, and says the media too often reduces her to a stereotype

The independent senator Fatima Payman has accused mainstream media of reducing Muslim women to “stereotypes” and singled out Rupert Murdoch, alleging moguls like him cause “division” and “fearmongering”.

“Like many of you, I’ve faced challenges in navigating mainstream media as a Muslim woman in politics,” she said in a keynote speech on Sunday at the 10th anniversary of independent Muslim media outlet Amust in the south-west Sydney seat of Blaxland.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Julia Gillard urges Labor to retain 50% female quota, warning women still at risk of being dragged back

Posted on by

Australia’s only female prime minister marks 30th anniversary of ALP’s affirmative action rule by advocating for its adoption across federal parliament

Julia Gillard is urging the Labor party never to remove its 50% female quota for parliamentary candidates despite surpassing it federally, warning there are forces – especially in the “toxic sewer” of social media – which can still drag women back.

In an interview to mark this month’s 30th anniversary of Labor’s controversial affirmative action rule, Australia’s first and, so far, only female prime minister reflected on the hope she expressed the day she left office in 2013, that it would be easier for the next woman who runs the country.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...