News Corp papers act as one on Zaky Mallah
The Murdoch stable of newspapers outdid itself on Wednesday, producing a set of front pages about the ABC’s under siege Q&A program so uniform they appear to have come out of the one newsroom.
The Courier Mail took top prize for conflating the Isis flag with the ABC’s logo with the headline “It’s your ABC”. This made the Daily Telegraph’s front page look decidedly modest with its Terror Vision headline accompanied by a photoshopped image of Q&A audience member Zaky Mallah holding a gun inside an old-fashioned TV set.
Inside, however, the Tele didn’t hold back, screaming “Whose Side Are You On”, echoing Tony Abbott’s accusations against the ABC. That ran across a double-page spread above a doctored photograph of Q&A host Tony Jones hosting a panel of terrorists. The unanswered questions the paper had asked the ABC were included in the package. The Herald Sun had a similar inspiration, going with “ABC of jihad” and conflating the Isis flag with the ABC logo. Greens senator Scott Ludlam spoke for many when he tweeted: “@couriermail you people are absolutely out of your minds”.
Senate failure ads to SBS bleak times
The SBS managing director, Michael Ebeid, is facing a $28.5m hole in his budget for the next four years after legislation designed to allow more ads in prime time failed to pass the Senate on Wednesday.
Ebeid said the broadcaster had no more fat to cut and the shortfall would affect programs and services. “SBS will now need to consider its contingency plans internally, provide an impact report to the federal government and review our overall funding. Once this process is complete, SBS will be in a position to outline further details about the impact the failed legislation will have on the organisation.”
The Coalition cut the multicultural broadcaster’s funding by $53m in the 2014 budget, and $28.5m of that was supposed to be made up by the additional revenue from advertising.
Shorten support at Fairfax
Fairfax Media’s recent treatment of Labor’s leader, Bill Shorten, has not gone unnoticed. The Sydney Morning Herald ran a strong editorial last week all but calling for the opposition leader to resign.
“The position of Bill Shorten as federal Labor leader is becoming untenable,” the Herald thundered. “The latest revelations of his union past published by Fairfax Media on Wednesday afternoon raise further doubts and questions about his suitability as alternative prime minister.” But is the Herald suddenly turning against Shorten?
Well if you have been following the paper’s editorial line you will see that he has been consistently criticised by the paper for being too tied to old Labor structures and too slow to modernise the party. When an investigative team started rolling out stories about Shorten’s union days the position appeared to harden. And don’t forget the Herald also supported Tony Abbott for prime minister at the last election.
Bauer magazine staff hit by breaking news
If you needed further proof that print media is struggling, here’s a sad story. When the microwave broke in one of the communal kitchens at Bauer Media – publisher of 60+ magazines in Australia, including Women’s Weekly, Cosmopolitan and NW – the company refused to shell out for repairs or a replacement.
The entrepreneurial staff put a bowl by the broken model to raise funds while HR debated the issue with the company, which said it would be happy to order one and invoice individual magazines for the expense. The eventual solution reached was to approach a public relations company for a complementary product, which is now happily installed. Our insider gives the caveat: “Full disclosure, there is another microwave at the other end of the floor. But there are about 70 people on the floor.” A cursory Google search suggests Harvey Norman has microwaves retailing for $88. Gone are the days when staff were treated to a $200 Christmas hamper by former owner Kerry Packer as owner of what was then ACP.
The Saturday Paper’s big day
The Digital News Report: Australia 2015, published last week ,
contained fascinating insights into how we are consuming digital news in comparison with print and broadcast news. One little nugget grabbed some attention. The major report, by the News & Media Research Centre at University of Canberra, found that when asked about what news brands they had consumed in the past week, 8.7% of respondents nominated the Saturday Paper.
Produced by Morry Schwartz, publisher of the Monthly, and edited by 25-year-old former Fairfax journalist Erik Jensen, the paper is only just over a year old. The research was a little surprising because News Corp’s the Australian, the more established newspaper, fared worse – it was only nominated by 8.4%.
In his commentary included in the report the Australian’s media commentator of many years Mark Day mentioned the finding. “The section on brands contains some surprises,” Day wrote. “My affiliation with the Australian may be an influence here, but I am doubtful about the suggestion that the Saturday Paper (8.7%) is accessed more than the Australian (8.4%). This is strongly counter-intuitive. Given the readership levels described in the Enhanced Media Metrics Australia figures, there appears to be a need for further explanation.” The traditional news sources like the TV networks were dominant in the survey, with the ABC accessed by 47.5% and Seven 40.9%.
