The evolution of a legal action
Athlete and model Candice Falzon is taking legal action against the Daily Telegraph after it published a column by gossip writer Annette Sharp headlined “The evolution of the shotgun marriage: a modern Sydney princess story”.
A former ironwoman and lifesaver, Falzon is engaged to cricketer David Warner, the father of her baby Ivy Mae. The offending story, which discussed Falzon and fellow model Lara Bingle becoming pregnant with rich men, has been taken down.
Bingle is expecting a baby with actor Sam Worthington. We won’t repeat any more of the column’s points lest we compound the alleged defamation. A spokesman for News Corp Australia declined to comment.
Davis ditches Dateline but not without a hitch
After SBS management decided to take the axe to Dateline and move it in a “lighter direction” last year, star investigative reporter Mark Davis, the Gold Walkley award winning VJ, slipped out the door quietly. SBS must be pretending Davis is still on board as they haven’t taken him off the website and when we asked where he was, a spokeswoman for SBS said: “Mark Davis is now freelancing and may do stories for SBS in the future.”
On Monday Davis popped up on the ABC with a heartbreaking Four Corners program about the Australians on death row in Bali: Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. It was rather startlingly titled Eat, Pray, Shoot, but it was a compassionate look at their plight.
Davis, who has met and interviewed Chan and Sukumaran several times over the past six years, told the story from the family’s point of view and made use of footage he had filmed for Dateline over the years, which he retains rights to.
SBS had a churlish response to the ABC’s use of the material Davis shot: “While Mark and SBS share rights to the vision he shot over the years we are disappointed in the amount of material used on Four Corners which was filmed while he was working for Dateline”.
While Davis filed for Four Corners as a freelancer, his many fans are hoping a network snaps him up for a full-time gig soon.
It’s not surprising Davis quit SBS, as the organisation is undergoing a cultural shift in news and current affairs under news chief Jim Carroll, formerly of Ten, and many of the old guard are unhappy. One reporter who left last week said in his farewell speech that “this is no longer the SBS that I joined”. With SBS planning to increase the number of commercials it runs in prime time, management has shifted the focus firmly onto ratings. Sources say staff are being asked for their ideas on how to lift the ratings.
End of an era for the ABC in Adelaide
The ABC, too, has been going through a tough time with redundancies and restructures that have hit hard. The managing director, Mark Scott, sent an all-staff email on Wednesday which attempted to draw a line under the “immensely challenging” year that was 2014.
“2014 was a year of great change, with some initiatives still being implemented across the organisation,” he said. “Sadly, we are farewelling some colleagues and I’m sure you join me in wishing them the very best for their future endeavours. We will miss them. The ABC remains a vibrant and vital public broadcaster with enormous public support. Our success with audiences is due to your dedication and commitment to high standards.”
But the unit still feeling a lot of pain is the ABC TV production house in Adelaide. On Friday, staff were handed redundancy notices bringing to an end 60 years of the ABC making TV programs in South Australia. Last year saw the end of local current affairs too with the axing of 7.30 South Australia. The only TV now made in Adelaide is news.
Further to our story last week about the ABC’s mini news bulletins outside Sydney, the cuts have hit even harder as after 8pm all radio news bulletins have been nationalised and now come out of Sydney. Adelaide’s radio news bulletins at midday and peak times such as 6pm and 10pm are now just five minutes long.
BuzzFeed upsets the locals at parliament house
There was a Twitter stoush between old media (Sydney Morning Herald) and new media (BuzzFeed) this week which quite neatly demonstrated the differences between the two, at least when it comes to the correct way to report federal politics.
After BuzzFeed editor Simon Crerar was signed in as a guest to the Canberra press gallery, he posted a story: “55 Reasons Why Parliament Is The Greatest Show On Earth” with observations about the highly polished marble floor like “WOW THE FUCK WOW”. And a photograph of Tony Abbott with the words “Thank Fuck for That” superimposed.
Federal politics editor for the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age, Bevan Shields, never one to shy away from expressing an opinion on Twitter, said: “@simoncrerar so you get let in as a visitor and this disrespectful rubbish is the best you can come up with? Disgrace.”
Shields says he was annoyed that while the press gallery members have to abide by (widely criticised) house rules – like a ban on photography – visitors like Crerar can openly flout them.
Speaking of BuzzFeed, the organisation’s communications chief Ashley McCollum recently visited the Sydney operation and tweeted her thoughts about Australia and the media along the way. None of it was particularly flattering. She took aim at Richard Wilkins’s interview with Madonna on the Nine Network, commercial TV news in general and Australian food. Not a good look for a communications professional who is trying to ingratiate herself with the local media.
— Ashley McCollum (@McCollumAshley) January 31, 2015Just watched an Australian TV network interview where Madonna made the reporter take a tequila shot after every dumb question.
And this.....
— Ashley McCollum (@McCollumAshley) January 31, 2015So many paid placements from news anchors on news channels on Australian TV. Like infomercials for pillows but in news shows.
And this.....
— Ashley McCollum (@McCollumAshley) February 2, 2015This is what Australia thinks an American hot dog looks like pic.twitter.com/yYrJfmv6VC
Nine takes a brave Gallipoli stand
Gallipoli on Nine made its debut to an impressive audience of 1.1m on Monday night, despite starting at the relatively late time of 9pm. (It was, of course, beaten in the ratings by Seven’s My Kitchen Rules, which beats everything.)
Many of those who watched Gallipoli live to air complained about the number of ads they had to endure. Well, there is good news for them. In a move that surprised everyone, Nine has made all seven episodes available to watch through its streaming service Stan, which you can currently get on a free trial.
Mike Sneesby, the CEO of Stan, said: “Gallipoli truly is a landmark television event and we’re thrilled to make the complete seven-part drama available first on Stan, thanks to our partnership with Endemol and the Nine Network.”
It’s quite a turnaround for a network to make a multimillion dollar show available before it goes to air because it risks diluting the ratings.