Quote of the Week

“Trump is 71; Murdoch is 86, and the median age of a prime-time Fox News viewer is 68. Anyone can see where this is going. The grim reaper has become a Democratic poll watcher.”  [Journalist Richard Cohen  writing in The Washington Post, 13 November 2017]

Mr. Turnbull, about those millions.....

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Bligh Turnbull, Minister for Communications Mitch Fifield and Minister for Sport Greg Hunt owe an explanation to every Australian who has taken an income support cut or an earned income cut during the last three years because of Coalition Government policies and decisions.

Show us the contract signed by Foxtel Sports Australia or News Corp!

ABC Radio Melbourne, “Mornings” program, 17 July 2017:

The federal communications department has refused to release details about $30 million in sports broadcasting funding given to Foxtel, because it says documents about the deal "do not exist".

Senior Producer for ABC Radio Melbourne Mornings, Dan Ziffer spoke to Jon Faine about the money, which was allocated to Foxtel in the 2016 federal budget to support "underrepresented sports."

"There appears to be no paper trail for the $30 million contract," Mr Ziffer said.

"Whatever was done about this deal, it certainly wasn't written down."

Director of the Australian Shareholders Association Stephen Mayne said he believed the government gave Foxtel the money to avoid making an enemy with the Murdoch media.

"Because the free to air networks were all getting a licence fee cut in the budget and the government wants to keep sweet with all of the media," he said.

"They didn't want to have an enemy in the Murdoch's so they just gave them $30 million and then had to come up with a reason."

The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 July 2017:

Communications minister Mitch Fifield has come under renewed pressure to explain why Foxtel – and not a free-to-air network or public broadcaster – was given millions of dollars to boost coverage of women's and niche sports. 

The broadcaster was assigned $30 million in taxpayer's money over four years in the 2017 federal budget in order to boost "under represented sports" on subscription television….

Labor is opposed to the Turnbull government's media reforms and the package has yet to pass the Senate. Foxtel's funding was able to sail through the upper house because it was bundled into the government's appropriation bills. 

BACKGROUND

Financial Review, 4 June 2017:

A spate of recent deals show the influence broadcaster Fox Sports has on the Australian sporting scene and how it may wield that power in the future….

Government subsidies to Fox increase

Fox will also play a part in any FFA expansion plans for the A-League, with a small kicker in the rights contract for additional matches as a result of more teams at any stage of the six-year contract. It will have a say in where the new teams come from.

Then there is the budget 2017 deal with the federal government. The government will provide subscription television worth $30 million over four years to "maintain and increase coverage of women's sports, niche sports and high-participation sports which have struggled to get air-time".

Yes, that means Fox Sports – which already has an iron grip on sport with rights to all NRL, AFL, Super Rugby and A-League matches and Supercars races – will receive government funding to show even more sport.

While the notion of giving money to ensure exposure for so-called lesser sports is a positive one, it is going to a commercial organisation rather than a government funded entity such as the ABC or SBS.

ABC News, 28 December 2016:

Following a day when there was more coverage of a stomach ache suffered by one male commentator of one male sport than there was for the entire gamut of women's sports being played at the moment, a very serious question remains unanswered.

Why, on the eve of 2017, is the media still failing to report women's sport adequately while Mark Nicholas' abdominal distress is national news?

Having covered sport for more than 20 years with NewsCorp Julie Tullberg now teaches digital journalism at Monash University.

"Yeah it's pretty funny, I covered AFL many years ago for the Australian and I've been unwell but when I left the coverage no-one could be bothered writing about what I went through — if I was pregnant, or whatever — but with men, for someone live on air for a big event like a Test match, that's newsworthy because they have such a large audience," Tullberg told ABC NewsRadio.

Turn on the radio, television, or go online during the 'summer of sport' and there are updates galore on cricket, basketball and football (the round-ball variety).

But you would be excused for thinking only men play these games despite the fact there are concurrent women's domestic competitions being played at the moment.

In a country where there are four times as many journalists accredited to cover the AFL than federal politics you would be right to suggest sport is a key component of the national culture.

The past 18 months or so in Australia have been record breaking for women's sport ... new competitions, new pay deals and a new level of respect from sports bodies themselves.

Unfortunately, though, that doesn't seem to extend to day-to-day mainstream media coverage.

The Australian, 19 February 2016:

Subscription television group ­Foxtel has reported a 5.5 per cent jump in first-half revenue to $1.66 billion, driven by strong subscriber growth.

However, higher programming costs saw earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation slip by 7.7 per cent to $434 million.

Foxtel, which is owned by Telstra and News Corp, the publisher of The Australian, saw total subscriber growth of 8.1 per cent for the six months ended December 31 and broadcast subscriber growth of 7.4 per cent….

Fox Sports Australia, which is carried by Foxtel and owned by News Corp,....

Tweet of the Week

ACCC: "If the proposed acquisition proceeds, News will own both The Courier Mail and the local paid newspaper in nearly every city or town in Queensland"

The Australian Securities & Investment Commission’s preliminary view is that the proposed acquisition of Australian Regional Media (part of APN News and Media) by Murdoch’s News Corporation may be likely to substantially lessen competition in the supply of local news and information and/or advertising opportunities to consumers/readers/businesses in Mackay, Rockhampton, Gladstone, Bundaberg, Hervey Bay, Gympie, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba, Ipswich, Warwick, Caboolture/Bribie Island, south west Brisbane, Brisbane northern bayside, Logan, southern Gold Coast in Queensland and Tweed Heads on the Far North Coast in NSW.

The matter of competition is not an issue in the Clarence Valley at the southern boundary of Far North Coast as there is only one local paid newspaper, The Daily Examiner, and News Corp’s existing substantial shareholding in APN News and Media ensures that articles from its existing media platforms already dominate much of that local paper’s column inches.

Australian Securities & Investment Commission

News release

6 October 2016

ACCC INVITES FEEDBACK ON NEWS CORPORATION’S PROPOSED ACQUISITION OF APN'S AUSTRALIAN REGIONAL MEDIA DIVISION

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has released a Statement of Issues on the proposed acquisition of Australian Regional Media (ARM) from APN News and Media (ASX: APN) by News Corporation (ASX:NWS).

The proposed acquisition would combine the two main newspaper publishers in Queensland, adding ARM’s community and regional publications in Queensland and northern New South Wales to News’ extensive portfolio of community, regional, state, and national publications.

The ACCC is investigating the effect that this would have on competition for both readers and advertisers.

“One area of focus is the loss of competition between ARM’s paid regional newspapers and News’ The Courier Mail.

If the proposed acquisition proceeds, News will own both The Courier Mail and the local paid newspaper in nearly every city or town in Queensland.

This may result in a reduction of quality and diversity of content available to readers. Reinforcing that concern is that both News and ARM have a strong presence in online news through their websites associated with the Queensland newspapers,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said.

“The ACCC is seeking to understand whether the competitive tension between News and ARM is an important factor in maintaining quality and range of content, or whether the threat of readers shifting to alternatives, particularly alternative online news sites, will competitively constrain News after the acquisition.”

ARM publishes paid daily regional papers in Mackay, Rockhampton, Gladstone, Bundaberg, Hervey Bay, Gympie, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba, Ipswich and Warwick.

The ACCC will be looking closely at these areas.

“In particular the ACCC will test how important diversity of content and opinion is to readers when assessing the extent of competition between papers,” Mr Sims said. ARM and News both also publish overlapping community papers in Caboolture/Bribie Island, south west Brisbane, Brisbane northern bayside, Logan, and Tweed Heads/southern Gold Coast.

These are mostly free papers with a strong local focus. The ACCC is seeking to assess the effect on readers and local advertisers in those areas, and to assess whether the reduction in competition is significant.

“The ACCC will be assessing the importance of diversity of local content in these competing community publications.

The ACCC is also seeking to understand whether advertising opportunities on other media platforms, such as local radio, pamphlets, and online, will constrain prices for advertising in the ARM and News community newspapers,” Mr Sims said.

The ACCC invites further submissions from industry participants in response to the Statement of Issues by 27 October 2016. The ACCC expects to announce its final decision on 1 December 2016.

Background

News is a global media company with subscription television, magazines, newspapers and publishing operations and interests.

In Australia, News publishes a number of state, regional and community newspapers as well as its national publication The Australian.

It also publishes websites associated with many of its newspapers as well as news.com.au.

APN is an ASX-listed Australian company with media, radio, publishing and digital assets in Australia, and outdoor advertising assets in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong.

The ARM division of APN, which is proposed to be sold to News, includes a large number of mostly regional publications in Queensland and northern NSW, including 12 paid daily, 14 paid non-daily and 32 free non-daily community newspapers.

APN's radio and outdoor assets are not part of the proposed acquisition and will be retained by APN.

ACCC Statement of Issues: News Corporation – proposed acquisition of APN News & Media Limited's Australian Regional Media division

ACCC to rule on News Corp's planned purchase of APN News & Media regional print and online newspapers by 29 September 2016

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is currently  investigating the proposed acquisition of APN News & Media Limited (APN)'s Australian Regional Media division (ARM) by News Corporation (News) – with the aim of establishing what if any the impact of the proposed acquisition will have on on competition, and whether it will: lower the quality of content, especially local news content; reduce the choices available to readers for local news content; increase newspaper prices and/or increase the price of advertising, especially in newspapers in Queensland and northern New South Wales.

As to lowering the quality of content, especially local news content or reducing the choices available to readers for local news content – well that horse was out the stable door in a flash once Murdoch had acquired the largest single shareholding in APN News & Media.

This will be the extent of News Corp’s print and online stable once the ACCC signs off on this $36.6 million sale:

The acquirer – News Corporation

News Corporation (News) is a global diversified media and information services company with businesses in news and information services, digital real estate services, book publishing, digital education and, through its investment in Foxtel Management Pty Limited, subscription television.

 In Australia, News, through various indirect, wholly owned subsidiaries, publishes a number of state, regional and community newspapers as well as The Australian.

It also publishes various websites associated with its newspapers as well as news.com.au. News publishes the following paid print newspapers in Queensland and northern NSW:

· The Courier Mail, published daily Monday to Saturday, while the Sunday Mail is published on Sunday

· Gold Coast Bulletin, published daily Monday to Saturday

· Townsville Bulletin, published daily Monday to Saturday

· Cairns Post, published daily Monday to Saturday (published as the Weekend Post on Saturdays)

News also publishes the following community newspapers:

· through Quest Community Newspapers, 13 free community newspapers circulating in various parts of greater Brisbane as well as Brisbane News, a glossy free magazine distributed to inner city Brisbane. The 13 free community newspapers are:

o Albert and Logan News o Caboolture Herald o Pine Rivers Press/North Lakes Times

o Redcliffe & Bayside Herald

o City North News o North-West News

o Northside Chronicle

o Westside News

o South-West News/Springfield News

o City South News

o South East Advertiser o Southern Star

o Wynnum Herald

· through Sun Community Newspapers, the free newspaper The Gold Coast Sun, in four localised editions:

o Gold Coast Sun Upper North

o Gold Coast Sun North o Gold Coast Sun Central

o Gold Coast Sun Tweed / Southern 4

· a number of small community publications circulating in Cairns and surrounds including The Tablelands Advertiser, The Tablelander, Innisfail Advocate and the Port Douglas & Mossman Gazette

· the Bowen Independent, a paid newspaper published twice a week, and a number of other small community publications in Townsville and surrounds including The Herbert River Express, The Northern Miner and The Burdekin Advocate. News also publishes the Weekly Times, a paid newspaper distributed predominantly in rural Victoria and the Riverina region. A small number of copies are also distributed in Queensland and NSW.

News also publishes or has an interest in a range of online publications including the following:

· News.com.au

· Carsguide.com.au (48.95% interest)

· Realestate.com.au (majority interest)

· Careerone.com.au (25% interest)

News, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, also has a 14.99% interest in APN......

The target business – ARM

The target business – ARM The ARM business comprises:

· 12 paid daily, 14 paid non-daily and 32 free non-daily, community newspapers circulating in various parts of south-east and regional Queensland and northern NSW

· 14 specialist print newspapers including 'seniors', 'agriculture' and 'big rigs' titles · 4 specialist business-to-business magazines for the education and health care sectors

· 60 websites including masthead websites, websites for the specialist print newspaper titles, other websites not linked to a print title and classifieds website finda.com.au

· printing facilities located in Yandina, Warwick and Rockhampton in Queensland. A full list of ARM’s print publications is set out below:

North Queensland (Mackay region)

· Daily Mercury

· The Midweek 5

· Whitsunday Times

· Whitsunday Coast Guardian Central Queensland

· The Morning Bulletin

· The Observer

· Capricorn Coast Mirror

· Central Telegraph

· Central Queensland News Wide Bay Burnett

· NewsMail

· Fraser Coast Chronicle

· The Gympie Times

· Guardian

· Isis Town & Country

· Central & North Burnett Times

· Hervey Bay Observer

· The Maryborough Herald

· Cooloola Advertiser

· Hervey Bay Independent

South-East Queensland - Sunshine Coast

· Sunshine Coast Daily

· Sunshine Coast Sunday

· Noosa News

· Coolum & North Shore News

· Maroochy Weekly

· Kawana Weekly

· Caloundra Weekly

· Nambour Weekly

· Buderim Chronicle South-East Queensland (Greater Brisbane and Ipswich)

· Caboolture News

· Bribie Weekly

· The Logan Reporter

· The Satellite

· Bayside Northern Suburbs Star

· The Queensland Times

· The Ipswich Advertiser South-West Queensland

· Warwick Daily News

· The Chronicle

· Stanthorpe Border Post

· Dalby Herald

· Gatton, Lockyer and Brisbane Valley Star

· Laidley Plainland Leader

· South Burnett Times

· Southern Downs Weekly 6

· Balonne Beacon

· The Western Star

· Western Times

· Chinchilla News and Murilla Advertiser

Northern NSW (Gold Coast, Tweed and northern NSW)

· Tweed Daily News

· Tweed Daily News – Community Edition

· The Northern Star

· The Daily Examiner

· The Woolgoolga Advertiser

· Byron Shire News

· Ballina Shire Advocate

· Lismore Echo

· The Richmond River Express Examiner

· Coastal Views

· The Coffs Coast Advocate

Specialist publications

· Surat Basin News

· Rural Weekly (five editions, including a Northern Territory edition)

· Big Rigs

· CQ Industry

· Style Magazine

· Seniors Newspaper (eight different editions distributed in South-East Queensland and NSW)

· APN Educational Media publications (business-to-business publisher of Education Review, Nursing Review, Aged Care Insite and Campus Review

Something died in the NSW Northern Rivers region today

The Sydney Morning Herald, 21 June 2016:

APN News & Media has sold its regional newspaper business to its own shareholder, News Corp, for $36.6 million.

APN's shares reached $4.90 on the news after opening at $4.61, after jumping 11 per cent on Monday following media speculation about the sale.  

The regional assets include 12 daily newspaper, 60 community newspapers and dozens of news websites. 

News Corp already owns a 14.9 per cent stake in APN, which is currently shedding its traditional media assets but keeping its radio and AdShel divisions.  

The deal still requires shareholder and regulatory approval. Regional mastheads include the Daily Mercury in Mackay, Bundaberg's NewsMail, The Gympie Times and the Sunshine Coast Daily. 

The Australian Regional Media division would be handed over in August provided all the hurdles were cleared.…..

Echo Net Daily, 21 June 2016:

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp has signed a $36.6 million deal to buy APN News & Media’s Australian regional newspaper business, which includes The Northern Star and Tweed Daily News.

The deal – which is subject to approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, also covers the weekly publications, Byron Shire News, Ballina Advocate, the Lismore Echo and the Richmond River Examiner.

News Corp, already holds a stake of almost 15 per cent in APN, which means shareholder approval would also be required for what would be deemed a related-party transaction.

APN Australian Regional Media has a portfolio of 12 daily and more than 60 non-daily Australian regional newspapers.

Staff at the Northern Star and the other publications received an email just before 11am today confirming that the deal had been struck…..

The Australian, 20 June 2016:

News Corp, publisher of The Australian, has long been seen as the natural owner of ARM due to potential synergies with its regional business and the fact that few people know the assets better than News Corp executive chairman, and APN’s former boss, Michael Miller.

The Queensland focused portfolio includes 12 daily newspapers such as The ­Sunshine Coast Daily and The Gympie Times, and includes more than 60 non-daily and community publications.

The sale was outlined by APN in February as part of efforts to make a more aggressive move into the radio and outdoor advertising ­sectors. The price of the portfolio is understood to have fallen short of the $50m APN had been chasing.

News Corp, advised by Aquasia, already holds a stake of almost 15 per cent in APN which means shareholder approval would also be required for what would be deemed a related-party transaction…..

VALE MEDIA DIVERSITY

APN Australian Regional Media to remain with APN News & Media if demerger goes ahead but Murdoch circling regional mastheads

At the moment it appears that Australian east coast regional newspapers owned by APN News & Media will remain with APN if the proposed NZME demerger goes ahead.

The same applies if talks between Fairfax Media and APN result in a merger between NZME and Fairfax Media New Zealand.

However, these 100 regional newspapers and websites in Queensland and NSW  are still up for sale and the possibility that Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp will be the eventual owner of some or all of that stable remains.

The Australian, 9 March 2016:

News Corp, publisher of The Australian, is believed to be circling the regional community newspapers owned by APN News and Media, which called on Credit Suisse to ­divest the portfolio.

News Corp already owns a network of 111 local mastheads, some of which are believed to be highly lucrative, and sources said the company was taking “a good look” at the APN offering.

The company declined to comment yesterday.

News already holds a stake of almost 15 per cent in the company and counts APN’s former boss ­Michael Miller as its executive chairman. It is understood News had been approached by APN to look at the portfolio. Ciaran Davis was recently named as APN’s new chief executive…..

Sources have suggested that some of the publications would be closed if a buyer could not be found. However, deal-makers yesterday said the newspapers were a good acquisition prospect for an acquirer at the right price that could capitalise on synergies and cash flow.

The news comes with the expectation of increasing deal activity in the media sector, with companies already lining up advisers in anticipation of new laws being passed that will relax restrictions on how many viewers any one television broadcaster can access nationally.

Next time a News Corp newspaper tries to tell you that it has an independent editorial stance remember this.....

The Independent 21 April 2015:

Rupert Murdoch berated journalists on his tabloid papers for not doing enough to stop Labour winning the general election and warned them that the future of the company depended on stopping Ed Miliband entering No 10.

The proprietor of Britain’s best-selling tabloid warned executives that a Labour government would try to break up News Corp, which owns The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times. He instructed them to be much more aggressive in their attacks on Labour and more positive about Conservative achievements in the run-up to polling day, sources told The Independent.

Mr Murdoch is understood to have made his views clear on a visit to London at the end of February, during which he met with senior Tories including the Conservative chief whip and former Times executive Michael Gove.

The News Corp boss, who has made no secret of his dislike of the Labour leader, told the editor of The Sun, David Dinsmore, that he expected the paper to be much sharper in its attacks on Labour……

Two days after Mr Murdoch’s visit the paper devoted a two-page spread to the election – with the left-hand page containing a 10-point “pledge” to voters written by David Cameron. The right-hand side of the spread was an attack on Ed Balls under the headline: “I ruined your pensions, I sold off our gold, I helped wreck [the] economy, Now I’m going to put up your taxes.”

It is understood that Mr Murdoch reminded executives that Labour would try to break up News UK, which owns The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times. The party has suggested that no owner should be allowed to control more than 34 per cent of the UK media, a cap which would force News UK to sell one of the titles.

It has also pledged to implement recommendations in the Leveson report for an independent press regulator backed by statute, bitterly opposed by Murdoch. Mr Miliband has made “standing up” to Mr Murdoch over the phone-hacking affair a central plank in his attempts to persuade voters that he is a strong leader. A source said: “Rupert made it very clear he was unhappy with The Sun’s coverage of the election. He basically said the future of the company was at stake and they need to get their act together.”……

Give 'em a good fright for Christmas

Despite the Martin Place siege having no apparent links to ISIL or to terrorism generally, Rupert and Tony are doing their best to usher in Christmas with a scary tale or two…….

There are people who would do us harm and can do us harm 

[Prime Minister Tony Abbott during his latest Christmas news conference]

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/terror/sydney-siege-copycat-attack-fear-as-terror-chatter-increases/story-fnpdbcmu-1227165693867

Meme of the Week