Journalism
ABC tightens rules on staff social media use
ABC staff have been handed stricter marching orders on how they use their personal social media and even private WhatsApp chats.
As James Madden writes in The Australian, the broadcaster has introduced new public comment guidelines following the Antoinette Lattouf saga, warning employees they risk their jobs if they post content that could compromise the ABC’s editorial independence.
Editorial director Gavin Fang told staff the new rules came at the direction of managing director Hugh Marks.
Natasha Robinson takes top health journalism award
The Australian’s Penny Timms reports that colleague Natasha Robinson has won the National Press Club’s top health journalism prize for the second year running, also picking up the Health Innovation award in Canberra this week.
Judges praised her ability to translate complex medical issues for readers, with her recognised work spanning biotech breakthroughs and raw personal stories.
Highlights included her scoop on Brisbane’s Daniel Timms and his titanium heart invention, and a magazine feature on Jane Dudley’s unconventional treatment for bipolar disorder.
Companies
Canva share sale pushes valuation to record $65 billion
Canva has kicked off a new employee share sale that pegs the Sydney-based design giant at $65 billion, a record valuation that now puts it ahead of Telstra, Woodside and Woolworths.
As David Swan details in The Sydney Morning Herald, the deal means some of the company’s 5000-plus “Canvanauts” are set to join the millionaire ranks.
Co-founder Cliff Obrecht, whose own fortune is estimated at $9 billion, revealed Canva now has more than 240 million monthly users worldwide.
Television
Adrian Portelli shifts focus from The Block to Seven
David Bonaddio writes on realestate.com.au that Adrian Portelli has quietly wiped almost all Block references from his latest LMCT+ promotion as he lines up behind Seven’s new reality format My Reno Rules.
It marks a sharp pivot for the Melbourne entrepreneur, who has been one of Nine’s most high-profile buyers.
Portelli famously dropped $15 million to snap up all five homes from last year’s Block season on Phillip Island, later handing them out through LMCT+ in a splashy giveaway.
Radio
Vic Lorusso goes from eye in the sky to CEO seat
Vic Lorusso’s career has been anything but ordinary.
He joined Australian Traffic Network as a teenager in 1999, traded textbooks for a headset in a helicopter by 2002, and became the voice Sydneysiders relied on for live traffic updates.
Fast forward 25 years and Lorusso now runs the rebranded atn as CEO, guiding the ASX-listed business through a major transformation.
Nova appoints Jane Zeller to lead Brisbane sales
Nova Entertainment has tapped Jane Zeller as Group Sales Director for Direct and Independent Agencies in Brisbane, strengthening its local leadership line-up.
Zeller makes the move from ARN, where she held the equivalent role for the past three years, and brings more than two decades of commercial radio experience across Brisbane and Melbourne.
She will report to Brisbane Commercial Director Mandi Tapp and lead the Nova team working with direct clients and independent agencies.
Entertainment
And Just Like That ends with a nod to its past
For the writers of And Just Like That, the series finale felt like déjà vu.
Julie Rottenberg and Elisa Zuritsky, who first joined the Sex and the City writers’ room back in season four, have been part of the franchise ever since and closed out the revival as executive producers.
As Jackie Strause writes in The Hollywood Reporter after three seasons of think-pieces, fan chatter and even a “hate-watch” movement, the show wrapped with a divisive ending for Carrie Bradshaw.