Trump Tariffs
Aussies cool on US brands as Trump effect hits retail
American brands are copping the cold shoulder from Australian shoppers, as Donald Trump’s trade war rhetoric resurfaces ahead of the US election.
New research from Finder shows nearly one in four Aussies are already avoiding US-made products, and another 31 percent are thinking about it.
That’s roughly 11.6 million people turning away from American goods, and, as James Harrison writes for Sky News Australia, it’s not just politics, it’s personal.
Television
Waleed Aly’s quiet plea: don’t mourn The Project, worry about the industry
Waleed Aly has broken his usual rule of staying silent on his own work to mark the end of The Project, but his focus wasn’t nostalgia or greatest hits.
Instead, in this column for The Age, he’s gently shifted the spotlight to something more urgent: the industry-wide reckoning unfolding as commercial television stares down a revenue cliff.
Yes, streaming and social media have gutted linear TV audiences. But Aly points out a subtler shift: while ratings may be levelling out, ad dollars are vanishing even faster.
Jacob Greber steps into 7.30 spotlight as political editor
The ABC has named Jacob Greber as its new political editor on 7.30, stepping into the seat recently vacated by Laura Tingle.
Greber, who joined the national broadcaster less than a year ago from The Australian Financial Review, was introduced live on-air by host Sarah Ferguson as someone who’s “not really a guest at all”, in a nod to his long tenure in the press gallery.
As Cindy Yin and Calum Jaspan write in The Age, with nearly three decades in journalism under his belt, Greber’s career spans foreign correspondence, economics, politics and a start as a copy boy in Canberra.
Journalism
Spyware scandal grows as more journalists linked to Italian surveillance
Italy’s spyware saga just took another dark turn.
New findings from Citizen Lab reveal that at least two more journalists, including Fanpage.it‘s Naples bureau chief Ciro Pellegrino, were targeted with the same Israeli-made Graphite spyware that’s already been linked to the Italian government’s surveillance of activists.
As Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Angela Giuffrida write in The Guardian, earlier this month, a parliamentary intelligence committee confirmed that the Meloni government had indeed deployed the spyware, developed by Paragon Solutions, on two activists.
Business
Cannon-Brookes’ SunCable hits a funding wall as investor interest wanes
Mike Cannon-Brookes’ ambitious $40 billion SunCable venture is yet to pull in a single dollar from its first major capital raise.
According to Perry Williams and John Stensholt in The Australian the project’s $154 million pitch has landed with a thud among potential investors.
Despite more than a year of talks and a recent formal flyer to deep-pocketed backers, enthusiasm has been muted at best.
Virgin CEO plays it safe as airline marks long-haul comeback
Virgin Australia marked its official return to long-haul international flying this week with a splashy event at Sydney Airport, but its new CEO Dave Emerson remained firmly in soft-launch mode.
As Robyn Ironside writes in The Australian, almost three months into the top job, Emerson made a brief scripted appearance to mark the new Doha service operated by Qatar Airways, then quietly retreated without taking questions.
The flight itself is a big deal.
Technology
Inside Apple’s quiet obsession with dropping phones on purpose
While most of us wince when a phone hits the pavement, Apple has a whole lab dedicated to doing just that… repeatedly.
As Tim Biggs writes in The Sydney Morning Herald, tucked away in an unmarked building in Sunnyvale, California, Apple’s durability lab is a controlled chaos zone where devices are dropped, drowned, shaken and even salted, all in the name of resilience.
However, as those in the Mediaweek office will attest, the same durability test could easily be carried out by handing the phone to a toddler.
Meta circles superintelligence with reported $23 billion AI play
Meta is reportedly ready to pour $23 billion into Scale AI, snapping up a 49 per cent stake in the San Francisco-based startup in what’s being framed as a power move toward building “superintelligent” systems.
If confirmed, it would be one of the most aggressive bets yet by Mark Zuckerberg in the escalating AI arms race.
As Alex Blair reports in the Herald Sun, Scale AI is led by 28-year-old wunderkind Alexandr Wang, and specialises in data labelling and model training, the unsung backbone of modern AI systems.
Publishing
ProRata.ai steps up pitch to Aussie publishers after global wins
Fresh off sealing deals with The Guardian, Financial Times and New Zealand’s Stuff, LA-based ProRata.ai is now knocking on the doors of Australian media companies.
According to John Buckley in Capital Brief, the AI startup just inked its first local deal with men’s lifestyle site Man of Many and is reportedly in talks with a mix of big and boutique publishers.
ProRata.ai launched in January with a clear mission: help media companies get paid when AI models use their content.
Podcasting
iHeart boss Corey Layton says podcasting is a marathon, not a sprint
With entries piling in for the 2025 Asia Podcast Awards, iHeart Australia’s Corey Layton has chimed in with a timely reminder: great podcasts aren’t built overnight.
As Radio Today reports, Layton made the comments during a chat with Steve Ahern, adding he believes consistency is king, and longevity is often what separates chart-toppers from forgotten feeds.
Layton says the trick lies in finding a precise audience and filling a gap in their day. Try appealing to everyone, he warns, and you’ll likely appeal to no one.