Journalism
Mary Kostakidis fights to strike out racial discrimination case
Mary Kostakidis is pushing back hard against a racial discrimination claim lodged by Zionist Federation CEO Alon Cassuto.
As James Dowling writes in The Australian, through her lawyers, the former SBS newsreader argues the claim is legally unsound and risks turning a courtroom into a battleground for issues well outside its scope.
Cassuto’s case, filed in the Federal Court in April, stems from Kostakidis sharing a speech by late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Alice Workman returns to News Corp as Daily Telegraph Chief of Staff
Alice Workman is making her way back to Holt Street, this time stepping into the chief of staff role at The Daily Telegraph.
After stints at The Australian, BuzzFeed, and most recently ABC Radio Sydney, Workman’s return marks another strategic reshuffle at the tabloid, with Zac McLean moving up to head of news and deputy Jake McCallum backing her in the new gig.
According to Daanyal Saeed who writes in Crikey, it’s a bit of a homecoming for Workman, who cut her teeth in political reporting and knows the News Corp newsroom rhythm well.
Gary Lineker steps away from BBC amid social media fallout
Gary Lineker’s time at the BBC is wrapping up sooner than planned, with the broadcaster confirming he’ll exit after this weekend’s final episode of Match of the Day.
As Steve Douglas reports on 7NEWS, the decision follows backlash over his repost of a video titled “Zionism explained in two minutes”, which featured a rat, a historically loaded image with antisemitic connotations.
The 64-year-old, who has long been the BBC’s highest-paid presenter, was originally set to stay on for future projects including the next FIFA World Cup.
Technology
Trump signs ‘Take it Down Act’ cracking down on revenge porn
Posting deepfake porn or explicit content without consent is now a federal crime in the United States, after President Donald Trump signed the bipartisan “Take It Down Act” into law.
The legislation, aimed squarely at curbing online sexual exploitation, requires platforms to remove such content within 48 hours of a victim’s request.
As Caitlin Yilek explains on CBSNews, offenders could face prison time.
Television
CBS boss exits as Trump lawsuit looms over Paramount
CBS News boss Wendy McMahon has made a swift exit, citing irreconcilable differences with parent company Paramount over the network’s direction.
According to Michael M. Grynbaum who writes for The Sydney Morning Herald, her departure follows months of internal friction and comes just as tensions with Donald Trump are reaching boiling point.
Trump is suing Paramount for a staggering $31 billion over claims 60 Minutes misrepresented an interview with Kamala Harris.
AI
Privacy chief puts brakes on AI scribes in GP clinics
Australia’s Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind has issued a clear warning to doctors: don’t sneak AI into the consultation room without your patient’s say-so.
As clinics experiment with AI scribes to transcribe and analyse conversations, Kind says patients must be fully informed, and fully free, to say no.
Speaking to Natasha Bita in The Australian, Kind said medical data is too sensitive to be quietly scooped up by artificial intelligence.
Helen Toner says Australia should ‘go big’ on AI moonshots
Former OpenAI board member Helen Toner reckons Australia’s best bet in the AI race isn’t to compete with Silicon Valley or Shenzhen but to back bold, publicly funded moonshots.
As James Hennessy writes in Capital Brief, Toner argued we should lean into our deep bench of scientists and engineers rather than chasing the heavy infrastructure game.
Toner said while Australia will never be a global player in foundational AI or data centres, we do have the talent and the kind of public institutions that can actually get big things done.
Business
Canva co-founder joins Gates and Buffett in billionaire giving club
Canva’s Cameron Adams and his wife Lisa Miller are officially in the philanthropy big leagues, signing The Giving Pledge to donate at least half of their estimated $7 billion fortune.
As Yolanda Redrup writes in The Australian Financial Review, the pair also joined the UK’s Founder’s Pledge, promising to give away a quarter of their wealth as it becomes liquid over the next five years.
Adams, Canva’s chief product officer, is on the cusp of a major payday with the Aussie design unicorn expected to list on the NASDAQ next year.
Podcasting
Acast launches talent-voiced ads to give brands a familiar voice
Acast is putting its podcasters’ pipes to work in a new way, rolling out Talent-Voiced Ads, a format that lets brands tap into the trusted voices of podcast talent for fully scripted audio spots.
As Sarah Patterson writes in Radio Today, think of it as host-read vibes, without the host-read constraints.
The move gives advertisers access to big personalities across Acast’s 140,000-show network, with the added efficiency of programmatic buys.
Publishing
Nam Le wins big with poetry that pulls no punches
Nam Le has done it again, taking out Book of the Year at the NSW Literary Awards for 36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem.
As Hannah Story writes for ABC.net.au, it is his second time winning the top gong, having first claimed the title back in 2009 with his breakout short story collection The Boat.
His return to the winners’ circle came with an extra payday, too.