Business of Media
Global fact-checker defends RMIT FactLab against Meta, News Corp after suspension
A global fact-checking body has defended one of Australia’s major fact-checkers, RMIT FactLab, after it was suspended from Meta’s program, saying the group is in “good standing” and that it expects to renew its membership imminently, reports Crikey’s Cam Wislon.
The decision by Meta, which owns social media platforms Facebook, Instagram and Threads, comes after pressure by the Voice to Parliament’s No campaign and News Corp publications which accused RMIT FactLab of bias after becoming the subject of a debunking.
Meta’s third-party fact-checking program is its main weapon against misinformation on its platforms. Once accredited by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), fact-checker organisations can apply to be part of Meta’s program. Approved fact-checking organisations are paid by Meta to verify and debunk viral posts on their platforms (although Meta does not have any editorial oversight into the fact-checks themselves).
ACTF: Children struggle to find & identify Australian content
Children struggle to find and identify Australian content, according to new research conducted by Swinburne and RMIT Universities, reports TV Tonight.
YouTube is the msot popular viewing platform amongst Children aged 7-9 followed by Netflix and ABC iview.
But only 15.2% of children selected Australian content as their first choice with many struggling to identify between Australian and non-Australian content and were unclear on how to find locally made content.
The research conducted on behalf of the Australian Children’s Television Foundation was presented at the Australian Children’s Conteent Summit. It concluded that discoverability across crowded platforms was a key issue for children on Smart TVs and Streaming platforms.
News Brands
CNN names Mark Thompson, ex-BBC director general, new chief executive
Mark Thompson, the former BBC director general and chief executive of the New York Times, is the new chief executive of CNN, tasked with reviving a US news giant beset by falling ratings and profits, reports The Guardian’s Martin Pengelly.
In a message to staff on Wednesday, David Zaslav, the chief executive of Warner Bros Discovery, CNN’s parent company, said: “Mark has a formidable record, and I have long admired his leadership and ability to inspire organisations to raise their own ambitions and sense of what’s possible – and achieve it.
“I am confident he is exactly the leader we need to take the helm of CNN at this pivotal time.”
The appointment came nearly three months after the departure of the previous chief executive, Chris Licht. His stormy year in charge included the closure of the CNN+ streaming service weeks after launch and the staging of a highly controversial New Hampshire town hall with Donald Trump in May. The former CBS producer quit less than a week after the publication by the Atlantic magazine of a profile, “Inside the meltdown at CNN”, containing numerous embarrassing scenes.
Mark Thompson helped steady two news outlets. Can he do the same at CNN?
Mark Thompson, a former top executive at The New York Times Company and the BBC, was touring wine country in the south of France with his wife in mid-June when an unexpected call came in, report The New York Times’ John Koblin, Benjamin Mullin and Katie Robertson.
David Zaslav, the chief executive of Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent, was on the other end with a question: Would Thompson be interested in taking over leadership of the network?
It had been mere days since Zaslav fired Chris Licht as chairman of CNN, ending a stormy 13-month tenure defined by declining ratings and sagging staff morale. The call kicked off a series of in-person meetings, phone calls and videoconferences that culminated in Thompson’s return to the news business after three years away.
CNN announced Wednesday that Thompson would be its next chairman and editor in chief, starting Oct. 9.
Television
Netflix numbers are down for the first time in Australia. Is password sharing to blame?
In a first since its launch in Australia, Netflix’s subscription numbers have taken a dip, reports the ABC’s Megan Macdonald.
With a crackdown on password sharing and a more competitive market than ever before — is Netflix’s presence in Australia fading?
Alongside more competition, Netflix has also been getting stricter with its subscribers.
Worldwide, Netflix estimated that 100 million people were getting passwords from others to access Netflix content from 232 million paying subscribers.
Disney+ series Nautilus, which filmed in Australia, pulled from streamer before release
An unreleased Disney+ series which filmed in Australia last year has been pulled from the streamer’s schedule, reports News Corp’s Lexie Cartwright.
British-produced adventure show Nautilus, which filmed in Queensland last year, will not premiere on Disney+ as originally planned, and is now being shopped around to other studios, Deadline reports.
Filming, which employed a largely-local crew, completed earlier this year on the 10-part series, which joins a host of other shows and movies that have been dropped as part of ongoing cost cuts.
Nautilus, which was estimated to have injected $96 million into the Queensland economy during production, was a prequel to the science fiction novel, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. It was set to star UK actor Shazad Latif as the lead character, Captain Nemo.
Podcasts
Late-night hosts hook up for Spotify podcast with proceeds to benefit unemployed staffers during writers strike
Five rival late-night TV hosts — Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver — are teaming with Spotify for Strike Force Five, a limited-series podcast discussing the WGA writers strike, which is on the cusp of entering its fifth month. Proceeds from the podcast will go to staffers on each of their shows, which have been suspended because of the strike, reports Variety Australia’s Todd Spangler.
Strike Force Five will launch Wednesday, Aug. 30, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and all other major podcast platforms. The limited series will run for at least 12 episodes. All five will participate in each episode while the leader of the conversation rotates.
After the WGA strike started on May 2, the quintet of suddenly unemployed talk show hosts started meeting on Zoom to discuss the issues the work stoppage created. Per Spotify, what happened instead “was a series of hilarious and compelling conversations. Now, Colbert, Fallon, Kimmel, Meyers and Oliver invite you to listen in on their once-private chats on this all-new podcast.”
Sports Media
Tina Turner’s partnership with rugby league to be honoured at NRL GF
The game-changing partnership of Tina Turner and Australian rugby league will be honoured at this year’s NRL Grand Final with a headlining set including her iconic theme song The Best, reports News Corp’s Kathy McCabe.
It is believed Ruva Ngwenya, the star of the Australian production of Tina The Musical, will be the headliner for the pre-match entertainment in tribute to the late, great Queen of Rock‘n’Roll and the 30th anniversary of her performance of The Best at the 1993 NSWRL final between the St George Dragons and Brisbane Broncos.
The big budget spectacular is likely to also feature What You See Is What You Get, which kicked off Turner‘s association with the game in 1989, a marketing masterstroke to bring families back to the sport.