News Brands
Sydney Morning Herald hit by tech systems outage
The Sydney Morning Herald is grappling with a tech outage, The Australian understands, with the company’s editorial systems knocked offline late on Wednesday, report The Australian’s James Madden and David Swan.
Reporters at the Sydney Morning Herald have been sent emails from the company‘s IT service desk headlined ‘Major Incident’, with multiple services impacted.
It‘s unclear what is behind the issues and which other Nine newspapers are affected.
“Technology are investigating reports of degraded access to various services including Portal, Citrix, and DC-X among others,” the email sent at 4.40pm AEDT reads. “Further updates will be provided shortly.”
A Nine spokeswoman said the company “hadn’t been hacked”.
“It’s just a technical issue, there will be a paper tomorrow,” the spokeswoman said.
Alice Springs mayor Matt Paterson demands Ita Buttrose retract ‘white supremacy’ stories
The mayor of Alice Springs has demanded ABC chair Ita Buttrose retract multiple stories on the public broadcaster that claimed the town’s community forum on Monday was beset by sentiments of “white supremacy,” reports The Australian’s Sophie Elsworth.
Matt Paterson said the reports that aired nationally on the ABC following Monday’s meeting at the Alice Springs Convention Centre were a complete misrepresentation of what took place and “it could not be further from the truth”.
“Ita Buttrose should retract the stories and issue a public statement of apology to the community of Alice Springs,” he told The Australian.
“I was in the meeting and I’m not a white supremacist”.
He said he would give the ABC 24 hours to do so or he would be filing a formal complaint with the organisation.
Podcasts
Michelle Obama launching Audible podcast based on The Light We Carry
Former First Lady Michelle Obama is set to release next month Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast on Audible, an audio product based on her book The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times, reports The Hollywood Reporter’s Etan Vlessing.
The eight-episode podcast is the first to emerge from a first-look production deal signed by Obama’s Higher Ground venture and Audible. The move to Audible followed Higher Ground’s exit from Spotify, where the production company — founded by Barack and Michelle Obama — previously had a multiyear deal to create podcasts exclusively for the Stockholm-based audio giant.
Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast will debut exclusively on Audible on March 7 for two weeks before it becomes available elsewhere to all podcast listeners. Obama’s The Light We Carry book, which included a six-city marketing tour at its launch, features conversations with celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres, Tyler Perry, Conan O’Brien, Oprah Winfrey, Gayle King, Hoda Kotb, David Letterman and others, and the subsequent podcast will feature more personal stories and insights for listeners.
Radio
Former Smoothfm breakfast host Jennifer Hansen has locked in her next career move
Former Smoothfm breakfast host Jennifer Hansen has locked in her next career move. The former Channel 10 newsreader is making a surprise shift into music and performance, reports News Corp’s Jackie Epstein.
She has been honing her skills ahead of a full calendar of touring dates alongside her husband Alan Fletcher, who plays Dr Karl on Neighbours.
Much of the couple’s year will be spent overseas and they’ve also recorded a song together called Somebody.
It’s part of Fletcher’s new album, The Point, which is being launched at St Kilda live music venue George Lane.
Television
Dr Phil: daytime television talkshow to end after 21 seasons
Dr. Phil, the US talkshow that saw Dr Phil McGraw divvy out life advice to individuals and which became a regular on daytime television around the world, is set to end later this year after 21 seasons, reports The Guardian’s Sian Cain.
Hosted by McGraw since 2002, the show saw him advise guests who were troubled by problems, often to do with their finances, weight, families, addictions and marriages.
“I have been blessed with over 25 wonderful years in daytime television,” McGraw said in a statement. “With this show, we have helped thousands of guests and millions of viewers through everything from addiction and marriage to mental wellness and raising children. This has been an incredible chapter of my life and career, but while I’m moving on from daytime, there is so much more I wish to do.”
CBS sources told Variety that McGraw made the call to end production on the show, which airs five days a week in the US.
Gogglebox favourites The Silberys reveal ‘tough’ news
Adored Gogglebox family The Silberys have revealed unhappy news. Beloved matriarch Emmie won’t be returning to the show after the 94-year-old great-grandmother was diagnosed with dementia, reports News. Corp.
“We are sad to announce that Emmie won’t be joining us on the couch for Gogglebox Australia this season,” the Silberys posted on Instagram.
“It’s been a very time for our family and we’ve had to make some difficult decisions. Emmie has been diagnosed with dementia and we wanted to be transparent about this as many families experience it.
“Emmie will be watching and rest assured she’s happy and being cared for.”
The three-generationed Silberys – Emmie, Kerry and Isabelle – joined Gogglebox in 2016 during the popular program’s third season. They soon became fan favourites with their cheeky commentaries – Emmie in particular had a wicked wit.
Why is Australian TV failing to punch through internationally?
Northern Europe has Nordic-noir shows like The Killing and The Bridge, South Korea has K-dramas like Squid Game and Sky Castle, and the Brits have their BBC crime dramas, far too many to mention. Each of these genres are critically acclaimed and wildly popular, both in their home countries and internationally, helping export each nation’s culture and filmmaking prowess, reports Nine Publishing’s Osman Faruqi.
But what defines Australian television? Is it soaps like Home and Away and the recently cancelled-then-uncancelled Neighbours? The dramas of yore like SeaChange and the first season of Underbelly? Recent hits like the rebooted Heartbreak High? Or popular reality TV programs like The Block and Married at First Sight?
The truth is very few of these shows, especially in recent years, have resonated strongly outside of Australia (Heartbreak High, turbocharged by international streamer Netflix, is one obvious exception). Even when they do break through, it tends to be in isolation rather than part of a cohesive and defined genre that tells a particular story about contemporary Australia. One Heartbreak High doesn’t equate to our equivalent of K-drama, in other words.
So, what’s going on? Why does it appear as though Australian TV is failing to punch through? And, perhaps most importantly, does it even matter?
The Last of Us episode three made major changes to the story. It’s being hailed as a ‘masterpiece’
Last week, HBO’s The Last of Us surprised eagle-eyed fans of the video game by tweaking the story of one of its early important characters, Tess, reports the ABC’s Peter Marsh.
But this week creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann delivered their biggest twist yet — completely rewriting the story of one of the original game’s most beloved characters.
Making sweeping changes in adaptations is normally a quick ticket to fan outrage. And yet fans and newcomers to the series alike are hailing the new story as a “miniature masterpiece” and one of the best episodes of television for a long time.
So, what exactly did the creators change about the story of Bill, and why did they change it? Let’s break it down.
See Also: The Last Of Us is HBO’s second-biggest premiere with 4.7 million viewers