Business of Media
ACCC calls for new laws to rein in Apple, Google, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon
Australia’s competition watchdog has put big tech on notice, warning its rapid expansion into smart home devices and cloud storage, risks harming consumers via “invasive data collection practices” and stifling innovation by crushing smaller rivals, reports The Australian’s Jared Lynch.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says new laws are needed to rein in the market power of the world’s five biggest tech companies: Apple, Google, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon, criticising their “expanding reach into our daily lives and livelihoods”.
‘Sombre occasion’: X reprimanded after Voice referendum
X has had its status as a signatory to the Australian code of practice on disinformation and misinformation revoked following a complaint that it didn’t allow the reporting of misinformation during the Voice to parliament referendum, reports Nine Publishing’s David Swan.
DIGI, the industry association that oversees how social media platforms regulate misinformation, ruled through an independent sub-committee on Monday that X had “committed a serious breach” of the code and had not co-operated with its processes.
Bruce Lehrmann denies evading questions from chief of staff about Parliament House entry on night of alleged rape
Bruce Lehrmann has denied trying to evade questioning from his former chief of staff about his entry to Parliament House on the night Brittany Higgins was allegedly raped in March 2019, reports The ABC’s Patrick Bell.
On Monday, the Federal Court heard three days after the alleged assault, Lehrmann was summoned to a meeting with his then-chief of staff, Fiona Brown, to account for why he had gone to Senator Linda Reynolds‘s office after hours on the night in question.
Pezzullo brought undone by the media he railed at
“Bottom feeders”, Mike Pezzullo once described journalists as, after an embarrassing story was cited in Senate estimates — itself another process he loathed. The only journalists Pezzullo liked were those he could “turn”, “steer, assist, work with” to produce “a great story for the government”, to use his own words, reports Crikey’s Bernard Keane.
Now the “bottom feeders” — two of the very best, Nick McKenzie and Michael Bachelard — have sent Pezzullo packing, after the government today announced that his appointment as Home Affairs secretary was “terminated”, based on “a recommendation to [Prime Minister Albanese] by the secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Australian Public Service commissioner, following an independent inquiry by Lynelle Briggs”.
‘Forever love’: Johnny Ruffo’s life honoured at Perth memorial
Beloved Australian singer and actor Johnny Ruffo has been honoured with a final send off in a public memorial after losing his battle with brain cancer earlier this month, reports News Corp’s Eli Green.
Friends and family were seen in tears outside the service for the Home and Away and X-Factor star, which was held at his former high school in the Perth suburb of Balcatta.
See Also: “One in a million”: Home and Away’s Johnny Ruffo passes away aged 35
News Brands
ABC on hunt for Andrew Probyn replacement
The ABC is on the lookout for a new Canberra-based political editor. Despite making its previous political editor Andrew Probyn redundant earlier this year, the new job ad states the role will instead be called “Editor, Politics”, reports The Australian’s Jenna Clarke.
Aunty is on the hunt for someone who has the “authority, experience, ideas and resilience to lead the ABC News team’s daily coverage from Canberra Parliament House, while also contributing to our reporting on politics and democracy at all levels of government”.
The successful candidate will also need to have a track record of “compassionately managing staff” and sorting rosters.
Radio
Kyle Sandilands left filthy voicemail to Steve Price after his comments on The Project
Kyle Sandilands left an explosive voicemail to Steve Price after the latter dubbed him a “buffoon” on national TV, reports News Corp.
Sandilands, 52, swiftly hit back at Price, leaving him an intense voicemail when his attempts to contact him live on Thursday’s Kyle and Jackie O Show were futile.
“Hey you piece of sh*t, we’ve spoken before, last time you forgot that you’re not allowed to mouth off about me,” Sandilands said in the voicemail.
Should Adelaide brekky audiences get the Kyle & Jackie O Show?
Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O. You either love them or hate them. Then again, some people love to hate them, reports News Corp’s Anna Vlach.
But their bosses at Austereo Radio Network must be thinking about ways to get more bang for their buck, which is, no doubt, why their Sydney breakfast program Kyle & Jackie O Show is now going to be heard in Melbourne too.
A Mix spokeswoman has told us not to expect any changes at the station any time soon.
Television
“For me, it was never boring”: Eddie reflects on final Hot Seat
The very last new episode of Hot Seat will screen on Nine this Wednesday before repeat episodes take the Millionaire brand into its 25th year on air, to conclude in January, reports TV Tonight.
For Eddie McGuire it’s the end of an era, but one he looks at with great fondness. Quiz shows may not be the most sophisticated of television shows, but McGuire knows how they have changed peoples’ lives.
“For each person coming on, it’s their special moment,” he tells TV Tonight.