Business of Media
Australia to impose sanctions on Iranian state media over broadcast of forced confessions
Australia will impose sanctions on Iranian state media for broadcasting forced confessions, with the foreign minister, Penny Wong, vowing to take tougher action before the anniversary of Mahsa Jina Amini’s death in custody, reports The Guardian’s Daniel Hurst.
Brushing off claims from the Coalition that the government has been slow to act, Wong will announce on Wednesday that she is introducing new sanctions against those linked to the oppression of women and girls.
Indigenous activist behind Cheer Cheese campaign Stephen Hagan seeks $500k in Daily Mail suit
A prominent Indigenous academic behind the campaign to rename Cheer Cheese has made good on a promise to sue the Daily Mail for racial vilification, after they allegedly falsely implied he would actively campaign to rename Paul’s ‘Smarter White’ milk, reports The Australian’s Nicholas Finch.
Stephen Hagan, a former lecturer at The University of Queensland, is seeking $500,000 in damages from the Daily Mail, following an article which he claims “represented a deliberate distortion of the truth” by inferring he was offended by the milk.
Elon Musk’s lessons from hell: Five commandments for business
Simply put: Elon Musk can be a real jerk, reports The Wall Street Journal’s Tim Higgins.
And that has probably helped and hurt him in business, according to a new biography by Walter Isaacson.
In Elon Musk, out Tuesday, Isaacson puts forth the idea of “demon mode” to explain the temperamental impulses behind some of the tycoon’s successes—and setbacks. But it isn’t just demon mode that has fueled his rise. Isaacson details other teachable ways the billionaire’s methods have helped make him the world’s richest man.
News Brands
ABC won’t take back Yes campaign footage despite admitting it made the wrong decision to hand it over
The ABC will not rescind video and audio content for the Yes campaign’s John Farnahm “You’re the Voice” television ad due to commercial reasons, despite it admitting it made a mistake to provide the content in the first place, reports The Australian’s Sophie Elsworth.
See Also: YES campaign secures ‘You’re the Voice’: John Farnham classic helping to change history
The Liberal Party’s federal director Andrew Hirst wrote to the ABC last week asking what action the ABC was taking after it licensed the archival footage used in the two-minute Yes commercial.
Social Media
TikTok launches online shopping in the US
TikTok has officially rolled out its e-commerce business in the United States after months of testing, according to a blog post on Tuesday, as its Chinese-owner ByteDance looks to capitalize on the popularity of the social media app, reports Reuters’ Yuvraj Malik.
TikTok is bringing online shopping through a series of features on its main app and is hoping to replicate the success of Asian platforms Shein and PDD Holdings’ (PDD.O) Temu.
Pulitzer winner Chabon, other authors sue Meta over AI program
A group of writers including Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon sued Meta Platforms in San Francisco federal court on Tuesday, accusing the tech giant of misusing their works to train its Llama artificial-intelligence software, reports Reuters’ Blake Brittain and Katie Paul.
Chabon, Tony-winning playwright David Henry Hwang and authors Matthew Klam, Rachel Louise Snyder and Ayelet Waldman in a lawsuit said Meta taught the Llama large-language model to respond to human text prompts with datasets that included pirated versions of their writings.
Radio
Media regulator ACMA is reviewing 3AW presenter Jacqui Felgate’s long list of commercial deals
The media regulator is conducting an investigation after the appointed 3AW broadcaster Jacqui Felgate’s 12 lucrative commercial partnerships were not declared by the Melbourne radio station – which would be a breach of the industry guidelines, reports News Corp’s Sophie Elsworth.
Just 24 hours after The Australian revealed Felgate’s commercial interests had not been listed on 3AW’s website, the station rushed to update her long list of paid deals, which include with BMW, Chemist Warehouse, NAB, the AFL, Melbourne Racing Club, Smile Solutions and Chadstone shopping centre.
Television
WWE, UFC combined company makes market debut, targets demand for sports
A new publicly traded company formed by the combination of WWE and UFC is entering the ring in hopes of capitalizing on the migration of sports and live entertainment from traditional television to streaming, reports The Wall Street Journal’s Joe Flint.
TKO will begin trading Tuesday with the aim of making more content, including UFC fights, available via streaming services in the future, said Mark Shapiro, its president and chief operating officer. TKO, which stands for technical knockout in boxing, is an allusion to the fighting focus of both organizations.
The Bachelorette star Charlie Newling dies
A troubled reality star has died just two months after the birth of his second child, reports The Daily Mail Australia’s Lucy Manly.
Charlie Newling, 36, who appeared on Ali Oetjen‘s season of The Bachelorette in 2018, died after his car fell from a cliff in Dover Heights, in Sydney‘s eastern suburbs, at 11pm on Saturday.
Police and ambulance workers arrived at Raleigh Reserve after being contacted by locals who found his car on fire at the bottom of the 70-metre cliff.
Surf, camera, action on local drama Surviving Summer
Season Two of YA series Surviving Summer hits the waves this week across the globe thanks to the reach of Netflix, reports TV Tonight’s David Knox.
Season One by Werner Productions (The Newsreader, Crazy Fun Park, Secret City, Dance Academy) returns to the fictional Shorehaven for more surf, romance and teenage growing pains.