MediaLand

In a MediaLand special we dissect the ruling for Antoinette Latouff in her case against the ABC this morning.  This morning the judgement in the case of Antoinette Lattouf vs the Australian Broadcasting Corporation was handed down in the Federal Court of Australia.   Justice Darryl Rangiah ruled that Australian Broadcasting Corporation contravened the Fair Work Act by terminating the employment of...

More Australians than ever are getting their news from social media with the big platforms expanding their online reach over that of Aussie newsrooms. We're also becoming more and more worried about misinformation but, depending on our political persuasions, we disagree about where it's coming from. The University of Canberra’s News and Media Research Centre’s digital media report for 2025 lays ou...

It's been a week of cuts for TV with Network Ten axing the Project, ABC cancelling Q&A and Foxtel spiking The Back page. What's the future for current affairs television in Australia and can anyone make it pay?  Aussie reporters have been in the firing line in Los Angeles this week prompting a big conversation about correspondents and their safety in the United States.  And it's a very special...

This week, Viv and Tim speak to Greg Hywood in the week he's announced his retirement from his role as Independent Chair at Free TV.  The former Fairfax CEO and newspaper editor has been in journalism and publishing since the 1970s when he started at the Australian Financial Review. He presided over period of intense cost cutting at Fairfax in the early 2010s and was CEO as the merger with NINE wa...

This week Netflix lifts the veil of secrecy and enters ratings war in Australia and a potential class action law suit adds to mounting pressure on Google’s advertising business. Commercial TV spending on ‘light entertainment’ is skyrocketing but drama and kids’ programming remain in the doldrums, and the publication of a TV salary rich list shows age of big bucks for broadcast stars might be comin...

The Coalition break-up has been like media Christmas this week but is the hour by hour reporting as interesting to audiences as the journalists producing it?  New gender pay gap reporting on public broadcasters SBS and ABC shows plenty of work still to be done.  How we teach kids media literacy in Australia in 2025 and why Europe is pouring millions of euros into it.  Will 2GB and 3AW be up for sa...

The challenges facing incoming Communications Minister Anika Wells and Arts Minister Tony Burke.  The BBC will stop broadcasting and move to fully online by 2035 - will Australia follow suit? From 'mommy bloggers' to product floggers - how influencers became a gendered word. Guest: Lauren Meisner, Founder and Director of youth media brand, Centennial World 

Election wash-up: has Newscorp's ability to influence election outcomes waned? Adam Bandt's parting shot: the media don't take the climate crisis seriously.  Donald Trump's film industry tariffs could drive content onto streaming services - and push up their profits.   Mushroom mania - how the Erin Patterson trial took over the podcast world - and why newsrooms are pivoting to this format.  Why an...

In the final week of the election campaign the media's attention turned to debating Welcome to Country ceremonies, some decrying Neo-Nazi behaviour while running Trumpet of Patriot ads calling for an end to the practice. The journalist's union calls for an investigation into allegations ABC Chair Kim Williams pushed local stations to give air time to comedian Austen Tayshus.  Denis Muller examines...

Will the US be able to force tech giants Meta and Google to break up their businesses? Divestment trials are underway but the outcome may never be enforced.  The major commercial media companies have launched a “Stand up to hate” campaign, showcasing Kyle Sandilands as a signatory. So who is behind the campaign?   The world’s media dedicated a lot of time and attention to marking the death of the...

Social media influencers are having a field day with politicians this election - but are pollies bending the rules?  The internet is flooded with false advertising on social media, but the government is yet to compel the tech giants to step in.  Without content quotas the Australian screen industry is in dire straits; jobs are disappearing and projects folding, and it seems the US trade wars are b...

It’s election time and the leaders are coming out swinging - but Sky News couldn't quite believe the results of their own debate.  There's been a media scandal about how much Mamamia’s Mia Freedman pays her son - but are the rumours true? Tim and Viv find out the real data on what women get paid in the Australian media. Dawn Singleton's family are suing Nine and the SMH for using her image in repo...

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has demanded excellence and efficiency from the ABC if he wins the election, while not committing to any specific cuts. To that, ABC Chair Kim WIlliams says “game on”. Tim and Viv parse out what the sparring could all mean for Aunty. News outlets are trying all sorts of approaches to tackle rising news avoidance, from explainers and TikToks to AI personalisation, we...

What's a journalist to do when they accidentally get added to the US government’s war planning Signal chat? Tim and Viv dissect The Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg's strange scoop and the process of reporting classified information.  Netflix and Stan turn 10 in Australia as Max enters the market. We look at how the state of streaming has changed viewing habits and homegrown content production.  P...

Both Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton 'faced the women of Australia' on Mamamia's No Filter podcast with Kate Langbroek this week, getting onto Albo's wedding, Dutton's meditation routine, and a sprinkling of policy. The leaders have been racking up long chats with with the country's biggest podcasters, some with upfront political bias. Tim and Viv look at the str...

The Newcastle Herald has apologised for running an inflammatory ad from Clive Palmer's Trumpet of Patriots party. As the election looms, we look at the standards for political ads, who sets them and why they might be slipping. NewsCorp is making a big push for Tubi, its free ad-supported streaming service - but is its lesser quality content offering likely to take off?  The story of a Sydney carav...

The AFL's new broadcast deal kicks off this season, with Saturday matches going exclusive on Foxtel and Kayo. We look at anti-siphoning laws and what the deal means for the future of sport on free-to-air TV. Meta's glitch meant Australians searching for Cyclone Alfred on Facebook were coming up empty. As social media algorithms drop in quality, are we losing an important resource for emergency inf...

The quick exit of comedian Marty Sheargold from his Triple M slot in the wake of the outcry over his offensive comments about the Matildas seems like a turning point in Australian commercial radio standards. Then again, maybe it's just business.  Former SCA content director Craig Bruce gives some insight into how networks manage their big stars and how Sheargold's exit signals a dying era. Plus, T...

Undercover reporting is one of those practices that challenges public trust with journalists, so when is it justified to deceive to get a story? The Daily Telegraph's ‘social experiment’ internally referred to as 'Undercover Jew' seemed to be trying to catch a moment of conflict that didn't arise between workers at an Egyptian cafe and a customer wearing Jewish symbols.  It's led to accusations of...

ACM, Australian Community Media, has announced that all 65 of its regional newspapers, including the Canberra Times and Newcastle Herald, will be reduced to weekly print runs over the next seven years. Tim and Viv look at the new initiatives springing up to keep local news alive. And government ad spending is spiking ahead of the election, what can be done about taxpayer money going to potential p...

The dismissals of Antoinette Lattouf from the ABC and Peter Lalor from SEN over social media posts on the Israel-Gaza war raise questions about how journalists separate the personal and professional in the modern world.  Where does opinion end and advocacy begin? Does a perception of bias lead to material bias in a journalist's work? And is it fair to expect journalists to maintain a social media...

ARN Media, owners of Gold and KIIS radio networks, made headlines this week when chair Hamish McLennan teased interest in buying Nine's talk stations 2GB and 3AW. At least that would be the plan, if it weren't for laws that prevent more "than two radio licences in the same licence area".  Tim and Viv talk to Hamish about consolidation in radio, Kyle & Jackie O's troubled national expansion, an...

Today presenter Alex Cullen has departed Nine after taking on a $50k challenge to help rebrand billionaire Adrian 'Lambo Guy' Portelli on air. There's a long history of hosts sneaking words onto television, but some dubious ethics in taking a tip for it. ABC Chief Content Officer Chris Oliver Taylor departs in a flurry of changes for the ABC. Tim and Viv break down the shifts and what it'll mean f...

Media — it's all around us; shaping our worldview, dictating how and what we see, hear and watch. So who are the media players and what do you need to know about how they operate? Each week media insiders Tim Burrowes and Vivienne Kelly dissect the stories and the story makers. Real-life succession battles, unfolding crises, what made the front page and why. Broadcast on ABC Radio National on Frid...