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Media trends digest – October 2006

Web numbers are a ‘crapshoot’ (31 October)
From the Online Publishers Association (OPA) in the USA: Is the web and its advertising the most trackable medium ever? Not exactly.
Despite the hype over the Internet being so trackable, the "dirty little secret of Silicon Valley is that no- one knows exactly who is going where on the Web," according to Business Week's Sarah Lacy.
All the third-party services such as comScore, Nielsen, Hitwise and Alexa have their weaknesses, and they rarely line up site traffic with the site's own internal servers.
Lacy believes the best hope for fixing this is for the big and small online ad players to work with measurement services to improve their offerings.
She also thinks new metrics such as time spent or a measurement that combines a set of factors might emerge. "Until that happens, though, the Internet will have to deal with the discrepancies," Lacy concluded. "And Web metrics, like company valuations, will remain a crapshoot.
" One example of the crapshoot nature of gauging traffic is the recent brouhaha over CNET's declining page views on comScore.
TechCrunch blogger Michael Arrington made a stink over it, noting that September 2006 traffic for CNET was 616 million page views vs. 1.37 billion in September 2005.
But the problem is that Arrington didn't mention that CNET had redesigned its pages "to streamline navigation to create better user views and reduce the number of page views per user," according to new CNET CEO Neil Ashe in a conference call.
While Arrington and others believe that independent tech blogs are eating into CNET's traffic, CNET VP Dan Farber countered that CNET and ZDNet have their own blogs that compete well with the independents. "There is no lock-in, big or small," he wrote.
Further reading: Business Week story; OPA site ; CNET

Good numbers but poor dollars for newspapers (31 October)
Also from the OPA: For online newspapers, there's good news and bad news.
The good news is that newspaper sites had record traffic in September, with 58 million unique readers, according to the NAA.
For the entire third quarter, readership was up almost 24% over Q3 2005. And time spent on newspaper sites is up 10.9% in Q3.
But the bad news is that monetizing that record traffic isn't going to pay off for newspaper companies for some time, according to Merrill Lynch analyst Lauren Rich Fine, who predicted it could take as long as 30 years for online revenues to hit 50% of all revenues at those companies.
Fine projected double-digit growth for online ad revenues through 2012, with print advertising declining 1.5% each year. "We are fearful the recovery coming out of the current downturn could be even more muted as online continues to transform the newspaper's most lucrative, and most cyclical category, classifieds," she wrote in her report.
Further reading: ClickZ report; NAA media release

ACMA to review new media content rules (28 October)
From the Feds: “The Australian Communications and Media Authority has been directed to commence its review into the local content requirements contained in the recent package of media reforms and report back by June next year, the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, announced today.” See this link for a PDF copy of the full release, which suggests that the legislation is unlikely to be proclaimed before the end of March next year.

Media factoids point to shifting future – Fairfax (28 October)
Fairfax CEO David Kirk (pictured) recently gave a speech to the National Press Club, in which he outlined the newspaper and online company's approach to the digital future. Here is part of what he said…
Consider the following raft of factoids:
As of last week, there were an estimated 35 million blogs on the internet, and 42,000
were added in the last 24 hours.
The English version of Wikipedia contains more than 1.4 million articles,  with users
making 85 million edits – or 14 per page – over the past 4 years.
In 2006, the world will take more than 100 billion photographs – or about 16 per
person.  More than 90% of the new cameras purchased today are digital.
The online retailer Amazon.com has a total inventory of 2.3 million books, compared
with the average of Barnes + Noble stock of 130,000.
Netflix has 25,000 DVDs.  Your neighbourhood Blockbuster has about 3,000.  Tower
Records has filed for bankruptcy.
There are 245,000 Indians working in call centres in India this morning, with great
deals for you on credit cards – only slightly less than the total number of people
working in Australia’s I C T industries.
What do these factoids tell us?  
In the media business, it’s very straightforward:
There are two iron laws of media:  Media always evolves.  And audiences always
fragment.  
This is the way we are.
The jazz great Miles Davis once remarked:  “If you’re not nervous, you’re not paying
attention.”
Media, and the management of change, are therefore synonymous.
(Click this link to see the full PDF version.)

Long wait for new ownership (26 October)
From The Australian today: New media laws may not come into effect until at least mid-2007 as numerous regulatory issues and questions on what new services can be offered remain unresolved. See this link.

Media freedom index released (25 October)
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders has released its annual review of press freedom. Australia scored a relatively poor 35th place, well behind New Zealand and the United Kingdom, but ahead of the United States.
“Unfortunately nothing has changed in the countries that are the worst predators of press freedom,” the organisation said, “and journalists in North Korea, Eritrea, Turkmenistan, Cuba, Burma and China are still risking their life or imprisonment for trying to keep us informed. These situations are extremely serious and it is urgent that leaders of these countries accept criticism and stop routinely cracking down on the media so harshly.
"Each year new countries in less-developed parts of the world move up the Index to positions above some European countries or the United States. This is good news and shows once again that, even though very poor, countries can be very observant of freedom of expression. Meanwhile the steady erosion of press freedom in the United States, France and Japan is extremely alarming,” Reporters Without Borders said.
See this link

Internet domain review announced (25 October)
From the Fed Govt: The Department for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts has released a discussion paper as part of a review into the structure and operation of the .au Internet domain.
The .au Internet domain operates under a self regulatory model, which has now been in place for over five years. In that time the Internet has grown significantly in both economic and social importance to Australians.
Public comment is sought on a range of issues including the administrative structure of the .au Internet domain, naming structures, policy development, competitiveness and cost effectiveness, international participation and emerging technical issues.
See this link

USA ownership debate (24 October)
The USA is currently undergoing a fierce debate over media ownership, similar to that currently going on in Australia. See our 224 October listing on the Benton page.

Iraqi comedy roasts the news (24 October)
From the NY Times via Benton: Nearly every night here for the past month, Iraqis weary of the tumult around them have been turning on the television to watch a wacky-looking man with a giant Afro wig and star-shaped glasses deliver the grim news of the day. The newscast is a parody that fires barbs at everyone from the American military to the Iraqi government, an Iraqi version of The Daily Show With Jon Stewart. Even the militias wreaking havoc on Iraq are lampooned. Debuting last month during Ramadan, while families gathered to break their fast after sundown, the show, Hurry Up, He’s Dead, became the talk of Baghdad, delighting and shocking audiences with its needling of anyone with a hand in Iraqis’ gloomy predicament today. The acerbic newscasts, each lasting about 20 minutes, are broadcast on Al Sharqiya, an Iraqi satellite station that has at times run afoul of the government for its regular news coverage. They are continuing through Id al-Fitr, the Muslim celebration for the end of Ramadan this week. Officials at the station are in discussions about turning the show into a weekly program. The show’s success is a testament to the gallows humor with which many Iraqis now view their lives -- still lacking basic services and plagued by unrelenting violence more than three years after the American-led invasion.
NY Times home; Story; The Daily Show; Al Sharqiya

How media reinforces race stereotypes (24 October)
From the Benton news service: The Ronald H Brown Center for Civil Rights and Economic Development at St John's University School of Law (USA) issued a comprehensive report entitled: Rethinking the Discourse on Race: A Symposium on How the Lack of Media Affects Social Justice and Policy. The report examines the lack of diversity in print and broadcast media in front of the camera, behind-the-camera, and in actual media content. It gives examples of how the coverage of racial minorities that does exist reinforces stereotypes and distorts images of these groups. Some of these stereotypes and distortions arise from structural, economic and cultural issues in media reporting. These media absences, distortions and stereotypes shape the discourse at the nexus of race and public policy. This Report will be published in an upcoming issue of the St John’s Journal of Legal Commentary.
Benton; Conference info; Journal website

How to evaluate the credibility of news (24 October)
From Editor & Publisher, via Benton: Since the Internet has created the opportunity for an infinite number of news outlets, the ability to distinguish news from gossip, and credibility from popularity, is an increasingly useful skill -- not only for journalists but for news consumers as well. In response, the newly created Stony Brook University School of Journalism in New York is offering a course in news literacy that will attempt to teach its students how to distinguish fact from fiction. Throughout the course, students analyze different media outlets, different types of stories, and different types of sources. Several classes are devoted entirely to Internet communications. With the guidance of journalism professors and media experts, students learn to identify quality journalism in all of these areas.
Editor & Publisher story

Women In Media (21 October)
From the Media Alliance: The Alliance and the Walkley Foundation will hold a Women in Media evening on Dec 5. Hosted by Julia Zemiro. Speakers include Gay Alcorn (deputy editor, The Age), Liz Deegan (editor of Queensland's Sunday Mail) and Heather Ewart (The 7.30 Report). To register call Lidija Ivanovski on 0411 757 690. Media Alliance web

Flogging a dead idea (19 October)
From the Online Publishers Assn in the USA: You can't fault them for trying, but you can fault them for their execution. Wal-Mart has been trying to get the whole Web 2.0 thing like a grandfather trying to do breakdancing. First, Wal-Mart tried its hand at a squeaky-clean social networking site called "The Hub," which was so, um, popular that it shut down by the time school was back in session.
Then it tried a "flog" (fake blog), by sponsoring a couple who was RV'ing around the US and staying in Wal-Mart parking lots. The blog, "Wal-Marting Across America," was ostensibly by two average American folks who just loved Wal-Mart and wanted to blog about how great it was. The problem? The couple was being funded by Working Families for Wal-Mart, a group hatched by Wal-Mart publicist Edelman. Plus, the male half of the couple is Jim Thresher, a staff photographer at the Washington Post, who was breaking ethics rules at the paper by accepting money from the group. Thresher had to return the funding and remove all his photos from the blog.
"This is so foolish on so many levels, it makes me scratch my head," corporate blogging consultant Debbie Weil told Media Post. "Everyone involved violated the basic rule: Be transparent. If you're found out, it comes back as a slap in the face." And who unmasked the identity of the RVers? Another blogger, who runs the Wal-Mart Watch blog, and keeps an eye on the big box store's maneuvers.
Washington Post report; Media Post report; Online Publishers Assn

Fast service demanded by Y-folk (19 October)
Also from the OPA: Who the heck is Generation Y, and why should you care? A flurry of recent research gives us more insight into the youngsters born between '82 and '00, their online habits, and the importance of reaching them. Nielsen//NetRatings found that 12-to-17-year-olds were flocking to networking-related sites, with the sites with the highest percentage of teen visitors being PLyrics, Snapvine and WhateverLife -- all offering tools for social networking sites.
Online marketer Kelly Mooney told USA Today that Gen Yers influence 81% of family apparel purchases and 52% of car buys. Plus, 14-to-24-year-olds will wait only three seconds for a web page to download before clicking away, and process website information five times faster than older generations.
More controversial were research results from comScore showing that the audiences of popular social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook were getting older. comScore reported that more than half of MySpace visitors were over age 35, up from 40% in that age group last year.
However, social researcher Danah Boyd refuted the study, saying the statistics only covered people who visited the site vs. actual registered users with profiles. Plus, she believes that comScore is measuring age based on the computer's owner rather than the person on it at the time of the visit, with teenagers commonly using parents' computers.
Media Post report; Information Week report

Deals made as ownership laws are passed (18 October)
Kerry Stokes’ Channel 7 has bought a $200 million (8.5%) interest in West Australian Newspapers, which is seen as a move to lock out other potential investors.
The PBL deal to sell 50% of its media interests to investment vehicle CVC (creating PBL Media) is all but confirmed. This raises speculation that PBL will expand its casino interests and will finally buy Fairfax. ABC Radio last reported that some wags refer to ACP (PBL’s magazine company) senior management as the Fairfax management-in-waiting. There is also speculation of potential deals with Telstra.
Meanwhile the Federal Government has rushed the new media ownership laws (which started the current jockeying) through parliament. They are expected to take effect early next year – a proclamation date has yet to be announced.
The laws have numerous critics, not least of which is Crikey.com.au, which today led its subscriber newsletter with this gem: “Unlike its other military engagements, the federal government’s war on journalism is making good progress. This week’s casualties include several battalions of the ABC’s pesky Left Wing critics, who have been forced back into their bunkers by some effective policy work from General Scott of the Ultimo command. Elsewhere, the persistence of Brigadier Coonan has produced swift results as waves of media owners sweep over the cross-media barriers, with sightings of several units of investment bankers in their wake.”
Crikey web site; PBL corporate (pictured)

PBL Media formed (17 October)
The media gossip network is working overtime as Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (which controls ACP, Channel Nine and ninemsn.com.au) suspended trading of its shares on the back of stories that 50% of its media business would be taken up by a consortium of equity trading companies. The suspension of trading is fact, but the details of who/what have bought in is still subject to speculation.
PBL-run internet site ninemsn reports tonight that, “The Nine (TV) Network, magazine business Australian Consolidated Press and ninemsn will form a separate company, half of which will be sold to a so far un-named private equity firm.
"’(Being private) is very important because they will be able to make moves on other media companies as a private business,’ said Harold Mitchell, chairman of the country's largest media agency.
“The new company, PBL Media, will have PBL chief executive John Alexander as executive chairman.”
Ninemsn also reports that interests in Fox, Foxtel, Hoyts and Seek.com.au will remain outside PBL Media.
Commentators like Mitchell see it as a move which will lead to the return to private rather than public ownership in a transaction said to be worth in the region of Au$4 billion. They say it will enable the firm to be lighter on its feet when it comes to making major decisions such as acquisitions when new cross-media ownership law comes into force.

ABC scores bias manager (17 October)
National public broadcaster the ABC has scored a senior manager, reporting directly to the chief executive, to handle accusations of bias and questions surrounding editorial balance. It’s difficult to tell whether this is a clever move that gives critics a target and diverts some of the heat away from reporters, or a case of giving a burning issue even more oxygen.
The new position is that of Director of ABC Editorial Polices and was announced yesterday by Managing Director Mark Scott (pictured). It was one of a raft of changes to the organisation’s editorial policies.
Perhaps most extraordinarily, the corporation now recognises editorial opinion as a separate category. This is something which has been regarded as part of the usual mix of editorial by other large media organizations, particularly those who have been most critical of the broadcaster.
The three key changes are, according to the ABC:
1. ABC Editorial Policies now require the ABC to be able to demonstrate impartiality at the platform level (i.e. the individual television or radio network, or on ABC Online) for opinion, topical and factual content. This means the ABC must provide its audiences a range of different perspectives on the subject under consideration.
2. A new content category called Opinion is being recognised within ABC content for the first time. This is content presented from a particular point of view about a matter of public contention. This content will be signposted and the requirement for impartiality will mean a range of views must be presented over time.
3. A new position, Director of ABC Editorial Polices will be created to report to the Managing Director in his role as Editor-in-Chief to provide independent assessment of editorial performance.
"These policies are the best means through which the ABC can in years ahead live up to both the trust that is placed in it, and the requirements of the ABC Act," Mr Scott said.
"Our journalists need to be able to undertake courageous journalism. Journalism that is fair, accurate, balanced and objective. To find the big stories and to hold those who seek to lead us: in government, in business, in trade unions, to account for the promises they have made and the truths they espouse.
The organisation’s staff union, the CPSU, is unimpressed. National Secretary Stephen Jones says ABC staff are tired of being dragged into the Howard Government's "increasingly hysterical" culture wars.
"Over the last few years, elements of the Howard Government have relentlessly attacked ABC staff for alleged left-wing bias and lack of balance. Yet every study into the issue - internal and external - has given the broadcaster a clean bill of health.
"ABC staff pride themselves on their professionalism, enthusiasm and integrity. While the Government may struggle with the concept of an independent ABC, the community certainly understands it. News polls consistently show that more than 80% of Australians value the national broadcaster.
"At a time when Australia is facing serious national issues including: a skills shortage, international instability, drought and deeply unpopular workplace laws, surely our national leaders have better things to do than pursue 'reds under the beds' at the national broadcaster," said Mr Jones.
Mr Scott last night gave a speech to the conservative think tank the Sydney Institute outlining the changes and the reasoning behind them.
Speech text; Sydney Institute podcast; Mark Scott info at Sourcewatch (Pic: ABC)

Papers far from dead – report (13 October)
From the Australian Press Council: "A ground-breaking content analysis revealed that Australian newspapers write shorter news reports, with fewer sources, than comparable American newspapers. 60 per cent of stories analysed were between 100 and 500 words; nearly 20 per cent had fewer than 100 words and were usually based on just one source," said the Chairman of the Australian Press Council, Professor Ken McKinnon, today, in launching the inaugural State of the News Print Media in Australia report.
For metropolitan dailies crime and federal politics are most frequently reported in the first five news pages. In regional newspapers, accidents/emergencies and local politics are the dominant subjects and, in Sunday newspapers, entertainment stories the most frequent. While conflict remains the dominant 'frame' for metropolitan newspapers, the regional press, with its greater emphasis on local issues, is more likely to stress problem-solving.
Professor McKinnon said that the report confirmed that newspaper companies are rapidly adapting to the challenges of the new technology, changing their newsrooms to encompass the Internet and reorganising the roles of journalists.
Overall circulation and readership numbers have been stable for the last two years. Some 54.6 per cent of the 16.4 million people over fifteen read weekday papers, rising to 65.5 per cent for Sunday newspapers, higher figures than the comparable American statistics. Newspaper internet news sites attract the most internet users.
"Claims of the imminent eclipse of newspapers are vastly exaggerated," he said.
See this link for the full report

Senate passes media bill (12 October)
The Senate has passed the new media laws, which now go to the House of Representatives – where the Government has a clear majority.
Despite a last-minute bid for alterations, Senator Barnaby Joyce voted with the Government.
Meanwhile alterations announced yesterday by Communications Minister Senator Coonan will cause some smaller stations to close, according to a report in The Australian newspaper. Tim Hughes, executive chairman of Macquarie Radio claimed that the cost of meeting the local content and news requirements would be greater than what some small stations earn.
The company predicts ten regional stations would close, with another six at risk.

Industry gossip (12 October)
OK! magazine is about to go weekly (it’s current monthly) and will joining a crowded market consisting of Who, NW and Famous.
News Ltd in Australia says it will be boosting its online business, with more attention being paid to mobile devices and local search business Truelocal.
The ANZ bank has withdrawn advertising from News Ltd papers and websites, worth around $-5 million after the Telegraph in Sydney accused if of shipping call centre jobs overseas, despite strong denials by the bank prior to publication.
Shop Til You Drop magazine is bucking industry trends by going for smaller page size in an effort to make the magazine a better fit in handbags.
Bloomberg is predicting that the new media laws will spark $6 billion-worth of takeovers – see this link.

British legal system shields journos (12 October)
From The Guardian: Britain's highest court handed a protective shield to investigative journalism yesterday, when it ruled in a landmark judgment that newspapers and broadcasters who act responsibly and who are reporting on stories of public importance need not fear libel actions.
Guardian home; Story

Media ownership package changes shape (11 October)
Communications Minister Senator Helen Coonan has changed the shape of the proposed new cross-media ownership rules. They are being debated in Federal Parliament this week.
A statement released yesterday said: “To ensure live and local content continues to flourish in rural and regional areas the Government will mandate a minimum of 12.5 minutes of local news on at least five days a week. It will also mandate minimum levels of local content to be broadcast. This will take effect following a review of local content.
“And to respond to concerns that the package may lead to an increase in concentration of ownership in the media industry, the Government will impose a two out of three rule in all markets in addition to the four/five voices test.
“This will prevent mergers of the three media platforms in a licence area – commercial radio, associated newspapers and commercial television – and restrict media mergers to no more than two of those group,” said the Minister.
The minister has also placed new conditions on the granting of new Channel B digital licences for mobile TV, which will be regulated by the ACCC.
Internet newspaper Crikey has lambasted the proposals, saying they still put too much power in too few hands. In an editorial directed at federal parliamentarians, and dissenting voice Senator Barnaby Joyce in particular, it says: “In thinking about that personal issue, Senator Joyce, please think about the current state of the media of influence in your home state of Queensland. A state where one media company owns the only statewide daily newspaper (870,000 readers), the only statewide Sunday newspaper (1,493,000 readers), almost all the suburban newspapers in Brisbane (850,000 readers), and the daily newspapers in the state’s big regional markets of the Gold Coast, Townsville and Cairns (274,000 readers). Your vote to allow dilution of cross-media rules will mean that, in addition to their existing audience of 3,487,000 readers, the same company will have the potential to own a statewide television network as well. How will that enhance the lives and rights of your constituents?”
Media company stocks have proven popular because of the prospect of mergers and take-overs, with those of Southern Cross Radio, Fairfax and Channel 7 experiencing rises. Meanwhile GetUP is running a campaign against the proposals at this link.
Crikey home page

Google buys YouTube (10 October)
Web search and rapidly-growing multimedia company Google has acquired the YouTube video sharing site for a nominal US$1.65 billion -- far more than most commentators expected. However the deal involves the transfer of shares rather than cash.
Anticipating a possible backlash from YouTube users, Google has been at pains to point out that YouTube (which is claimed to have an audience of 100 million) will be run by a separate management team. Google is increasingly suffering from what could be called be called Microsoft Syndrome, where its rapid expansion, sheer size and apparent tentacle in every possible media pie is beginning to result in the search company being perceived as invasive and potentially evil. It is certainly at odds with the folksy and laid-back image crafted by the company.
The YouTube deal will have skeptics wondering what is going on, as the video-sharing site was seen as having an under-developed business model with unclear income streams and potentially serious problems with copyright breaches because of the material that is online.
It has been vying for most popular status with another ‘community’ website, MySpace -- which is now owned by News Corp. Google recently signed a US$900 million long-term deal to control advertising on MySpace.
From the Google media announcement: "The YouTube team has built an exciting and powerful media platform that complements Google's mission to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful," said Eric Schmidt, Chief Executive Officer of Google.  "Our companies share similar values; we both always put our users first and are committed to innovating to improve their experience. Together, we are natural partners to offer a compelling media entertainment service to users, content owners and advertisers."
"Our community has played a vital role in changing the way that people consume media, creating a new clip culture. By joining forces with Google, we can benefit from its global reach and technology leadership to deliver a more comprehensive entertainment experience for our users and to create new opportunities for our partners," said Chad Hurley, CEO and Co-Founder of YouTube.  "I'm confident that with this partnership we'll have the flexibility and resources needed to pursue our goal of building the next-generation platform for serving media worldwide."
Google announcement; YouTube founders statement (video -- pictured); ZDNet commentary; Information Week story

Reporter’s death is sinister development (9 October)
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has described the killing in Moscow of Anna Politkovskaya, the Russian reporter who was a fierce critic of Russia’s war in Chechnya, as a “shocking outrage that will stun journalists across the world”.
It says the killing reflects a state of lawlessness that is threatening to overwhelm Russian journalism. The Federation has called on the government of President Vladimir Putin to act immediately to bring the killers to justice.
Politkovskaya was shot to death on Saturday. According to news reports, her body was found in the elevator in the building where she lived.
“The Russian authorities must carry out an urgent and intensive investigation. We need to know who killed our colleague and who ordered the attack in the first place,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary.
Russia’s government has in recent years been accused of attempting to poison journalists critical of its actions -- this latest incident, in which local police are the prime suspects, suggests a sinister new turn.
IFJ story

Telstra launches $1billion 3G network (6 October)
Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo (pictured) has launched the company’s $1 billion 3G wireless network just ahead of the opening of the sale of remaining government owned shares on Monday.
The company will be pitching the new network particularly hard at a younger demographic, promising movie and television downloads via mobile phones or laptops. The network claims to reach 98% of the country’s population (not its land surface) at broadband-like speeds.
Called Next G, the service promises:
• Watch 12 channels of FOXTEL exclusively on their NEXT G handset, including news, sport, wildlife documentaries, and children's programs, with more to come;
• Access Telstra's award winning BigPond Mobile service offering entertainment, news, and exclusive content including AFL, NRL, and V8 Supercars;
• Watch Warner Bros. classic movies and the BBC's best television programs on their PCs through the BigPond Movie Download service;
• Download a music track to both their mobile and computer in 1-click;
• And benefit from Telstra's 'locate me' technology which matches their location with their information request through Sensis services such as CitySearch, WhereIs, Trading Post and Yellow Mobile.
See this link for the full media release.

Senate committee supports new media bill (6 October)
The Senate committee inquiring into the proposed new media cross-ownership laws has come out in support of the bill, though some members have produced a dissenting report.
Considerable debate has surrounded the proposals, which would loosen current ownership restrictions. There was also concern over the very short time-line (two sitting days) allowed the committee. The laws go before parliament next week and seem like to be in for a rocky time, with opposition members and some coalition representatives (particularly from the National party) against the plan.
Its report can be found at this Senate link.

Howard plays favourites at Quadrant anniversary (5 October, 2006)
Politically correct, left-wing “communist apologists” really get John Howard’s goat. That was the message conveyed in his speech at the 50th anniversary of Quadrant magazine as he took a swipe at the pinko leftie intelligentsia. Click here to read the full opinion piece by Leah Craven.

Media reform or media monopoly? (5 October)
Media reform – a threat to media diversity or a vision for the future? It depends on who you ask. Paul Tatnell has a look at the reaction to Federal Communication Minister Helen Coonan’s proposed media reforms as ex-Prime Ministers, journalists and academics take aim. (See this link for the full story.)
Note: The Senate will tomorrow release its review on the proposals.

The greatness that wasn’t Rome (5 October)
(Opinion) HBO’s historical drama Rome has quietly disappeared from the TV screen after opening with considerable fanfare two weeks ago.
The series seemed to offer history delivered to your armchair, told as a thrilling narrative. But it didn’t take long for the narrative to wander way off track. Weren’t the real events exciting enough? (By Ophelia Keys) Click here to read the full story.

Bulletin gets serious about web (4 October)
Australia’s oldest magazine, the Bulletin, has opened a new website today, replacing the previous relatively token effort.
The new site has some web-specific features not seen in the print magazine, such as photo galleries and daily news. See this link.

Coonan highlights case for change (3 October)
Communications Minster Senator Helen Coonan has again stated her case for change to cross media ownership rules, this time at a Millenium Forum in Sydney.
She said, in part: “You only have to look at recent announcements such as those made by Google to see the looming challenges for the media industry. Google Video Australia will draw content from its global video service but it will also distribute short and long-form media from local providers such as the ABC, Network 10 and Fairfax Digital.
“Google has also formed partnerships with the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, Film Australia and Sony BMG. This is the way of the future - where the focus is on finding new distribution channels for content and harnessing the distribution power of mediums such as the Internet.
“Why? Because, if you reflect for a moment, the pressures are coming from all angles. For instance, media players are now facing even more competition from amateur content. These days young people are more interested in creating their own content and showing it on forums such as YouTube than just taking what is on offer on traditional television.
“When a young Tasmanian girl called Emmalina can have her video watched by 187,000 people in a day and a rapping teen from the suburbs of Brisbane called Caitlin Hill can have a video that has been watched more than four million times, you can begin to understand the challenge for traditional media.
“You Tube is now reportedly being eyed off by everyone from News Corp to Viacom and Disney with a reported $1.5 billion price tag. If the price is true, then this is testament to its sheer market power.”
Click here to see the full speech (PDF file)

Piracy cost greater than thought – report (1 October)
From the Washington Post, via Benton: The Institute for Policy Innovation, founded by former Republican congressman Richard K Armey, is to present a study today at a US Chamber of Commerce conference where NBC Universal chief executive Bob Wright will speak. The study says the economic impact of illegal DVD and Internet film distribution may be as much as three times what was previously estimated. The new estimate is that movie piracy causes a total lost output for U.S. industries of $20.5 billion per year, thwarts the creation of about 140,000 jobs and accounts for more than $800 million in lost tax revenue. The movie industry continues to vigorously combat both DVD and Internet piracy of its films domestically and overseas, urging foreign governments to crack down on illegal DVD factories and toughen laws on Internet file-sharing.
Washington Post home; Story; Benton news

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