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Opinion | Features
Got a book in you?
From journos to ad execs and PRs, these days everyone seems to have a book in them. But what does it take to get published and will you actually make any money? In a feature that first appeared in Encore, Brooke Hemphill finds out.Attention wannabe authors. Forget big fat advance cheques and living off royalties. The reality of having a book published today is another story altogether. There are only two reasons you should even consider sitting down at your computer to bash out a manuscript – passion or profile.
Savage counsel
In an article that first appeared in Encore, Chris Savage tackles your career and agency dilemmas in his weekly advice column.Hi Chris,
My clients seem to be demanding more and more from us. At the same time, it seems many of the younger people in our industry simply don’t have the client servicing skills my generation grew up with. How do we instill in our executives some of the good old-fashioned behaviours that would keep a client happy and loyal?
Fake it til' you make it... as an ad agency receptionist
From dressing the part to playing the gatekeeper, Leo Burnett Sydney’s Susie Henry tells us how to make it as the face of adland in a piece that first appeared in Encore.What does a receptionist in an ad agency actually do?
Well, there’s the frantic every-day, all-day stuff of deliveries, courier bookings, doing expenses for directors – always challenging – plus arranging all the travel. But one of my main jobs is counselling the account service people. I also keep up with all sports information to discuss with our sports-loving clients – because who wants to be bored while they’re waiting? And I know how they like their coffee. You need to know everyone – from accounting to HR. I’m also the go-to for all catering and sending flowers.
Whose views skew the news? Media chiefs ready to vote out Labor, while reporters lean left
Most journalists lean left-of-centre, says Folker Hanusch of the University of the Sunshine Coast, in a post first published on The Conversation.Most Australian journalists describe themselves as left-wing, yet amongst those who wield the real power in the country’s newsrooms, the Coalition holds a winning lead.
But while the media’s political leanings will no doubt be debated in the lead-up to September’s federal election, our study has also found other largely unscrutinised biases remain – particularly whose views disproportionately shape the news.
It's time for a new New Wave in the film world
Government funding bodies are lazy and decadent, says industry veteran Michael Thornhill but in a piece that first appeared in Encore, Ed Gibbs begs to differ.I vividly remember the time I first saw Animal Kingdom, David Michod’s breathtaking labour-of-love feature debut. The press screening was half empty, despite the film winning the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance just months earlier, in 2010. Yet its superb performances, stylistic flourishes and overall polish left me speechless. Could this really be a feature debut, an Australian one at that, I wondered, almost out loud? It seemed too good to be true.
Going cold turkey on an agency addiction
Life is sweet for freelance writer Max Kitchen, but in a feature that first appeared in Encore, he admits his struggle against returning to the agency fold.I’ve never taken heroin. But I suspect if I had, the temptation to try it again would not be too dissimilar to the lure of returning to agency life.
Can sport save Ten?
First there was the Grand Prix. Next came the reported $500m bid for cricket rights, then Ten secured the 2014 winter Olympics. So, can sport save the ailing network? In a feature that first appeared in Encore, Nic Christensen investigates.The television sports rights bidding process is a bit like a game of poker.
Check, fold or bet. Those were the options for the Ten Network last week when it had to finalise its bid for the cricket rights.
Andy Lark: good for the marketing of marketing
I can still remember the first story I wrote about Andy Lark, when it emerged that he was to be the new chief marketing officer of CommBank.
It was immediately clear that Australia was about to meet an interesting marketer, one who blogged and tweeted and thanks to his time at Dell in the US was digitally savvy. Even two years ago, that was a big deal. The fact that he also had a stint in public relations gave him an absolutely intriguing background before he even arrived.
Storming the media barricades - advice for young journalists
This week Mumbrella’s Nic Christensen, who began his career four years ago, gave the keynote address to would-be journalists at the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance’s Student Day. This is an edited version of his speech.Good afternoon, I can remember distinctly the last time I was in this room.
It was 2009 and I was sitting where you are. I’d come to this event, a friend and myself — from memory we sat up the back — and I can remember at the time wondering if I’d ever get a job as a journalist.
It was only four years ago and then as now getting a job was ultra competitive but I’m not sure there was quite as much media ‘doom and gloom’ as there is now…
Paywalls will help fund campaigning journalism
In this guest post, News Limited’s group editorial director Campbell Reid responds to the views of ninemsn’s Hal Crawford that the company’s push into metered paywalls is about data rather than dollars.Hal Crawford is both right and wrong in his article which argued that our digital subscription plans are all about the data.
Fake it 'til you make it... as a features editor
Cosmo’s Kate Leaver tells us how to bluff it in her job in a feature that first appeared in Encore.What do you do, as a features editor?
Really, play with words and ideas all day. At any one time, we’re working across three issues of the mag – getting one on its way to the printers, pooling all the words together for another, and planning the issue after that. It’s busy but it’s a pretty magnificent process.
Savage counsel - JFDI
Hi Chris,I run a medium-sized agency that is doing pretty well. As the leader, I am finding my workload just seems to go up and up. I am struggling to stay motivated and particularly to tackle the bigger and tougher challenges I have to face every day. How do I keep up the energy when there just seems so much to do? How do you do it?
Productive, successful executives are those able to consistently tackle difficult and big challenges. It’s a constant struggle for me so I know how you feel. How do the successful leaders do it?
Q&A with Brett Clegg
Brett Clegg, group director – business media, Fairfax Media, in a Q&A that first appeared in Encore, on the journo who refuses to work with him – his wife.Who is the most powerful person in Australian media and why?
Hard to go past Rupert Murdoch. He controls the single largest and most diverse portfolio and is intent on leveraging its scale (and, of course, influence). He’s an innovator and his will to win is obvious to all.
The experiential experience
Anyone can throw up a tent in a high-traffic area and harass the general public, but what does it take to pull off an effective experiential event? In a piece that first appeared in Encore, Matt Smith investigates.A television commercial can easily be muted and ignored, but try ignoring a purring, squirming cat in your arms. That was the experience awaiting passers by in Sydney’s Martin Place in October last year when Mars Petcare built Whiskas Kitten Palace.
The News Limited paywall isn't about revenue. It's about data
In this guest post, ninemsn’s editor in chief Hal Crawford argues Fairfax Media and News Limited’s new paywalls won’t draw much revenue, but will generate data. And they’re late to the data party.When I first learned that ninemsn’s major digital competitors Fairfax and News Ltd were going to introduce paywalls across their mainstream properties, I was excited.
Every obstacle thrown in the way of their audiences is an opportunity. People hate friction and anything that makes life difficult on a rival site is a chance to get them on yours.
Howzat tops 2m for Nine
Southern Star’s high quality retelling of Kerry Packer’s creation of World Series Cricket stormed to ratings of 2.097m on Sunday night.
Howzat! Kerry Packer’s War – telling how the late Nine owner shook up the sporting establishment – was the most watched show of Sunday by a long way, according to preliminary overnight metro ratings from OzTam.
Nine’s Big Brother performed solidly with an audience of 1.365m for its first live episode.
Ten’s series final of MasterChef All Stars rated 1.05m for the winner announcement, while the rest of the show averaged 802,000.
However, there now seems to be little hope for Ten’s Everybody Dance Now after the first shortened, reworked episode of the dance contest rated just 385,000.
Seven’s reworking of old Kath & Kim episodes as The Souvenir Editions rated 909,000.
In channel share Nine held a strong 32.9% to win the night with Seven behind on 18.9%, ABC1 third on 12.1%, Ten on 10.9% and SBS1 on 4.8%.
In the battle for breakfast television, weekend edition, Weekend Sunrise rated 333,000 ahead of Today on 293,000.
Sunday’s Top 15 programs
1. Howzat! – Nine 2.097m
2. Seven News – Seven 1.513m
3. 60 Minutes – Nine 1.512m
4. Nine News – Nine 1.402m
5. Big Brother – Nine 1.365m
6. Sunday Night – Seven 1.289m
7. Masterchef – Winner Announcement – Ten 1.050m
8. Kath and Kim – Seven 0.909m
9. ABC News – ABC 0.822m
10. Grand Designs – ABC 0.809m
11. Masterchef – Final – Ten 0.802m
12. Dream Build – ABC 0.744m
13. Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple – ABC 0.670m
14. Criminal Minds – Episode 1 – Seven 0.629m
15. The Mentalist – Nine 0.510m
Sunday’s channel share
Nine: 32.9%
Seven: 18.9%
ABC1: 12.1%
Ten: 10.9%
SBS1: 4.8%
7mate: 3.8%
GO!: 3.2%
7TWO 2.8%
One: 2.5%
Eleven: 2.5%
Gem: 1.9%
ABC2: 1.4%
ABC News 24: 0.8%
SBS2: 0.8%
ABC3: 0.7%
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Comments
20 Aug 12
9:13 am
Everybody Dance Now – just 385,000 !
That’s even after a page 5 Sunday Telegraph advertorial by the Murdoch’s.
Oh well – back to the drawing board.
20 Aug 12
9:34 am
Howzat was actually a really good show, good writing, great acting, well done Ch9.
20 Aug 12
9:53 am
I’m interested, anyone got a torrent?
20 Aug 12
10:20 am
Howzat was a bloody rippa! Onya nine.
20 Aug 12
10:42 am
I really enjoyed every aspect of Howzat, that’s exactly the kind of stuff I want to watch on Sunday evening..
20 Aug 12
10:43 am
HOWZAT great show & insight into what most of us took for granted.
Interesting how much they pushed the eating aspect tho…
20 Aug 12
10:54 am
What a fantastic show – can’t wait for next week and more from Southern Star/Nine
20 Aug 12
10:54 am
Great Aussie drama. Cannot wait for part 2 next week!
20 Aug 12
11:02 am
Nice to see the costume department at Nine being efficient in rehashing the same looks for the original underbelly, the Ita buttrose thing & now this. How many Packer shows can Ch9 do?! They’ve obviously decided on a certain formula for their drama’s, & they’re certainly sticking to it. Good show, but lacking any real creativity/uniqueness
20 Aug 12
11:40 am
@Grim Reaper – the “Ita Buttrose” thing was on the ABC, and the original Underbelly was set in the last decade in Melbourne – hardly a rehashing of anything….
20 Aug 12
12:16 pm
@Ben… Well said.
20 Aug 12
12:37 pm
Brilliant Aussie TV, Aussie Film industry, please take note, of recent times, you quality has paled in comparison (excluding reality TV crap).
The only very minor critique? We worked out which one was Doug Walters, you didnt have to have a cigarette in his mouth in EVERY scene he was in. We get it, he smoked, done.
20 Aug 12
1:02 pm
As Kerry would have said: “it was a f–king great show.”
20 Aug 12
1:13 pm
Does anyone else see the irony with Howzat being a ratings blockbuster?
For decades Kerry Packer was a harsh and active opponent of Australian drama – only screening the bare minimum as required by the regulators, often in unimportant timeslots and with “plan to fail” budgets, development and production schedules etc.
He was happy for Seven to be the home of drama, focussing instead on richly-resourced news and current affairs and, of course, sport.
Now he’s the central character of one of the biggest Australian drama smash hits of the year. It’s poetic!
20 Aug 12
1:18 pm
My goodness, I watched it for five minutes and was bored out my brain…so turned it off and read a book.
20 Aug 12
1:20 pm
Ben, the Ita show on the ABC was enjoyable, the show last night was not enjoyable (for me).
20 Aug 12
1:22 pm
Excellent show with some great actors, fun soundtrack and retro styling. Every show needs a hero so you can understand the need for a “strong but sensitive” KP. No Goanna references here. Reminiscent of Bodyline in resurrecting the old stereotype of brave, down-to-earth Aussies fighting the entrenched power system of Mother England. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) Was also interesting to bring back memories of one-camera cricket with half the coverage showing “the batsman’s arse”.
20 Aug 12
1:26 pm
http://catchup.ninemsn.com.au/.....packerswar
20 Aug 12
1:45 pm
What do you know, good Aussie drama with great talent, scheduled well and promoted well – rates!
Good for them. Glad to see programming that isnt about a bunch of talentless bogans cooking, dancing, locked in house together, renovating house, singing, or largely doing stupid shit that no one with an IQ above 27 has any interested in seeing.
Will be watching next week.
20 Aug 12
1:57 pm
Um, OK Carole, good to hear….?
20 Aug 12
1:59 pm
I tried to watch it after the Masterchef finale but fell asleep halfway. Too much “Kerry” barking at everyone, cba.
20 Aug 12
2:18 pm
@Carole Goldsmith, thanks for sharing. Your loss.
20 Aug 12
2:52 pm
Tim, Howzat, all about cricket and lots of F words from chain smoking Packer…
not my cup of tea – boring and offensive to me.
20 Aug 12
2:57 pm
Well done to all involved – the recreation of the original WSC opening titles was a triumph! Shame about so many ad breaks – segments were getting down towards 6 minutes by the end, but that’s modern commercial television for you.
No doubt execs are pacing the floor today thinking of other Packer story lines. His selling the network to Alan Bond and then buying it back for a song would be a ripper!
20 Aug 12
3:06 pm
Personally, I like that ‘Rhonda’ made an appearance in Howzat also.
20 Aug 12
3:42 pm
How can they get away with all the smoking in the show? Surely that should be banned.
20 Aug 12
3:48 pm
Seems the cast of Offspring can’t put a foot wrong.
20 Aug 12
4:43 pm
Yeah, your’e right Carole. And the swearing. And the cricket. Let’s not make a true life drama anything like the real thing
20 Aug 12
4:50 pm
Great stuff.one of the most outstanding Dramas on TV. Loved it. Pity it’s only two episodes. Well done Nine!
20 Aug 12
5:41 pm
Jesus, Carole, what else did you want removed? Drinking beer? Girls in bikinis by the pool? Grow up! It’s not the 1950s anymore in Peyton Place!
20 Aug 12
7:51 pm
Carole you seem to be outnumbered.Let the boys have their fun. It was a blokey program anyway.
20 Aug 12
7:54 pm
I am watching X Factor as I write this. Will be interesting to see how it rates. Lots of young great talent on show. Surely people will prefer this over some smoking, cursing drama??? But then again-maybe not.
21 Aug 12
10:11 am
Carole, it’s set in the ’70s, FFS. People smoked back then. Packer swore, but he was a revolutionary. It’s a story well worth retelling. And it’s not just about cricket, either. Two million-plus viewers can’t be wrong. You, on the other hand, are. Best Australian production since Chopper – I bet you hated that too? Go back to your safe, conservative little encasing.
21 Aug 12
1:18 pm
Devlin, I bet you work in your safe little world and office in Sydney or somewhere and never venture out.
I work across Japan, China, Kore and Vietnam – You take the challenge and get out of your own little box and learn from the world instead of watching shows with swearing and smoking from 40 years ago and critisising others who have better things to do with their time. .
21 Aug 12
1:40 pm
@Carole….you obviously have nothing better to do than troll
22 Aug 12
11:32 am
@Carole: I fail to see how working across Asia has anything to do with the argument that you’re a conservative troll who can’t appreciate a seriously good Australian period piece. What other motive would you have to get on here and say how it ‘bored’ and ‘offended’ you (they smoke AND swear, ohmygosh), other than to disagree for disagreement’s sake, or attempt to piss people off? Now, get your self-important ass back to Vietnam and stay there.
22 Aug 12
12:12 pm
So what’s next. I reckon Centre bet could have book running.. I would put Money on
“Plastic Fantastic. Allan Bonds Cup” Bought to you by Mastercard”
“Marbella and Bust. The Christopher Skase story bought to You by Wikileaks”
C’mon sure we can another five ideas by COB!!!