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Opinion
After Harold
The ‘Harold rumour’ rarely goes away.
Last time round WPP was rumoured to be looking at buying Mitchell Communication Group. On another occasion one of the trade magazines hoaxed a rival into reporting that Telstra was the buyer.
This time, the rumour appears to have a great deal more substance. Read more »
Intelligent TV – the next big thing?
I was, I must confess, mistaken about last night’s Gruen Nation. Read more »
Masterchef: Homophobic? No. Racist? No. Ageist? Maybe
In this guest posting, Tactical TV’s Tony Richardson argues that Masterchef shows Australian TV audiences are ready for multiculturalism but not older faces
When the popularity of a TV show bumps the prime minister and the leader of the opposition to an earlier time slot, you know you have a phenomenon. Read more »
Bad enough the SMH iPad app is just a PDF, forcing a print subscription is insane
So yesterday Fairfax launched its Sydney Morning Herald iPad app. The strategy – designed to shore up print – and the execution – already derided by users as a “glorifed PDF reader” – are both laughable.
If there were ever doubts that Fairfax is two companies pulling in different directions, then the handling of the iPad app dispels them. Read more »
Is a kettle boiling a good ad?
So would you watch a kettle boiling? The weekend magazines carriedied an unusual ad.It was a plain, unbranded address for the url Life is too short.com.au. Read more »
Guest post: Why Sensis believes in the cause
After Mumbrella criticised the Facebook campaign by Sensis to give socks to the homeless, we invited the brand to explain its thinking. In this guest posting, Sensis communications manager Danielle Horan explains the background to the idea
The debate about the intention behind the Sensis 1234 Warm Up campaign certainly unearthed a range of differing opinions. Read more »
Hungry Jack’s – something to sing about
I often enjoy giving the Hungry Jack’s ads a kicking, so it’s good to see a new one where there’s an interesting idea. Read more »
The big election question
As an occasional media commentator, I’m sometimes asked: ‘Tell me Tim. Given that politicians want to engage the electorate beyond the hardcore politics junkies, would it be a good idea to schedule the leaders’ debate at the exact same time as the final of Masterchef, arguably Australia’s favourite TV programme and likely to be the most watched show of the year?” Read more »
Why this is NOT the Twitter election
If you read the last few days’ papers, you would think that the Twitterati will decide the outcome of the election. Read more »
Paging the fun police
While any brand has to worry about the legal implications of running a contest, there does come a point where the entire thing looks so unappealing it may be worth going back to the drawing board. Read more »
Oh PETA
This ad is a tough watch.
If you don’t want to see seals being clubbed, then don’t watch. Read more »
Sensis – social responsibility isn’t about patronising the needy about their socks
I wish I could put my finger on what it is that makes this social issues campaign for Sensis feel so icky: Read more »
Old Spice: Best use of social media yet?
Today has been a good day. You know those very rare moments where you see an advertising idea and you can recognise not only how good it is, but how it’s going to inspire other great work? What Old Spice did next is one of those moments.It combines great advertising, great writing, a huge PR idea and excellent use of social media as a two-way channel. Read more »
If that’s how paywalls work then we’re utterly flipping screwed
So tonight, for the first time, I went behind Fairfax Media’s pay wall.
Based on that experience, if the future of journalism is paid content then every one of us working hacks is utterly screwed. Read more »
Media Watch picks an odd target
I’ve got a nasty feeling I’ve finally gone native.
Much like Stockholm Syndrome where kidnap victims come to adore their captors, journalists have always been susceptible to a similar syndrome. Read more »
SBS: Wiqqity wiqqity indeed
The typical SBS consumer is, one suspects, relatively mild-mannered.
So if they were to click on a link tweeted by @SBSnews saying: “US govt sues Arizona over state’s controversial immigration law, saying it crosses a constitutional line” they probably would not expect to land on a random Twitter page with the following status update: Read more »
The analogue TV switch-off begins
This morning the Mildura/Sunraysia because the first Australian region to make the switch from analog to digital television.
Fairfax and content theft
There’s a heart-warming tale currently running on smh.com.au about a bunch of (presumably) hard-up actors who’ve hit the YouTube jackpot.
So it’s a shame that Fairfax appears to be stealing from them. Read more »
Are you, like Stephen Conroy, terrified of evil creeping into your home through ‘The Portal’? Help is at hand
By now, most folk will be aware of media minister Stephen Conroy’s terror of the internet, and in particular, his fear of “spams and scams coming through the portal”.
Happily, there is a solution – the Portector:
SMH joins the Google privacy fight – a month late
Here’s a very odd thing. Remember how, just over a month ago, Google admitted that its Streetview cars had also been capturing wifi data? Read more »
Communications Minister denies vendetta against Google
Conroy denies vendetta against Google
ABC News
Stephen Conroy: Our sneering, sarcastic, patronising, grudge-bearing minister for filtering the internet
This week, I spent longer inside the mind of media minister Stephen Conroy than I would necessarily recommend. Read more »
Mumbrellacast: Conroy beats up Google; The iPadstralian; 3D mystery; internet TV
In this week’s Mumbrellacast:
- Conroy goes medieval on Google and Facebook
- For the love of the iPad
- 3D fever
- Best football ads
- Google TV Read more »
How soon is ’soon’?
There were many gems buried in the transcripts from Monday’s grilling by the Senate Estimates Committee of Stephen Conroy. But nothing could match his attempts to define what the word “soon” means.
It came as he attempted to avoid answering questions over delays in the government’s long-awaited review of TV sport’s so called anti-siphoning list, which defines which events cannot be sold to subscription television. Read more »
Stephen Conroy: Rupert Murdoch’s wisdom made me give all that money to the free TV networks
Stephen Conroy has cited Rupert Murdoch’s public comments about the economics of television as one of the reasons he decided to give Australia’s TV networks a multi-million dollar discount on their licences.
When the announcement was made in February that the networks were getting the unexpected discounts, amounting to more than $200m, the Government cited a need to guarantee local content as the reason for giving free TV the leg-up.
The decision to give free TV the money created a furore, particularly in the pages of Murdoch’s News Ltd papers and from pay TV player Foxtel, in which Murdoch’s News Corp is a quarter owner. Foxtel has not received any similar government subsidies.
But in newly published transcripts from this week’s Senate Estimates Committee, Conroy said that although he has never met him, Rupert Murdoch’s views influenced him to hand over the money. Read more »
Conroy transcript shows depth of attack on Google ‘hypocrites’ and ‘rogue’ Facebook
The extent of media minister Stephen Conroy’s wide-ranging attack on Google and Facebook today emerged with the publication of Hansard transcripts of his comments at Monday night’s Senate Estimates Committee hearing.
As previously reported, Conroy attacked Google and Facebook for privacy breaches. Read more »
That’s democracy: 93% prefer internet life under a profit-sucking behemoth to Conroyland
You may recall that yesterday, media minister Stephen Conroy opened fire on Facebook, asking the question: Read more »
Stephen Conroy: Who do you want in charge of the internet – Facebook or me?
Media minister Stephen Conroy has turned his fire on Facebook, suggesting that he is better placed to protect internet users than the social networking site. He also said that Google’s boss is “creepy”. Read more »
Foxtel’s Kim Williams hits out at ‘bone-headed protectionists’
Foxtel boss Kim Williams has renewed his attack on the government’s special treatment of the free-to-air television industry. Read more »
Telstra agency created fake blog, video and music track to promote Trading Post relaunch
Ad agency BWM attempted to promote the Trading Post website through a fake blog and video in a breach of owner Telstra’s own published policies on social media engagement, Mumbrella can reveal.
The fake social media campaign was to tie in with an advertising campaign for Trading Post featuring a talking goat that said “Bargain” and frog that said “Reckon”.
But the campaign – which took place at the beginning of the year – did not find an audience. It only came to light yesterday after BWM uploaded a case study to its own YouTube channel.
Save us from democracy, Mr Conroy
While some foolish folk may have thought that media minister Stephen Conroy’s obsession with filtering the internet was a tad misjudged, he may not be as alone as we thought.
As this marvelous video from Cleanternet makes clear. It’s time to help the victims of criticism, political opposition, democracy and freedom of speech.
(Hat-tip: b3ta.com)
Nine to broadcast State of Origin in 3D
The Nine Network has revealed this year’s State of Origin series will be the first Australian sporting event to be broadcast in 3D on a free-to-air network. Read more »
Stokes: Too busy skiing to talk shop
What was said between Seven owner Kerry Stokes and communications minister Stephen Conroy on the ski slopes of Colorado was again the subject of discussion at a media briefing today.
But if reporters expected to gain any juicy tidbits from Stokes who was announcing Seven’s merger with WesTrac Holdings, they were sorely disappointed. Apparently, he was too busy skiing. Read more »
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In today’s Mumbo Report from Studio 33:
- AWARD chairman Craig Davis on the importance of being a dysfunctional creative;
- Good Weekend columnist Mark Dapin on why Alan Jones is the most powerful person in Australian media.
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