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Opinion | Features
Q&A with Adshel's Rob Atkinson
Online trading is the next big thing says Rob Atkinson in a piece that first appeared in Encore. Who is the most powerful person in Australian media and why?
Harold Mitchell because of his influence and the footprint he has left. He’s built a huge brand in Mitchells, offloaded it into Aegis, Aegis has obviously done extremely well to be then sold on to Dentsu. So if you think about it, he is very much a father figure of the industry.
Making it overseas
Is the best way of being successful in Australia not be here at all? In a feature that first appeared in Encore, Lee Zachariah speaks to Aussies making it big abroad.I always wanted to work in New York,” says Julian Cole. “I thought it was the number one place to work in advertising; a lot of the best campaigns were coming out of there. So I moved over and was lucky enough to have a couple of interviews in the first couple of weeks.”
Cole’s story is indicative of the somewhat contentious idea that the best way to be successful in Australia is to not be in Australia any more.
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.
Today Tonight saved
Today Tonight staffers are today celebrating after fighting off a serious executive push to drop the consumer affairs program.
Executive heads at Seven wanted to incorporate its content into a one hour news bulletin, which would have led to job losses of more than 50 in the national show’s staff.
But a senior producer at the program told Mumbrella today that TT would return to air on Monday, after a three week experiment by Seven of running a one hour news bulletin from 6pm.
“We’re not going anywhere,” the TT source said.
“We have been working hard and have stock-piled a heap of stories, and we will be all ready to go on Monday.”
The 6.30pm program was dropped by Seven during the bushfire crisis, but stories produced by Today Tonight staffers were included in the one hour bulletin.
Ten days ago a senior network executive told Mumbrella that TT’s future was up in the air.
The speculation came just as Seven hired former Ten newsreader Helen Kapalos to host the Sydney and Melbourne editions, while Sharon Gadhela will front the Brisbane version.
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Comments
4 Feb 13
1:45 pm
the stockpile of stories – I bet I can guess what they are
4 Feb 13
1:48 pm
Part of me is happy that people aren’t going to be losing their jobs, part of me is desperately sad that Today Tonight will continue to exist.
4 Feb 13
1:59 pm
I was very much looking forward to NOT having to argue with people who get their undisputed factual accounts from TT. A great day for sensationalist journalism.
4 Feb 13
2:06 pm
Awesome, now I’ll still have something mindlessly stupid to watch at the gym! Thanks Channel Seven!
4 Feb 13
2:09 pm
Helen’s very hot
4 Feb 13
2:27 pm
Have to admit; a good, strategic, emotive promo from 7!
4 Feb 13
2:39 pm
A stockpile of stories or a stockpile of cheap, loosely wallpapered infomercials.
4 Feb 13
2:40 pm
The promo for Helen Kapalos fronting TT in Melbourne is as overdone and parochially sickening as the current one for Sharon Ghidella fronting the news and current affairs hour on Seven in Brisbane. In fact the style and words are almost identical with the main difference being the location of Brisbane instead of Melbourne as the city where the host loves living. I suspect most audiences will see through the smog screen and not be fooled by the same diet of weight loss and consumer affairs presented in this time slot.
4 Feb 13
2:43 pm
wow thats a relief, i needed to watch the “great Aussie Pizza Challenge” before I made my purchase decision. To keep really up to date, I read Zoo magazine during the day, and then TT at night.!!!
4 Feb 13
2:53 pm
Yes, sad that TT is still on, but this outcome is actually the lesser of two evils: the phrase ‘Executive heads at Seven wanted to incorporate its content into a one hour news bulletin’ is an even more frightening prospect. @James: it would give those people just the ammo they need — “But I saw it on the news…”
4 Feb 13
3:08 pm
Sometimes it is just kinder to let things die.
4 Feb 13
3:21 pm
Phew, where else would I find the latest reviews on fake tan and push-up bras!
4 Feb 13
3:32 pm
yay – Today tonight, where people get ripped off for being stupid!
4 Feb 13
3:32 pm
Will they do a story about the fat cat big business executives trying to crush the little Aussie battler TV show?
4 Feb 13
3:37 pm
This is terribly sad news for Australian culture.
4 Feb 13
4:05 pm
Overweight, love-shark, dodgy contractor neighbours beware!
4 Feb 13
4:06 pm
So, Helen loves Melbourne. What’s that got to do with journalism?
4 Feb 13
4:27 pm
One day we might go to war. It is shows like Today Tonight that keep the potential soldiers warm and thus keep us safe!!
Come on, it is?!! The viewers are all working class, yet think Alan Jones and Tony Abbott are dead set legends…
Crazy world.
4 Feb 13
7:18 pm
Both TT and ACA need to update their content and be harder hitting. Maybe opportunity in election year
4 Feb 13
10:07 pm
RE the “stockpile of stories” we wont need to see them as ACA has already shown them!! Wouldnt it make sense to have Derryn Hinch front Today Tonight rather than Helen Kapolos. She is a newsreader not a journo and will lose badly to Tracy Grimshaw. What TT needs is Derryn Hinch.Why sign him on and thenWhat a load!!1
5 Feb 13
9:23 am
Darcy: what to ACA and TT have to do with journalism?
5 Feb 13
9:27 am
How would have OZ viewers coped without their daily diet of neighourhood disputes, cat trapped up a lamp post and stories of silly people stockpiling garbage in their front yards or in the house!!. Cheque book journalism is alive so people can ring up with boring yarns and have the 2 shows outbid each other, then 60 minutes swoop in and outdo them all
5 Feb 13
10:15 am
Truly shocking and tragic news.
5 Feb 13
10:54 am
Blimey:
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Naomi_Robson
5 Feb 13
12:43 pm
quality journalism-1: dole bludgers-0
5 Feb 13
2:05 pm
Wow, the hypocrisy of the comments here by people throwing rocks from fragile glass-houses is mind-blowing… below even the usual lack of courage of anonymous online critics.
6 Feb 13
11:48 am
@ Jim Shomos
Hi Jim. So you would argue that Today Tonight is an informative, neutral, quality and highly topical programme, oozing credibility, ethics and morals? A show of real pinnacle importance to our society?
I would be interested in hearing your point of view sir.
7 Feb 13
5:51 pm
Dear Mad Axeman,
You confirm one of my points by hiding behind this online name that doesn’t deserve an adjective. The other points you missed. I don’t watch public affairs TV shows. I do detest gutlless gutter-bitching, which is an unfortunate paradox of “social” media.
The TT team is brand new from top to bottom. We have no idea what the show will be like. You say the viewers are ALL working class as a put-down, yet you must be a regular viewer to justify your comments. If you aren’t you have no right to make the comments. Some of the smartest, highly successful and most unexpected women I know love reading “trashy mags”… I doubt your elitist guess on the audience for this type of show is anywhere near accurate. The only difference is I admit I’m not sure, rather than make an outrageous claim.
My other point is that few people in ad agencies and other marketing roles would be able to stand up to the lofty ideals preached by many of the commentators above – especially yours. Even if what you say about TT is true, all you are doing is mirroring that beahviour on this forum.
7 Feb 13
6:57 pm
Oh Jim… What are you!? An online Producer or a Researcher for TT? Can you not read THE LINES! Today Tonight has little credibility as a source of Journalism, and there would be few raised eyebrows if they announced Rebecca Brooks as the new host.
This whole thread has made me wonder what ever happened to the quality of 60 minutes? When did it start sliding into the quagmire of cheque-book journalism?