Mumbrellacast: Indie publishers unfriend Meta, plus Henry Innis and Matt Farrugia
On this week's Mumbrellacast, Emma Shepherd, Anna Macdonald, and director and publisher of Broadsheet, Nick Shelton join host Calum Jaspan to discuss the #WaitingOnZuck campaign, plus a conversation with Mutiny's Henry Innis and Matt Farrugia.
On Tuesday, more than 30 independent publishers took part in a publishing freeze in response to Meta’s refusal to come back to the negotiating table and play ball over commercial agreements. The campaign, #WaitingOnZuck aimed to “let the world know” that small and medium-sized publishers are waiting on the platform to pay for content on that appears on Facebook. Publisher and director of Broadsheet Media, Nick Shelton joins the podcast to discuss its role in the campaign, what it expects from Meta and why the platform being able to pick the “winners and losers” of the Australian mediascape is worrying.
In part two, founders and managing partners of SaaS platform Mutiny, Henry Innis and Matt Farrugia join the podcast. The pair discuss the company’s progress to date, why they are in it for the long haul, their vision to optimise and make the industry better, and why their proprietary product, WarChest is giving marketers more firepower in the boardroom showing the value of advertising to the bottom line.
Episode breakdown
- Nick Shelton joins to discuss independent publishers pushing back against Meta (01:06 )
- Interview with Mutiny’s Henry Innis and Matt Farrugia (16:12)
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Calum Jaspan was news editor at Mumbrella, based in Melbourne. He was also the producer and host of the Mumbrellacast. He left Mumbrella in May 2023.
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topics
Broadsheet Media
Decade of Action
Facebook
facebook news fund
henry innis
Matt Farrugia
Meta
Mumbrellacast
Mutiny
Nick Shelton
waitingonzuck
Warchest
The Public Interest Journalism Initiative define public interest journalism as:
“Journalism with the primary purpose of recording, investigating and explaining issues of public significance in order to engage citizens in public debate and inform democratic decision making at all levels of government”.
The likes of Broadsheet, Concrete Playground, Brag Media, Time Out, and others, are clearly not providing public interest journalism on a consistent and frequent basis. Honestly, it shouldn’t be any disagreement about this? Are they consistently and frequently reporting on “issues of public significance”? No! Are they “engaging citizens in public debate and democratic decision making at all levels of government”? No!
On Wikipedia, Broadsheet is described as “Broadsheet is an Australian mostly online city guide and culture magazine, founded by Nick Shelton in October 2009 and as of 2021 still run by him. The website covers news related to food and drink, fashion, art and design, entertainment, and health and fitness. It also has an extensive directory of cafes, restaurants, bars and shops which contains imagery and short descriptions of each venue”.
On Broadsheet’s own website it refers to its business as “Through breaking news, features, event guides and insight from industry experts, Broadsheet is the authority on the cultural life of your city…..” and “On Broadsheet you’ll find daily coverage of the most talked-about openings and big-ticket events alongside the emerging, the lesser-known, and the people, businesses and movements that may have been overlooked, but are no less worthy of your attention. We’ll keep you across the simple must-haves, too – what’s worth seeing in the galleries, or where’s the best place in town to buy a tailored suit. We’re excited about the cities we cover. New shops, bars and restaurants continue to open, festivals pop-up every other week and decision-makers take our culture seriously.” This is not public interest journalism as Public Interest Journalism Initiative defines it. Sure, the public is interested in this type of journalism, but it is not public-interest-journalism.
I don’t like Google and Meta getting stronger and/or independent publishers missing out on opportunities, but what’s the point of this fight if you don’t even understand the meaning of the key definition. It’s almost a bit embarrassing even. So despite claiming it’s not, it seems to me that this is a money-grabbing exercise that is a waste of time. I say drop the case guys!
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