Live blog: Tuesday June 24: Peter Greste | ABC outsourcing | Mel Greig | Ten finances | Newspaper Works | Ratings | Box office | Rubberwear
Welcome to Mumbrella’s live blog, our daily roundup of what’s happening in media and marketing.
Top stories:
- Jamie McTavish returns to Australia as CD of Authentic Entertainment
- Journalist Peter Greste jailed by Egyptian court
- John Chouiefate to lead Ten’s news bulletins
- Opinion: You don’t have to be a journalist to care what happens to Greste
- UltraTune ad cleared by watchdog because rubberwear was “relevant”
6.20pm – Supporters of jailed journalist Peter Greste are planning a moment of protest on his behalf in about 20 minutes time.
6.10pm – The Australian’s business editor Geoff Elliott is moving to the world of PR.
2.26pm – Hill + Knowlton Strategies Australia has won the PR account for LG following a competitive pitch. H+K will take over the account from WPP sister agency Pulse Communications who declined to pitch.
2.12pm – Jeep is promoting the launch of the new Cherokee with ‘The World’s Most Remote Dealership’. The stunt will see the brand give consumers the opportunity to buy a Cherokee Longitude for $10k, the only catch – they first have to make it to the remote dealership.
1.28pm -As always, there’s extra bits and pieces in our FYI section. If you’re a fan of music, and/or celebrities, it’s worth checking out Spotify’s first local campaign featuring Pharrell Williams, Iggy Azalea, Lorde, Justin Timberlake and Daft Punk.
12.05pm – Authentic Entertainment has hired a creative heavyweight, Jamie McTavish as its creative director, we’ve just revealed.
12.02pm – We’ve published a couple of ASB rulings this morning. One involving women in rubber, the other regarding women being “objectified” by a men’s razor brand. Both were dismissed.
11.55am – The MEAA’s take on Peter Greste: “The court proceedings have been farcical from the outset and there has not been a shred of evidence presented by the prosecution that in any way implicates the journalists in the charges of defaming Egypt and having ties to the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood. Contrary to the charges the three journalists have behaved ethically and responsibly while reporting on a complex, rapidly changing political environment in Egypt.”
11.20am – The Newspaper Works has weighed in on the Al Jazeera three. “We deplore the sentences of imprisonment against these journalists,” The Newspaper Works CEO Mark Hollands said. “All actions by any government designed to restrict press freedom and the public’s right to know should and must be fought.”
11.12am – ARN is continuing to hose down The Tele’s claim that Mel Greig is joining KiisFM.
The story appeared to have been based on a photo of her catching up with the company’s occasional film reviewer Tim Dorner. ARN’s national content director Duncan Campbell has issued the following statement: “Let me reiterate that there is no truth to these rumours. We have not met with Mel Greig or discussed the possibility of Mel and Tim presenting a show on any of our stations.”
9.55am – House Rules came out with its nose in front of The Voice in last night’s TV ratings
9.50am – 22 Jump Street dominated the weekend box office.
9.10am – Some bits and pieces from today’s papers:
First, The Daily Tele in Sydney is reporting that “Royal hoax DJ Mel Greig has been offered a job by Kiis FM”. Which would be interesting – if true. ARN insiders are already telling Mumbrella there’s “absolutely no truth” to it.
In the AFR’s Rear Window column, Joe Aston reports a bust-up around the boardroom table at industry marketing body The Newspaper Works. Aston claims that Fairfax boss Greg Hywood had a spray at News Corp’s boss Julian Clarke over The Australian’s coverage of hos company’s print future.
And the AFR also dedicates column inches to what appears to be the increasing likelihood that Ten will exit the ASX and end up in the hands of private equity. The AFR also reports that “legal firm Gilbert + Tobin is providing advice to the board on the commercial network’s solvency”.
The Sydney Morning Herald, meanwhile, has more on the Malcolm Turnbull-inspired “efficiency” review of the ABC. Somewhat alarmingly for fans of the public service broadcaster, the review reportedly advocates “a radical shake-up that would lead to the outsourcing of most television programs”. The story suggest that the plan sees the ABC forced to sell off most of its production facilities.
9am – Remember Mini Karl Stefanovic on Today yesterday? This morning it’s Mini Lisa Wilkinson…
8.45am – Here’s what’s broken overnight internationally:
AdWeek: Sobieski Vodka Keeps Telling It Like It Is in Outdoor Ads
“When Sobieski’s “Truth in Vodka” campaign began seven years ago, it skewered pomposity in the category. Since then, the effort has broadened to call out nonsense in any realm—and amen to that.
Topical targets in recent outdoor ads from lead shop Marty Weiss and Friends range from spy in exile Edward Snowden and social media to the World Cup. Weiss, the man behind memorable TV ads for Guinness and the Nynex Yellow Pages, proves once again that outdoor needn’t be a dull medium. You just need to have something witty—and pithy—to say.”
The Guardian: Egypt ‘declaring journalism a crime’ by jailing al-Jazeera correspondents
“Journalists and media organisations have warned that the jailing of three al-Jazeera English correspondents by the Cairo regime was intended to intimidate others from reporting freely on events in Egypt.
The jail terms of between seven and 10 years for Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed were met with outrage from veteran correspondents who have reported on the Egyptian uprising and its aftermath.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8jMFlJN77I
Mumbrella Asia: Malaysian bank apologises for ‘black face’ insurance ad again, says ad made in-house
“The Malaysian Hong Leong Financial Group has again apologised for an controversial insurance ad, which centred on a clumsy ‘blackfaced’ domestic worker, which last week provoked a raft of negative stories in the international media and together with a social media backlash forced the bank to withdraw the campaign from TV, online and outdoor.”
8.39am – Good morning, if you missed it last night, Australian Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste was jailed by an Egyptian court for seven years for “defaming” the country”.
Miranda Ward worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2017, eventually becoming deputy editor. Miranda joined Mumbrella in September 2013 from Sky News.
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