Media Watch's Kim Williams take-down hands a win to ABC boss
The biggest beneficiary of Media Watch' s take-down of Kim Williams on Monday was the ABC's new managing director.
Hugh Marks was handed a serendipitous free-kick by the program's new host Linton Besser and his team, winning points by backing his journalists publicly and ensuring everyone, including Williams, know that there's a new sheriff in town.
Williams is alleged to have intervened on a number of occasions on behalf of comedian Austen Tayshus (real name Sandy Gutman), helping him secure a number of interviews on the ABC's regional radio network, which in turn promoted his touring shows.
Media Watch reported that in August, Gutman called Williams, an old acquaintance of his, claiming he had been turned down for interviews because he was Jewish. On two occasions, Williams helped overturn local editorial decisions not to host Gutman.
It was a gift for Marks, who has seized the moment and set a clear marker in the newly minted relationship between him and Williams. It's a professional pairing that needs to endure for at least the next four years as Williams carries through with his planned makeover of the public broadcaster.
Loading
In Marks and Williams, the ABC has arguably got two of the biggest names in Australian media management running the show. Both have had stints at the top of the country's two largest commercial media companies, and are experienced in navigating a tricky relationship with strong-headed chairs – Rupert Murdoch at News Corp for Williams, and Peter Costello for Marks at Nine.
Now, they take on a different beast at the ABC, and their biggest shareholder isn't a financial institution or a media baron in New York – it's the Australian public.
Williams has been in the thick of things since he landed the chair's gig. While forceful in his defence of the broadcaster, he hasn't been shy making his feelings known about what needs to improve.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
41 minutes ago
- ABC News
Solar waste problem looms following rooftop panel boom, with batteries to add to the pile
Australia's rooftop solar revolution has slashed power bills and emissions, but behind the good news story, is a growing waste problem in need of an urgent solution. The industry is sounding the alarm, warning Australia is about to be hit with a tsunami of solar waste as more households take up batteries, thanks to the federal government's new subsidies. Currently around 4 million homes across the nation have installed solar, equating to more than 150 million panels nationwide when commercial and large-scale systems are included. But as as households upgrade to newer systems, an estimated 4 million individuals panels are decommissioned every year. That figure is set to double to 8 million a year, as Australians install batteries. Currently, there is no mandatory recycling scheme for solar panels. As a result, only about 10 per cent of panels are recycled. The rest are stockpiled, sent overseas or end up in landfill. The solar industry has been waiting since 2016 for a national product stewardship scheme — a mandatory system that would fund recycling through an up-front levy on imported or manufactured panels. Instead, recyclers and investors are being left in limbo. "There's been investor fatigue," says Darren Johannesen, executive general manager of sustainability at the Smart Energy Council. While there are seven active solar panel recyclers in Australia they face steep economic and logistical hurdles. "Right now, it can cost up to $38 per panel just to get it from a house to a landfill or recycler," Mr Johannesen says. "Even then, the cost of extracting valuable metals like silver and copper outweighs the resale value of those materials. "Recyclers can't make it work on their own." Without government intervention, there is concern the sector could collapse under its own weight. In Western Sydney, recycler James Petesic has seen competitors come and go. "Seven years since we've been in operation, I think we've seen at least two or three businesses come and go." He's managed to hang on, largely thanks to federal government grants. He says the real challenge is not competition from other recyclers, but from exporters and scrap dealers who offer to take old panels for free or pay cash. "They are able to pay customers — being the installer themselves — to move that system from their warehouse, put it into a container and ship it overseas. "Unfortunately, we're not able to compete with that. We can't pay customers for their panels." Some of those panels may be reused, he says. But many won't be. New laws regulating the export of solar panels have stopped some of the leakage of panels out of Australia but it has not solved the broader problem. Without certainty around the raw materials needed — that is, the solar panel to recycle, Mr Petesic says "it's really hard to give an investor confidence to invest in our business". About 20 per cent of solar installer Jake Warner's current jobs include replacing old panels. "Sometimes it can be workmanship, maybe an older system can fail. "It's also increased technology, we now have battery systems, we've got integrated inverters and more efficient solar panels." On a job in St Clair, New South Wales, his crew is ripping out a decade-old solar array to make way for a more efficient set-up, complete with battery storage and smarter inverters. Mr Warner says it is common to be approached by scrap metal dealers and other operators offering cash for removed panels — some of whom ship them offshore with little oversight. "We've had people pull up mid-job asking to take the panels," he says. "They end up overseas sometimes, maybe on a hobby farm or in a developing country, which isn't the worst outcome. Currently, Mr Warner's business takes retired panels back to base and passes them on to approved recyclers or second-life users. But the costs — anywhere from $250 to $650 per household depending on panel numbers — are worn by customers. He says while some reputable solar wholesalers offer recycling drop-off points, the infrastructure isn't ready to cope with what's coming. "We can actually recycle up to 85 per cent of the raw materials inside solar panels, but right now the challenge is that we don't really have these recycling facilities ready at scale like what we're going to need in the next 10 years or so," Mr Warner says. It's not just an environmental problem — it's an economic one. Experts warn the world is running short on critical minerals. "The opportunity in front of us is quite exciting in a solar module — there are metals that are in short supply, copper and silver," the Smart Energy Council's Mr Johannesen says. The International Energy Agency has forecast a potential 30 per cent supply shortfall in copper globally, without action. "The IEA is recommending that all countries adopt a regulatory policy framework that encourages recycling … so that we can use urban mining to bridge that 30 per cent gap," Mr Johannesen notes. Everyone in the sector agrees the solution is simple — and long overdue. "A national product stewardship scheme will cut costs to consumers, improve efficiency in the industry and birth an important materials recovery industry, which is good for jobs and growth," Mr Johannesen argues. There's been plenty of talk about implementing a mandatory national recycling scheme for solar panels from both sides of politics. But after nearly a decade of inaction, the industry says time is running out. "Nine years is a long time … and with the growth in the module volumes, the time to act is now." Mr Petesic says if we don't act now, we'll be throwing away the very resources we need to power Australia's energy future. "We need some kind of government push to encourage and facilitate the industry, to be able to participate in the recycling of their solar panels, rather than leave it up to their good conscience."
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
The stark numbers that spell grim news for Aussie musos
Aussie music lovers feel a sense of pride when they hear Australian music, but their playlists are actually dominated by pop from the US and Britain. While 71 per cent of listeners love to hear Australian tunes, and two thirds want to hear more, only one in three music fans make an effort to seek out new Australian music. It's a big contradiction revealed in landmark research by Music Australia, the federal government's music development and funding body. A massive 98 per cent of local listeners discover musicians via streaming, but more than half (51 per cent) don't think about whether an artist is Australian when they are looking for new tunes. Of the top 10,000 artists streamed in Australia during 2024, just eight per cent were Australian, while more than half were from the US, according to entertainment analytics firm Luminate. It seems the sheer convenience of personalised playlists delivered via an algorithm might be stopping music fans discovering Australian artists - and that's a problem for musicians like Sara Storer. The ARIA-award winning country musician is releasing her eighth solo album titled Worth Your Love, and says the music industry has completely transformed since her first release back in 2001. "For a young person, especially a young Aussie artist trying to get out there, I'd be terrified. Where do you start?" she said. Despite building an inter-generational audience over decades, the Darwin-based musician can no longer rely on album sales, and even solid streaming figures don't add up to a viable income. "There's no income from streaming. It looks good on paper and you think, well, I should be making a few bucks, but you don't see anything," said Storer. "All my money is made through live performance. I rely heavily on ticket sales, which is like a roller coaster." The contradiction between listener sentiment and behaviour could be the basis of a campaign for actively discovering local music - a bit like the 'Life. Be in it' health campaign of the 1980s - suggested Music Australia director Millie Millgate. "We can remind Australian audiences what these bands are doing overseas and encourage them not to miss out - like, don't miss out on your own party," said Millgate. "There's no one single bullet, but if audiences can be mobilised to do their part and really seek out Australian new music, it would go an incredible way." And the Music Australia research suggests we could potentially Aussify Spotify: listeners like the idea of a dedicated Australian music streamer, with 42 per cent saying it's something they would pay for. Melbourne rock band Amyl and the Sniffers are one act making it big on the global stage, and when the band appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon recently, singer Amy Taylor's top was made from two classic Aussie thongs. It's a big effort to demonstrate a sense of national pride - but it seems many Aussie musos are actually getting more love overseas, with more than 80 per cent of royalties for local musicians coming from international listeners in 2024, according to figures from Spotify. The research also found radio still plays a role. A quarter of music fans still tune in to discover new music, with ABC station triple j a popular source. An economic snapshot of the local sector showing a direct contribution of almost $3 billion to the national economy was part of three industry research reports released on Thursday.
West Australian
an hour ago
- West Australian
The stark numbers that spell grim news for Aussie musos
Aussie music lovers feel a sense of pride when they hear Australian music, but their playlists are actually dominated by pop from the US and Britain. While 71 per cent of listeners love to hear Australian tunes, and two thirds want to hear more, only one in three music fans make an effort to seek out new Australian music. It's a big contradiction revealed in landmark research by Music Australia, the federal government's music development and funding body. A massive 98 per cent of local listeners discover musicians via streaming, but more than half (51 per cent) don't think about whether an artist is Australian when they are looking for new tunes. Of the top 10,000 artists streamed in Australia during 2024, just eight per cent were Australian, while more than half were from the US, according to entertainment analytics firm Luminate. It seems the sheer convenience of personalised playlists delivered via an algorithm might be stopping music fans discovering Australian artists - and that's a problem for musicians like Sara Storer. The ARIA-award winning country musician is releasing her eighth solo album titled Worth Your Love, and says the music industry has completely transformed since her first release back in 2001. "For a young person, especially a young Aussie artist trying to get out there, I'd be terrified. Where do you start?" she said. Despite building an inter-generational audience over decades, the Darwin-based musician can no longer rely on album sales, and even solid streaming figures don't add up to a viable income. "There's no income from streaming. It looks good on paper and you think, well, I should be making a few bucks, but you don't see anything," said Storer. "All my money is made through live performance. I rely heavily on ticket sales, which is like a roller coaster." The contradiction between listener sentiment and behaviour could be the basis of a campaign for actively discovering local music - a bit like the 'Life. Be in it' health campaign of the 1980s - suggested Music Australia director Millie Millgate. "We can remind Australian audiences what these bands are doing overseas and encourage them not to miss out - like, don't miss out on your own party," said Millgate. "There's no one single bullet, but if audiences can be mobilised to do their part and really seek out Australian new music, it would go an incredible way." And the Music Australia research suggests we could potentially Aussify Spotify: listeners like the idea of a dedicated Australian music streamer, with 42 per cent saying it's something they would pay for. Melbourne rock band Amyl and the Sniffers are one act making it big on the global stage, and when the band appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon recently, singer Amy Taylor's top was made from two classic Aussie thongs. It's a big effort to demonstrate a sense of national pride - but it seems many Aussie musos are actually getting more love overseas, with more than 80 per cent of royalties for local musicians coming from international listeners in 2024, according to figures from Spotify. The research also found radio still plays a role. A quarter of music fans still tune in to discover new music, with ABC station triple j a popular source. An economic snapshot of the local sector showing a direct contribution of almost $3 billion to the national economy was part of three industry research reports released on Thursday.
