This is Media Diversity?

Whilst the new proposed media laws are under discussion and concerns are expressed about the concentration of and lack of media diversity, Crikey yesterday reports [not available on the net] as follows:

"While media commentators argue over what might happen in the great game of musical chairs sparked by Helen Coonan's proposed media reforms, media concentration just keeps growing anyway.

Two recent acquisitions – one by News Limited and the other by PBL – show that the key players still have voracious appetites to own more, more, more.

News Limited has just announced the acquisition of two of Queensland's independent Ipswich papers, the Westside Weekly and Ipswich's Own, for a figure Crikey understands is around $4.5 million, after the ACCC and the Foreign Investment Review Board last week gave the deal the all-clear.

The purchase adds to News's dominance in the Sunshine State when added to its dailies in Brisbane, Cairns, Gold Coast and Townsville and its Brisbane suburban Quest group.

On the Packer side, Ninemsn – a joint venture between PBL and Microsoft – has just finalised the purchase of content provider HWW. The company produces mobile phone and other digital content, and is one of the largest third generation content providers to the Hutchison "3" mobile network. As companies like Telstra and Optus move towards utilising the 3G network – capable of carrying music, television and other multimedia – HWW is expected to become a valuable content provider.

All this is great news for PBL, who now have the option of beaming Channel Nine content directly to mobile phones around the country, and News, whose domination of the Australian newspaper industry just increased by another (small) notch.

All without the help of the government or the Communications Minister".

Crikey does have on line [read it here] an interesting analysis of what is rightly described as the "incredible shrinking regional media".

Comments

Reading the Chilcot Inquiry Report more closely

Most commentary on the Chilcot Inquiry Report of and associated with the Iraq War, has been "lifted" from the Executive Summary. The Intercept has actually gone and dug into the Report, with these revelations : "THE CHILCOT REPORT, the U.K.’s official inquiry into its participation in the Iraq War, has finally been released after seven years of investigation. Its executive summary certainly makes former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who led the British push for war, look terrible. According to the report, Blair made statements about Iraq’s nonexistent chemical, biological, and nuclear programs based on “what Mr. Blair believed” rather than the intelligence he had been given. The U.K. went to war despite the fact that “diplomatic options had not been exhausted.” Blair was warned by British intelligence that terrorism would “increase in the event of war, reflecting intensified anti-US/anti-Western sentiment in the Muslim world, including among Muslim communities in the

Robert Fisk's predictions for the Middle East in 2013

There is no gain-saying that Robert Fisk, fiercely independent and feisty to boot, is the veteran journalist and author covering the Middle East. Who doesn't he know or hasn't he met over the years in reporting from Beirut - where he lives? In his latest op-ed piece for The Independent he lays out his predictions for the Middle East for 2013. Read the piece in full, here - well worthwhile - but an extract... "Never make predictions in the Middle East. My crystal ball broke long ago. But predicting the region has an honourable pedigree. “An Arab movement, newly-risen, is looming in the distance,” a French traveller to the Gulf and Baghdad wrote in 1883, “and a race hitherto downtrodden will presently claim its due place in the destinies of Islam.” A year earlier, a British diplomat in Jeddah confided that “it is within my knowledge... that the idea of freedom does at present agitate some minds even in Mecca...” So let’s say this for 2013: the “Arab Awakening” (the t

An unpalatable truth!

Quinoa has for the last years been the "new" food on the block for foodies. Known for its health properties, foodies the world over have taken to it. Many restaurants have added it to their menu. But, as this piece " Can vegans stomach the unpalatable truth about quinoa? " from The Guardian so clearly details, the cost to Bolivians and Peruvians - from where quinoa hails - has been substantial. "Not long ago, quinoa was just an obscure Peruvian grain you could only buy in wholefood shops. We struggled to pronounce it (it's keen-wa, not qui-no-a), yet it was feted by food lovers as a novel addition to the familiar ranks of couscous and rice. Dieticians clucked over quinoa approvingly because it ticked the low-fat box and fitted in with government healthy eating advice to "base your meals on starchy foods". Adventurous eaters liked its slightly bitter taste and the little white curls that formed around the grains. Vegans embraced quinoa as

Mahler's Prodigal Son

Search This Blog