Journalists love nothing more than speculating about the future of media companies, so Gina Rinehart has created an avalanche of commentary with her high-profile raid on Fairfax Media.
James Packer
Media briefs: Naparstek quits The Monthly … Leveson latest … UK journos tweet from court …
Ben Naparstek — the baby-faced wonder who was roundly ridiculed for becoming editor of The Monthly at the age of 23 only to make the magazine more widely-read than ever — has now quit to join Fairfax. Plus other media news.
Political snippets: Australian caution on oil shale gas justified?
One of the consistent claims of the United States oil shale gas industry and its method of production involving “fracturing” has been “we’ve never had one confirmed case of groundwater contamination.” Well, that is a claim that can be made no longer.
The billion dollar blues: how the GFC hit our richest
The 2007 BRW Rich 200 list represented a high water mark for many of Australia’s best-known entrepreneurs. So how far have they fallen post-GFC?
‘Imbecile’ pokies activist funds full-page newspaper ad
Despite the Baillieu government’s reluctance to tackle serious pokies reform, Victoria is central to the campaign for change and Paul Bendat’s full-page ad is a sign of what is to come for Victorian Liberals.
Media power shifts: watch for a Stokes move on Fairfax
Control of Fairfax Media’s sprawling newspaper, online and radio operations is suddenly available for as little as $500 million.
Packer gets the fluffy treatment from Channel 7 news
Yesterday we saw James Packer at the Crown AGM criticising the proposed changes to poker machine laws, call on the federal government to do more to stimulate tourism and then cop a vote of 55% against his company’s 2011 remuneration report. You wouldn’t know that from his interview with Channel Seven’s Jennifer Keyte.
Packer comes to lunch, AFR delivers the pokies threats
We all know that James Packer doesn’t get out much in public, so The Australian Financial Review was clearly chuffed that he agreed to give yesterday’s star-studded “Chanticleer Chairman’s Lunch” in Sydney some extra gravitas.
Bolt exaggerates paymaster’s anti-pokies campaign — again
Despite Crikey alerting the world of his failure to disclose an association with the pokies lobby after this hysterical September 3 column, News Ltd’s biggest columnist has repeated the effort in today’s paper.
Why are Victorian ratepayers paying Graham Richardson?
After being paid millions by the Packer family empire since he quit federal Parliament in 1994, Labor Party fixer Graham Richardson has admitted his retainer came to an end about 12 months ago.
James Packer shows off his Labor Right pulling power
The James Packer ALP advisory team of Graham Richardson, Karl Bitar and former Kim Beazley chief-of-staff Gary O’Neill, today have played one of their trump cards in the campaign to head off Andrew Wilkie’s pokies reform agenda.
Crikey Says: Packer gets lippy
Australian prime ministers have been bullied and brutalised by men whose name is Packer for decades.
Last Bets: the campaign to lure more tourists to our tables
Forget Oprah — she was so 2010 — the big buzz word in tourism is now gamblers. The bigger the better. And the big high rollers are in Asia. James Packer and other Australia casino operators want a piece.
Groupon, Scoopon … Jewpon: the divine comedy of daily deal sites
There’s a big difference between internet bubble Mk I and the one brewing in daily deal sites such as Groupon, writes John Addis, founder of The Intelligent Investor and Crikey director.
The patchwork Rich List: Gina’s on top, but non-miners a drag
On the surface, the headline numbers from the BRW Rich 200 list look impressive. But the bulk of the $31 billion increase in total wealth was generated by a handful of people.
Bitar to Crown: ‘from shooting crap inside Labor to casino craps’
Two former NSW Labor powerbrokers rubbish James Packer’s hiring of dumped ALP national secretary Karl Bitar as a Crown Casino lobbyist, suggesting the media scion might be better off dispatching his new charge back to the dole queue.
Our filthy rich miners — and the new $10b Aussie
This year, the top of the rich list — like the rest of the Australian economy — will be transformed by the resources sector.
How Steve Fielding helped billionaires dominate media ownership
Steve Fielding retires from the Senate on June 30, but one of his lasting legacies will be the continuing flow of media deals triggered by John Howard’s liberalisation of foreign and cross-media ownership laws in 2005.
Ten profit slumps, activists contemplate EGM to remove directors
The calling of an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to remove directors of public companies is an incredibly rare thing in Australia. Will shareholders do it at Ten?
Media briefs: Ron and James’ jig … moderator miss … Hamish and Andy cash in …
Come on Crikey readers. Tell us what James Packer and Ron Walker were laughing about as they boogied it up at the Australian Grand Prix this weekend. Surely it wasn’t really because Packer made a donation to Japan…?
The Televised Revolution podcast
This week on the Televised Revolution podcast the boys discuss James Packer stepping down from the Ten Board, James Wharburton’s defection to Ten and Colin Lane as the new host of Ready Steady Cook.
Media briefs: A James Packer exclusive? … NT News, the cat and the UFO …
Here’s a press release by The CEO Magazine titled “The CEO Magazine Exclusive Interview With James Packer”. We can’t tell if they have an exclusive interview with James Packer or not… Plus other media tidbits of the day.
