Articles - Daanyal Saeed

Crikey • 29th October 2024

'The camera and the mirror': Sitting down with Kim Williams on the future of the ABC

Earlier this year, after hearing about ABC chair Kim Williams’ thoughts on the broadcaster’s direction, Crikey got in touch and asked if he wanted to chat with us about what exactly he envisioned.

Williams, a former News Corp chief executive known for his way with words, was announced as the new chair of the ABC in January at a critical juncture for Australian journalism, with industry competitors under strain in a difficult commercial market, as well as alongside the challenges involved in...

Crikey • 24th October 2024

WIN launches probe into employee, Lehrmann spotted, and we remember Colin Chapman (because the Oz doesn't)

WIN Corporation has launched an investigation into an employee’s social media accounts after receiving questions from Crikey.

An X (formerly Twitter) account seemingly linked to a WIN Corporation employee, who Crikey has chosen not to name, appears to have abused sporting and media personalities dating back to October 2023.

Following questions from Crikey to WIN, the X account was deleted, and a related Instagram account, which referenced WIN in the handle, was scrubbed to remove reference...

Crikey • 18th October 2024

‘Widespread scepticism': Nine staff unimpressed by executives' response to damning cultural review

Nine staff have refuted executives’ claims that the findings of the company’s bombshell independent report into workplace culture, were “not about individuals”.

Nine released the findings of the long-awaited review, conducted by consulting firm Intersection, on Thursday following allegations of toxicity, sexual harassment and bullying at the company across its newsrooms.

The all-staff briefing, delivered on Thursday afternoon, featured acting CEO Matt Stanton, Nine Entertainment chair Ca...

Crikey • 4th October 2024

A non-exhaustive list of NRL media figures involved with gambling companies

Last month Crikey brought you a list of many of the AFL media figures who publicly involve themselves in the betting industry, following our Punted series on gambling advertising.

With the NRL grand final this Sunday, we’ve turned our attention to the favoured football code north of the Barassi Line.

Gambling is now so intrinsically linked with the consumption of rugby league that ahead of this week’s grand final between the Melbourne Storm and Penrith Panthers, three of News Corp’s most...

Crikey • 2nd October 2024

‘Farcical’: ABC staff react to racism review

Editorial staff at the ABC have reacted to a review that found “overwhelmingly” consistent experiences of racism within the national broadcaster’s workforce.

On Tuesday, the Janke review into “ABC systems and processes in support of staff who experience racism” was released, and the findings were damning.

The majority of participants in the review reported experiencing racism at the ABC, as well as being subject to racist attacks from outside the organisation. The review found that the ma...

Crikey • 24th September 2024

'It’s fucked … most people know that': Sports podcasters speak out over gambling ad influence

As Crikey previously addressed via our Punted series, gambling advertising in sport is almost inescapable. Last week, we published a list of just how many people in AFL media were publicly involved in the betting industry, prompting some backlash and strong views from other sports media personalities.

Crikey received this message in our tip-off inbox: “I’m shattered that none of our awesome AFL talent didn’t make the list. We could have done with the free publicity. Love, Team Neds”. We also...

Crikey • 24th September 2024

'It’s fucked … most people know that': Sports podcasters speak out over gambling ad influence

As Crikey previously addressed via our Punted series, gambling advertising in sport is almost inescapable. Last week, we published a list of just how many people in AFL media were publicly involved in the betting industry, prompting some backlash and strong views from other sports media personalities.

Crikey received this message in our tip-off inbox: “I’m shattered that none of our awesome AFL talent didn’t make the list. We could have done with the free publicity. Love, Team Neds”. We also...

Crikey • 20th September 2024

Nine engages former John Howard spinner as consultant amid company turmoil

Nine has engaged John Howard’s former senior spin doctor as the company grapples with the fallout of a cultural review, the loss of a chair and CEO, as well as a tanking share price.

David Luff, Howard’s former press secretary, is working with Nine as a consultant through corporate advisory firm Bespoke Approach. Crikey understands he has taken over from James Chessell, who consulted for Nine on government relations and digital platform partnerships through Bespoke after leaving his role as N...

Crikey • 17th September 2024

'People will swim through shit for a dollar': A list of AFL stars and journos on the gambling payroll

The extent to which gambling advertising has infiltrated sport has been well-documented in Crikey’s Punted series. It is inescapable.

Every week, Australians are bombarded via our televisions with betting tips from former players, while clubs sign deals with the same betting agencies that hire executives from the AFL.

The AFL’s deals with gambling companies are reported (by one of the media figures on this Crikey list, no less) to be worth between $30-$40 million in product fees alone, pl...

Crikey • 9th September 2024

'Borderline mental': News Corp journos slam company's AI crackdown on popular transcription service

News Corp Australia has blocked journalists from using the popular transcription service Otter.ai, notifying staff identified using the service through their work email accounts that it was blocking access by September 13.

Otter.ai automatically transcribes recorded audio and uses AI to assist in the accuracy of its transcription. It is one of the most popular transcription apps on the market, particularly among journalists.

In an internal email sent to affected staff on September 5, see...

Crikey • 22nd August 2024

A new Australian media company has just launched. But who on earth is funding it?

Gazette News is a mysterious new Australian media startup led by Anna Saulwick, a former Change.org and Unicef executive and GetUp campaign manager.

Saulwick, who lists her title on LinkedIn as CEO of Gazette News as of June 2024, has brought on board former Vice head of editorial Brad Esposito as the company’s editorial director. Saulwick told Crikey that the startup is “aiming to provide high-quality free local news”, focusing on both regional and metropolitan areas “where disinformation i...

Crikey • 20th August 2024

Top journos leave Nine newspapers in mass redundancies

Culture editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age Osman Faruqi and former Private Sydney columnist Andrew Hornery have headlined the departures at Nine Publishing this week, as the company completes the process of executing major redundancies foreshadowed earlier this year.

There were a raft of other departures from across the Nine mastheads, including senior Australian Financial Review correspondents Aaron Patrick, Ben Potter and Michael Pelly, as well as the Herald’s chief sports scr...

Crikey • 8th July 2024

‘Pathetic’: Muslim journalists slam ‘rabid’, ‘disgusting’ coverage of Fatima Payman

The Fatima Payman affair has viscerally divided Australian politics. On the one hand, her supporters have branded the newly independent senator a fresh breath of conscience; on the other hand, the Labor faithful have used charming party adjectives to brand her a “rat”. But it’s the displays of ignorance and uninformed assumptions about Islam that has stood out to Muslim journalists, with some branding the industry’s coverage of Payman’s defection “disgusting”.

Crikey spoke to a number of Mus...

Crikey • 4th July 2024

The viral suit guy hits the red carpet for the Midwinter Ball

Last night some of the least fashionable people on the continent (read: journalists and politicians) frocked up for Australian politics’ night of nights: the annual Midwinter Ball in Canberra, described by one staffer as “the Oscars for ugly people”. The occasion gave the rest of us the opportunity to judge whether they were (as one young reporter overheard in an inner-Sydney pub last night put it) “serving slay”.

Earlier this year, Crikey interviewed Derek Guy, editor of online menswear out...

Crikey • 28th June 2024

'Fuck Mike Sneesby': Nine staff incensed at mass job cuts

Nine Entertainment has announced major job cuts, with an internal all-staff email from CEO Mike Sneesby stating that the company will be making a series of cuts that will affect 200 jobs, representing approximately 4% of the company’s total headcount.

In the email seen by Crikey, Sneesby said Nine was “not immune to economic headwinds which are impacting many businesses globally”. He cited “the loss of revenue from the Meta deal”, referring to the withdrawal of the American tech giant from i...

Crikey • 13th June 2024

'I'm not being political': ABC chair criticises Coalition's approach to nuclear policy

ABC chair Kim Williams has criticised the Coalition’s approach to formulating its nuclear energy policy at a panel before making clear he was speaking as an “Australian citizen” not as a representative of the national broadcaster.

In footage seen by Crikey, Williams, speaking on a panel at Sydney’s Vivid Festival on Wednesday night, said that the Coalition’s recently spruiked nuclear policy was “absent any of the normal fabric of policy formulation”.

Williams appeared on the After The Fa...

ABC News • 5th June 2024

News Corp executive chair Michael Miller faces the National Press Club

News Corp executive chair Michael Miller fronted the National Press Club today, but wouldn’t be drawn on the company’s tax record or the impact it has had on media concentration.

Crikey • 5th June 2024

'Wasn't intended to bully': News Corp chair Michael Miller defends coverage of prominent women

News Corp executive chairman Michael Miller fronted the National Press Club this afternoon where he denied his company is responsible for the scourge of trolling and bullying he says should be addressed by greater regulation of the nation’s media sector.

In a question to Miller, AAP’s Kat Wong noted that “a lot” of News Corp’s reporting has “caused women to be bullied”, pointing to the examples of Yassmin Abdel-Magied, Brittany Higgins and Antoinette Lattouf. Wong asked whether it was accept...

Crikey • 29th May 2024

'Outrageous and stupid': First major redundancies revealed as News Corp swings axe

News Corp has swung the axe on planned major job cuts as part of a company-wide restructure today, with a number of leadership jobs lost across the company.

Instead of the company’s usual practice of major announcements in all-staff meetings known as “town halls”, various newsrooms around the business received simultaneous and separate briefings on Wednesday morning, all around 11am Eastern time.

These meetings confirmed that the company’s metropolitan mastheads would move to a seven-day...

Crikey • 22nd May 2024

Nine refuses to deny imminent redundancies across broadcast division

Nine is remaining tight-lipped amid rumours of significant planned redundancies in its broadcast division.

Crikey understands dozens of jobs are slated to be lost.

A single sentence was all a Nine spokesperson would provide in response to Crikey’s questions about the plans: “As change occurs in the media industry, we are always evolving to best meet the needs of our business in order to remain the market leader.”

A Nine source told Crikey there was “huge cost cutting” on the company’s...

Crikey • 9th May 2024

What's a leak? What's a drop? Australia's scoop doyenne Sam Maiden weighs in ahead of the budget

Early May in Australian politics is budget time, one of the busiest times of year for politicians, staffers and the press gallery alike.

As the budget tree maple turns a brilliant red, and Treasurer Jim Chalmers frolics in its fallen leaves, political staffers are under pressure to push their bosses’ narrative about which pile of money is going where, while journalists chase exclusives. And sometimes these desires become mutually beneficial, with press secretaries dropping stories to certain...

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