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Publishing

February

Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok all rely on the approach of slot machines to hold our attention. The “feed” moves like a slot machine, scrolling vertically endlessly.

Your attention has been hacked. Here’s how to reclaim your brain

Life in the attention age is more anxious and more depressed, more isolated and less social. It cannot go on like this, right?

Nagi Maehashi of RecipeTin eats.

The obsessions that make Nagi Maehashi tick

The drive that took the RecipeTin Eats founder and bestselling author to PwC, Brookfield and out on her own is about more than simply selling cookbooks.

January

Think you know The Betoota Advocate? You probably don’t

The Betoota Advocate has spawned podcast and talent management businesses, and a raft of idioms. Now they just need to make some proper money.

DeepSeek is accused of hoovering up OpenAI’s data.

The sweet irony of OpenAI’s DeepSeek beef

OpenAI thinks DeepSeek took its private data to train its models; the hearts of writers, artists, musicians and journalists around the world must bleed for it.

Financial Review Editor in Chief, James Chessell, Joe Aston, and Editor, Cosima Marriner in the AFR office.

Joe Aston returns to the Financial Review

The author of ‘The Chairman’s Lounge’ will publish a monthly column with his former employer under a new commercial deal.

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A scene from the December picket line outside the London offices of the Guardian and Observer.

Why it’s an unhappy new year at Guardian HQ

The ructions at the Australian arm echo the reports of low morale and spiky political divisions at the left-liberal news outlet’s London head office.

ChatGPT can compile lists of interview questions.

OpenAI deal shows the value of journalism to AI giants

A commercial deal between ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and US publisher Axios is relatively small, but highlights the value big tech platforms should be paying for.

Former Foxtel executive Amanda Laing joins Nine to lead a new, converged division.

Amanda Laing joins Nine, Stan CEO departs in strategic overhaul

The company is simplifying its management and giving executives more responsibility for revenue growth. Several senior figures will depart as a result.

John Wylie (left) with Vidhur Rangaswamy and Lee Micelburough, the portfolio manager and investment manager of Tanarra’s Long Term Value Fund.

John Wylie’s Tanarra Capital takes Nine stake after share price slide

The former investment banker is known for pushing companies his firm holds stakes in, from Lendlease to Tabcorp, to make major changes and spin off assets.

December 2024

Basil Zempilas.

Coverage of Basil Zempilas rival unfair, imbalanced: press watchdog

The Seven West-funded Independent Media Council has upheld three complaints about negative coverage of the Perth mayor’s opponent.

Books,  The Season, Helen Garner. Juice, Tim Winton. We Solve Murders, Richard Osman. Tonight, Nagi/RecipeTin Eats. THe Chairman’s Loung, Joe Aston. Orbital, Samantha Harvey. Big Jim Begins, Dav Pilkey. In Too Deep, Lee Child

Australian authors dominate Christmas book sales

Tim Winton, Helen Garner, Joe Aston and Nagi Maehashi – or RecipeTin Eats, as her website is called – are leading sales and helping independent bookshops stay strong.

The world of publishing is changing, and “Icebreaker” proves it.

You’ve seen this book everywhere. TikTok is responsible

The romance novel “Icebreaker” has sold almost 2 million copies since publisher Anthea Bariamis discovered it on BookTok, a forum turning the fiction industry on its head.

The New Daily’s owner, Industry Super, wants to sell it.

Industry super funds sell The New Daily

The New Daily, brainchild of former Industry Super chairman Garry Weaven, has sold for an undisclosed sum.

President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a Time magazine Person of the Year event at the New York Stock Exchange.

Donald Trump named Time’s 2024 ‘Person of the Year’

In an interview with the magazine, the president-elect said he plans to issue pardons to January 6 defendants “in the first hour that I get into office”.

Rupert Murdoch’s attempt at cementing Lachlan’s control over the media empire was rejected by a Nevada court.

Logan Roy’s death morphed into a real life Murdoch succession drama

Shortly after the fictional patriarch died on television, the family behind the News and Fox empires began to plot life after their patriarch, Rupert.

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November 2024

The father-son rift that prefaced the break-up of an empire

A boardroom coup at John Fairfax Limited helped pave the way for the family to lose control of Australia’s oldest newspaper company.

Lonely Planet founders Tony and Maureen Wheeler.

Lonely Planet founders not content with giving away half their wealth

Tony and Maureen Wheeler are doubling down on their commitment to Melbourne’s Wheeler Centre with a big commitment to match donations.

TV chef Jamie Oliver has withdrawn his new children’s book ‘Billy and the Epic Escape’.

Jamie Oliver’s editors should have seen this scandal coming

British publishers are scratching their heads as to how Penguin Random House UK could have left the celebrity chef’s kids’ book exposed to an A-grade furore.

October 2024

The decision was made by The Post’s owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, according to four people who were briefed on the decision.

Washington Post won’t endorse a candidate. Staff, readers protest

An editorial supporting Kamala Harris was written but Amazon founder and newspaper owner Jeff Bezos reportedly intervened to stop publication.

August 2024

Edmund Tadros and Neil Chenoweth have won multiple awards for their coverage of PwC.

AFR journalist wins Kennedy Award for second year running

The award for Outstanding Finance Reporting is the latest in a string of honours for the investigative journalist Neil Chenoweth.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/publishing-huw