While Brighton’s population is significantly older and wealthier than average, it’s not uncommon for the broadcaster to bring audiences to the show. Turns out they do it all the time “as part of getting the audience mix right,” a spokesperson told us.
“Q+A provides weekly bus services from a range of areas with different demographics and voting intents,” the spokeswoman said.
“The opportunity is often taken up by various community groups, particularly students and older residents who otherwise would not be able to attend the broadcast.”
Grow up fast
For a media company whose publications so monotonously reflect a certain inner-city progressive groupthink that they become unreadable, Schwartz Publishing certainly ranks well among the Internet’s left-handers.
To begin with, there is the publisher Morris Schwartz support for Israel, about as cardinal a sin as there can be in some circles.
Then, just days after Schwartz spoke out about the culture war engulfing the Adelaide Writers Festival, his company, via the Black Inc Books imprint, found itself at the waterlogged intersection of mental illness and identity politics where rational debate can never be had.
Black Inc by Morry Schwartz is in the middle of a storm.Credit:Peter Braig
It started when Black Inc submitted submissions for an anthology titled Growing up neurodivergent in Australia, the latest in a series exploring various identities, edited by Bachelor education host Osher Gunsberg.
But in unfortunate news for people who spend too much time on TikTok, the publisher decided to only accept submissions from people with a “medical diagnosis”. Cue howls of outrage, furious tweets and accusations of gatekeeper and competence.
Within days, Black Inc issued a statement apologizing for the pain caused and announcing that the project would be shelved.
In his own statement, Gunsberg said the restriction was “in the interests of protecting those who have yet to intervene, and to be ethical in how this issue is presented.”
Bet he regrets walking into that minefield.
Firm friends
If anyone expects fireworks from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s performance Gina Cass Gottlieb at The Fullerton Hotel in Sydney on Tuesday, facilitated by her former Gilbert and Tobin colleague Elizabeth Averythen they are probably better off staying home.
Cass-Gottlieb’s “Update to the Enforcement and Compliance Policy,” her first since replacing the high-profile Rod Sims years ago in the commission’s top position, is hosted by the Economic Development Committee of Australia (CEDA).
ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb.Credit:Rhett Wyman
The ACCC chair and Avery, G&T’s competition and regulatory partner, are good friends, with Avery raving about Cass-Gottlieb’s “brilliance, dedication and hard work” when news broke that she had been appointed to lead the committee.
The two shared a stage last month when G&T hosted Cass-Gottlieb for a talk on the regulation of unfair trading practices.
So don’t expect too many screaming headlines from Tuesday’s sold-out CEDA session. Cass-Gottlieb has been, shall we say, cautious about newsmaking since he took the reins at the ACCC.
But yes, most people look media shy compared to Sims.
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