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00:00CNN projects that Democratic Socialist Zoran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate, will be
00:24elected the next mayor of New York, New York.
00:29It is a major win from Zoran Mamdani, a candidate that was basically unknown to the city about
00:34a year ago.
00:35Evening comrades, I'm Linton Besser, welcome to Media Watch.
00:39And the Big Apple was last week transformed into a pink, oh lady, with a Democratic Socialist
00:45seizing power in the richest city in the world and vowing, horror of horrors, a touch of wealth
00:51redistribution.
00:52The 34-year-old promised free childcare, free transport and rent freezes, triggering the
00:58largest turnout in the city since 1969.
01:02I will wake each morning with a singular purpose.
01:06To make this city better for you than it was the day before.
01:10Mamdani's promises of a cheaper Manhattan, in defiance of the establishment, earned him
01:16in victory this New York Post page one for the ages.
01:20The red apple.
01:22On your marks.
01:24Get set.
01:25Zo.
01:26Socialist Mamdani wins race for mayor.
01:31A millennial mayor and a digital native whose rise and rise was incubated not by stuffy newspapers
01:38and television programs, but by smartphones and social media, prompting headlines like
01:45these.
01:46Zoran Mamdani, the internet's mayor.
01:49How Zoran Mamdani turns social media engagement into votes.
01:53So how did he do it?
01:55And what, if anything, might it mean for political campaigning in the twilight of traditional
02:00news media?
02:02One of Mamdani's first breakthroughs was a video compilation of curbside interviews with
02:07New Yorkers so fed up with the system, they voted for Trump.
02:12We need childcare that is affordable, buses should be free, the hike in the MetroCards
02:18is like totally unaffordable.
02:20My name is Zoran Mamdani, I'm going to be running for mayor next year.
02:24Before long, social media popularity became the bedrock of Mamdani's mayoral campaign and
02:30needed constant tending with stunts, like the polar bear plunge.
02:34I'm freezing, your wreck as the next bear of New York City, let's plunge into the details.
02:43And a fast food truck taste test.
02:45New York is suffering from a crisis, and it's called halal-flation.
02:49Mamdani filled his social media with highly produced graphics and clips of authentic conversations
02:55and moments, which attracted tens of millions of views.
03:00At the poll, Mamdani won the support of 8 out of every 10 voters aged between 18 and
03:0729.
03:08A constituency which consumes the news in a very different way.
03:12I'm not watching linear cable, like literally how do they find out about you?
03:16They're going to find out about you from their phones.
03:19Zoran Mamdani's mastery of the smartphone stood in stark contrast to his rival, the independent
03:26former Democratic Governor of New York State, Andrew Cuomo, whose attempts to connect with
03:31the youth of New York didn't quite hit the same mark.
03:35On this to show, I'm gonna destroy the Big Apple.
03:40With his AI-generated videos so outrageous, this one was swiftly deleted.
03:49Mamdani will be a job creator for drug dealers.
03:54Guilty!
03:55But Mamdani says you're free to go.
04:01Even Cuomo's attempts to copy Mamdani's relaxed, camera-friendly rhetoric fell flat, proving
04:07not everyone has what it takes, and setting a new benchmark for political campaigning.
04:13Politicians are realising that if you can't make noise for yourself on TikTok, YouTube
04:17and Instagram, you'll likely never win a race again.
04:20We're going to look back at Cuomo versus Zoran the same way we look at JFK versus Nixon
04:25in the first televised debate.
04:27With his promises of hip pocket relief, Zoran Mamdani was merely tapping into a campaign
04:32strategy as old as money.
04:35What makes his victory something to think about, however, was the extent of its focus
04:40on vertical videos, shot and produced not for television but smartphones, and the obvious
04:46traction it won him from a generation no longer reading newspapers or watching TV.
04:52Expect much more of this to come.
04:55And now to the $300 billion gaming industry, which has eclipsed film and music to become
05:02the largest sector of the entertainment economy, and which has us yelling ourselves hoarse at
05:07teenagers who just won't go to bed.
05:10ROG Xbox LAX just arrived, so let's go ahead and get it unboxed.
05:13The Xbox LA is designed to look like an Xbox controller in the hands.
05:17That's tech writer Shannon Grixty, who's helping peddle the wonders of the technology to no fewer
05:22than 160,000 followers.
05:25It's a lot nicer to hold than the original ROG LI.
05:28It's available to buy on the Asus eShop and stay tuned for my full thoughts.
05:31Grixty's Instagram post about this Asus-made handheld device was accompanied by a thoughtful
05:37review he published a few days later on Press Start, a gaming website operated by Southern Cross
05:44Austerio, where Shannon Grixty is in fact managing editor.
05:49Shannon's review was largely positive about the $1600 gadget, whose display hadn't been
05:55updated but was still extremely fantastic, and spruiking the absolute ease with which
06:01you can jump between it and another console.
06:04Grixty was so excited about his little handheld, he popped up on the telly to praise its usefulness.
06:11Australian gamers got a first look today at the new Xbox.
06:15The company has developed its first ever handheld console.
06:18People are traveling, they're commuting to work four to five days a week, like you want
06:22to use that time to game.
06:24What was that?
06:25Asus ambassador?
06:27But how could that be?
06:28Because nowhere in Shannon Grixty's rather saccharine Press Start review was it disclosed
06:34that he was an MC at the launch of this very device as an ambassador for the company that
06:40manufactures it.
06:42Nor did he make it clear to readers of the Southern Cross Austerio website that his Instagram
06:47post about the console was in fact tagged as an ad.
06:52Shannon Grixty also has this personal link tree, where he drives traffic to an Amazon page,
07:00selling everything from phones to watches to Asus keyboards, all of which, yes, puts a little
07:06coin in Shannon's pocket.
07:08But surely this was just a one-time slip-up, yeah?
07:13Because after all, Southern Cross Austerio's Press Start had its own code of ethics, which
07:19promised...
07:19We do not hold personal relationships with any of these developers, PR people or publishers.
07:25And cited guidelines for its reviewers, which included a pledge...
07:30Not to accept or offer any present gift or consideration, or benefit or advantage of whatsoever
07:36kind.
07:37But let's just double check to be sure, shall we?
07:41Back in June, Grixty reviewed Lenovo's Legion Go handheld gaming device, describing it as
07:48the best of both worlds, and posting a video about the device the very same day to his personal
07:54YouTube channel, which, uh-oh, was marked as sponsored by Lenovo.
08:01And get this, the sponsored video and his Press Start review were almost word for word identical.
08:08The original Lenovo Legion Go is still one of my favourite handhelds in existence because
08:12it did things so differently in a saturated handheld market.
08:15The newly released Legion Go air styles things back a little bit design-wise.
08:19And no, not disclosed.
08:22In the last year alone, we found 18 instances, including these, where Shannon Grixty wrote
08:28about products for Southern Cross Austerio without any disclosure, that when he posted about the
08:34products on his personal social media, they were marked as ads.
08:39Which makes a mockery of the soaring rhetoric published by Southern Cross of the trust it has
08:44built with its audience.
08:47After we sent a bunch of questions to Southern Cross Austerio about this shabby little affair,
08:52its website was suddenly populated with disclosures of affiliate links.
08:58A spokesperson told us...
08:59We know maintaining the trust of our readers is essential, and we're strengthening our editorial
09:04and commercial processes to make sure these standards are clear and upheld.
09:09Last week, we reported Southern Cross Austerio had embarked on a program of culling journalists
09:15and replacing them with AI, and never deigning to tell its audience.
09:19Now we discover the company's pledges of honourable dealings with the public are just as dubious.
09:25It's often fawning technology reviews riddled with undisclosed commercial dealings.
09:31Oh, and as for Shannon Grixty, who declined, by the way, to answer our questions, well, he's
09:36perfectly within his rights to go and make money from the booming gaming sector, but good luck
09:41to him if he also expects his readers to trust him.
09:45And now to Oklahoma City to watch its basketball franchise take on the Houston Rockets at the
09:51Paycom Centre, and brought to our shores live at 10.30am on a Wednesday morning last month.
09:58This ESPN broadcast is brought to you by the Ned's Punters Toolbox.
10:04Chances are you're about to lose.
10:06A punt over brunch, nothing quite like it.
10:09And if you're that way inclined, live streaming giant Disney Plus has you sorted, because it
10:14was back the next morning with live coverage of the game between the New York Knicks and
10:18the Cleveland Cavaliers.
10:20We're going to be aggressive here to close the quarter, only one shot prior to that.
10:23And don't forget the lure of Australian basketball, where Disney Plus has teamed up with the NBL's
10:45other major sponsor, gambling platform, Dabble.
10:48Here we go, dabblers.
10:52Are you guys riding this bet?
10:53Massive scenes in the feed right here.
10:55Check out his bet history.
10:56Imagine what you could be buying instead.
10:58Yes, live sport in the modern era, where athletic prowess is no match for blokes watching each
11:05other bet on their phones.
11:07And which happens to provide a nice little earner, not for the punters of course, but for Disney.
11:13Because the entertainment behemoth, with its 3.3 million Aussie subscribers, has for months
11:20been streaming the very same daytime ads for bookies and gambling platforms that free to
11:25air television stations are prohibited from showing.
11:29No gambling advertising or promotion of odds is permitted from five minutes before the published
11:35scheduled start of play until five minutes after play, including during breaks.
11:40Rules which exist?
11:41To protect children who may be watching or listening.
11:44OK, so that's free to air television, but what do the rules say about live streaming
11:49sport over the internet?
11:50No gambling advertising or promotion of odds is permitted, including during breaks.
11:56And yet, here we are.
11:58Because since March this year, when Disney Plus launched to great fanfare, its inclusion
12:03of sport channel ESPN, it's played host to bookie after bookie all through the day.
12:10So how exactly is Disney getting away with this?
12:14As it turns out, ESPN on Foxtel was several years ago given a special exemption from the daytime
12:20ban on gambling ads because it was deemed to have so low an audience share.
12:25Now, Disney is claiming because it's simply simulcasting Foxtel's ESPN feed, it too should
12:32be exempted from the rules.
12:34The company told us...
12:36Advertising on ESPN channels on pay TV, including on simulcast digital feeds of the channels
12:41on Disney Plus, is compliant with all applicable regulations and codes.
12:46Yes, those clever people at Disney have discovered a loophole.
12:50And through it, they're driving a pumpkin coach full of cash.
12:54Which media strategist Steve Allen estimates amounts to as much as an additional $200,000
13:00a month.
13:01Meanwhile, Disney Plus's open arms approach to gambling advertising drew this peace of
13:06mind from advocate Tim Costello.
13:08It's a disgrace.
13:10Disney, the maker of the world's most loved kids' movies, is now ramming ads for an adult
13:15product down kids' throats.
13:17Carve-outs like this just make it a joke.
13:19The Australian Communications and Media Authority has told us it's now asking questions of Disney.
13:25The ACMA is concerned about Disney Plus's practice and we are urgently seeking additional
13:30information from the company about whether its practices align with community expectations.
13:35Disney also asked the Minister for Communications, Annika Wells, what she is going to do about
13:40it.
13:41Turns out, not a thing.
13:43Instead, handballing it to the regulator.
13:46For years now, the Albanese government has ducked for cover on the community's growing
13:51disquiet about the infiltration of bookies into its beloved pastime of watching sport on the
13:57telly.
13:58Because Mum and Dad can but sit there as their kids are fed a steady diet of odds and picks and
14:04point spreads.
14:06And ignoring this latest jig by a company that once preferred to show Mickey Mouse to
14:10children is just another betrayal of voters in service to the big end of town.
14:16And before we go, a quick note to mark the passing of a giant of Australian radio, John Laws, who
14:23died yesterday aged 90.
14:26All day today he was being lauded by all and sundry for his contribution to public debate.
14:32But the Golden Tonsils was also famous for providing this program its greatest moment, as then-host
14:39Richard Ackland explained in our 20th anniversary special.
14:43Cash for Comment was a whole subterranean world of opinions, views, messages, declamatory statements
14:54being offered to the public in exchange for money.
14:57John Laws was the first big fish exposed by Media Watch's Gold Walkley-winning investigation
15:03into Cash for Comment.
15:05So here's how it works.
15:06The bank makes $2.2 billion profit, the bank closes branches, the bank loses two and a half
15:11thousand staff, and then they do it all over again.
15:14But then there was this magnificent flip.
15:16You know, we do forget sometimes when we criticise them that banks are made up of people.
15:21So there you are, see, banks make very big profits, but are they unreasonable about it?
15:31Maybe not, when you know the whole story.
15:34Making hay for commercial radio, the banks and Media Watch all at once.
15:38What a trifecta.
15:40And that's all from us tonight.
15:41Be sure to check us out on ABC iview as well as YouTube, Facebook and X.
15:46You can find full statements on our website and don't forget to send us your tips.
15:49Thanks.
15:50I'll see you next week.
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