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The ABC finally appears to be getting serious about its youth problem. The solution: TikTok. On Monday, the public broadcaster put up an advertisement for four six-month positions as part of its ācreator programā, hoping to bring social media stars into Auntyās stable.
Competitive candidates will have more than 10,000 followers on TikTok, Instagram or YouTube, or have created a vertical video with more than 100,000 views. A TikTok ad for the job even features a bloke with a mullet. As the kids would say, slay.
And even more slay is the salary ā between $93,000 and $114,000 pro rata for the six-month period. Meanwhile, the budding young journalists who land one of the ABCās highly coveted cadetships for 2024 will earn $61,327.
Remember, the broadcaster claimed it axed political editor Andrew Probyn this year partly because his salary would be better spent on TikTok content.
Credit: John Shakespeare
Probyn, of course, has since been hired by Nine Entertainment, owner of this masthead.
An ABC spokesman told us the jobs were āfor experienced, skilled professionals with particular digital expertiseā, rather than entry-level positions.
āA huge number of Australians access their news and information on social media,ā he said.
āThe ABC is committed to serving all Australians.ā
PARTY LINE
We brought news yesterday that right-wing broadcaster Sky News had cancelled Christmas parties because it didnāt want anybody loading up on festive spirit and ruining Christmas, like someone over there did last year.
One outfit that didnāt have that problem at the end of 2022 was Optus, perhaps because it pulled right back on its once legendary soirees ā the 2018 edition featured a male stripper gyrating in front of employees at Sydneyās The Star ā toning them down to āsmall-scale get-togethersā as the company struggled with the fallout of the disastrous data hack. Well, this year, Optus faces another nightmare before Christmas ā the big outage this month that on Monday claimed the scalp of the telcoās ācitizen of the worldā CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, or KBR to her friends.
In fairness, the departure of Bayer Rosmarin ā with her slightly kooky online presence, CEOās podcasts, interviews with global sporting stars and moves such as hiring tennis legend Ash Barty as āchief of inspirationā ā leaves corporate Australia a little duller.
But there remains the question of Christmas drinks. And OK, maybe Monday wasnāt the best day to ask Optus about party plans, but we did. It didnāt answer.
WHITE RIBBON SILENCE
Itās been a while since anti-domestic violence charity White Ribbon was known for anything other than public relations disasters.
Four years ago, White Ribbon was on the brink of financial collapse and tainted by a string of controversies ā accepting money from Sydney pokie den the Fairfield Hotel, before being forced to decline it; briefly claiming it was āagnosticā on abortion access; and the whole business with a few of its ambassadors getting in trouble for violent offences.
A 2019 rebirth, backed by WA charity Communicare, hasnāt stopped the missteps. A campaign last year seeking donations to help men understand violence prevention was scotched after critics dubbed it āsponsor an abuserā. Somebody also thought a flotilla of jet skis revving their engines in Sydney Harbour might be a good strategy to raise awareness about violence against women.
No wonder then that faced with another public relations issue, White Ribbon has gone silent. Weāre talking about the abrupt, quiet departure of national director Allan Ball, who quit some time late last month.
No reasons were given, and no statement has been put up by White Ribbon.
Ball declined to discuss it when contacted by CBD, directing us to Communicareās chief executive Melissa Perry.
She didnāt answer her phone, and hasnāt replied to several earlier emails. Communicareās comms people didnāt respond by deadline either.
Ball and White Ribbon had recently been looking into a partnership with GiveTree, a cryptocurrency start-up founded by Sam Joel, who quit as chief executive after posting a barrage of offensive comments towards women on LinkedIn.
Sam Joel, founder of GiveTree, resigned after a series of offensive LinkedIn comments.
We asked whether perceived backlash to the GiveTree relationship contributed to Ballās departure. They didnāt answer that one either.
BOOK CLUB
The leadership of the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria might be brought to book at the groupās AGM in Melbourne on Tuesday morning by the more literary members of its swank private members City Club.
Among the Bourke Street operationās extensive facilities is a well-stocked library ā 12,000 to 15,000 volumes weāre told ā with comfy armchairs, research desks and even a section for children. Sounds lovely.
Anyway, before the pandemic, the library was staffed with two to three full-time workers, augmented by a couple of part-timers. After all, the big A-frame ladder used to reach the volumes on the highest shelves couldnāt be safely operated by just one person.
But when the club got up and running again after the lockdowns, the library was down to just one staff member and, recently, none, without a word of explanation to the regular users.
āThere is disquiet,ā weāre told, and complaints have been made, but without any sort of resolution to the matter, so Tuesdayās AGM may be the library loversā best bet to get some answers. We wish them well, having tried a couple of times now to ask RACV spinners what was happening with the library. Crickets is what we got.
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