Digital levy to fund news creeps up the political agenda; Compass Hobart
Welcome to a Tuesday update from Unmade. The full edition is for our paying members.
Above the paywall, you’ll find the speaker announcement for the Hobart edition of Compass. We’ve already announced the Sydney and Adelaide lineups, with Brisbane, Perth and Melbourne to come over the next few days.
Below the paywall, at the bottom of this post, is a coupon code for Unmade members to get a complimentary pass to Compass and also to our event about marketing within the nighttime economy, Unlock.
Today’s newsletter features analysis on last night’s breaking news that the parliamentary inquiry into social media has flagged a levy on advertising on social platforms.
If you’ve been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, this is the perfect time. Your membership includes:
A complimentary ticket to all of Unmade’s events, including Unlock (October 31), Compass (across November), HumAIn (Q2 2025) and REmade (Q3 2025);
Member-only content like this post; and all of our paywalled archives;
Your own copy of Media Unmade.
Tourism Tasmania CMO, SCA boss, Smart Company editor, award-winning creative, and Abe’s Audio founder join the Hobart Compass lineup
Cat McGinn writes:
We can today reveal next month’s panel for the inaugural Hobart edition of Unmade’s annual industry meet-up Compass.
The panel features Ally Bradley, GM of Southern Cross Austereo in Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria and the NT; Chas Bayfield, one of the world's most awarded creatives and Diemen Awards juror; Lindene Cleary, CMO of Tourism Tasmania, Abe Udy, founder of audio production house Abe’s Audio; and Simon Crerar, editor-in-chief of SmartCompany.
The panel will be moderated by Unmade’s Tim Burrowes. All six speakers are Tasmania based.
The pub conversation will later be featured as an Unmade podcast.
Unmade’s paying members are entitled to a complimentary place at Compass and tickets are also on sale here.
Unmade’s Compass takes place across six states.
Wednesday November 6 - Hobart, The Hope and Anchor;
Tuesday November 12 - Brisbane, The Prince Consort;
Wednesday November 13 - Sydney, The Sporting Globe;
Monday November 18 - Perth, The Globe;
Tuesday November 19 - Adelaide, Elephant British Pub;
Wednesday November 20 - Melbourne, The Garden State Hotel.
Landing lights glimmer for a digital levy to fund news
Tim Burrowes writes:
You have to hand it to Google.
By letting Facebook jump first in the battle with news publishers, the bigger player has successfully faded into the background.
Last night’s release of the interim report from Federal Parliament’s Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian Society makes Facebook the star of the show. Google and parent company Alphabet get just 31 mentions in the report. Facebook and Meta 229.