Latest news with #HannahFerguson
ABC News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Coming up: All Eyes On Big Tech - Maria Ressa - ABC Religion & Ethics
How do we resist the growing influence of Big Tech over our lives? Nobel Peace Prize winner, Maria Ressa and Australian commentator and influencer, Hannah Ferguson are tackling this question head on. Coming up 6:30pm Sunday 3rd August on ABC TV and anytime on ABC iview. Posted 18m ago 18 minutes ago Mon 28 Jul 2025 at 6:54am
The Guardian
16-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Sky After Dark host launches furious spray at ABC for broadcasting ‘far-left activist' spouting ‘partisan rubbish'
When youth media boss Hannah Ferguson was given a platform at the National Press Club to bemoan that 'Rupert Murdoch is the conservative mouthpiece for the English-speaking world', it was all too much for Chris Kenny. Ferguson announced she planned to run as an independent Senate candidate in 2028, and took aim at the Murdoch media, saying it 'presents a departure from our reality'. The Sky After Dark host was furious the 'far-left activist' was spouting 'partisan rubbish' at the Canberra institution, and unimpressed the ABC broadcast her address live. The previous night, Sky's Kenny Report had lambasted the ABC for presenting the content creator as a 'political insider' on Gruen, where she was invited to discuss the election, when in Kenny's view she was 'anything but neutral'. Kenny delivered a speech on Sky about Ferguson's press club appearance that neatly summed up his worldview: 'It was broadcast by the ABC, of course, and it included plenty of the usual extreme-left bile directed at the Coalition parties, at News Corp media, or anyone else invested in the liberal democratic market capitalism model that's delivered all of our success, prosperity and social advancement in the western world.' The ABC's new Melbourne Breakfast duo, Sharnelle Vella and Bob Murphy, became the news this week when the former Bulldogs captain inexplicably kicked a sleazy comment towards the former Seven reporter and had to apologise. Vella and Murphy took over the highly competitive slot of 5.30am-8am weekdays this year, replacing Sammy J. The co-hosts were discussing odd jobs when Vella said: 'I remember when I worked in retail many moons ago when I was still in high school … ' and Murphy interjected, 'Not at Spearmint Rhino, the other one.' On Breakfast on Thursday Murphy responded to a newspaper report about his comments. 'I did make a comment that insinuated my colleague and co-host Sharnelle here worked at Spearmint Rhino, a well-known Melbourne strip club,' he said. 'Cutting straight to the point, it was not just a mistake, it was a gross and inaccurate offhand quip. I promised Sharnelle that I'd never disrespect her and I did break that promise. Put simply, I'm really sorry.' The tension in the studio was evident in her response: 'I won't let you off the hook on it,' she said. 'It wasn't OK. I appreciate your words but we do move on.' The ABC said Murphy's comment was inappropriate. 'Bob intended to humorously reference a conversation from an earlier program, however, the comment was out of context in that moment and Bob acknowledges it was inappropriate,' a spokesperson said. 'Sharnelle has accepted Bob's apology and wants to move on from the incident.' Anthony De Ceglie, the news director who brought horoscopes and a satirical segment to the 6pm bulletin on Seven News, has dramatically quit the Kerry Stokes media empire to become the inaugural chief executive of the NRL's Perth Bears. It's a surprising move as De Ceglie loved being a newspaperman, rising fast through the ranks at News Corp before being hand-picked at a young age by Stokes to run the West's newspaper empire: the West Australian, the Weekend West, the Sunday Times, and 19 regional publications. A little over a year ago, Stokes handed De Ceglie the keys to the Seven Network's news division at the age of 38. That didn't go as well, and 13 months of mass redundancies and falling ratings ensued. His shock defection to the NRL is a particularly jarring move as Seven West Media has a $1.5bn deal with the AFL, and the West Australian has actively campaigned against the NRL team. Now one of Stokes's former lieutenants will be inside the tent. The Australian Rugby League Commission chairman, Peter V'landys, was blunt about the West's coverage of the Bears, which included last week's front-page headline 'The bad news Bears', and a subheading: 'Rugby mad Roger Cook forces WA taxpayers to pay Sydney NRL rejects $65m to play in Perth.' V'landys said: 'Well I think the media coverage has been a bit biased in the sense that the main newspaper here is owned by Seven West Media that has the AFL rights, let's be quite frank, so they don't want us to be here because they realise we're going to be competitive and we're going to take some of their lunch – and we eat a lot.' Underlining the contempt the West Australian has for the NRL, the newspaper reported De Ceglie's big move on page five on Friday, without even naming the Bears: '[Seven West Media chief executive Jeff] Howard thanked outgoing director of news and current affairs Anthony De Ceglie, a former editor-in-chief of The West, who is leaving journalism to help launch a new rugby league team in his hometown Perth.' At Seven De Ceglie was responsible for Seven News, Sunrise, The Morning Show and Spotlight, as well as despite having no experience in television. His legacy looks set to be that he was the mastermind behind the short-lived horoscopes and satire, and the sacking of much-loved Brisbane newsreader Sharyn Ghidella. Ghidella was dumped over the phone while she was at the hairdresser after 17 years with the network. Weekly Beast understands Stokes reached out to her at the time to tell her he was sorry about the unceremonious dismissal. Ghidella was soon snapped up by Ten to host 10 News First in Queensland. The South Australian police issued an unusual statement on the weekend following a particularly dramatic report on Seven News in Adelaide, described as a 'SA Police bombshell'. Seven's report included a live cross from police headquarters to say the assistant commissioner, John Venditto, 'is tonight off duty in mysterious circumstances'. 'Mr Venditto was seen packing up his things before storming out, and he hasn't been seen since.' There was no further detail. The police media team sprang into action. 'In response to inaccurate reporting on Channel 7, SAPOL wishes to correct the record with the following statement,' it said. 'Assistant Commissioner (Crime Services) John Venditto is on paid leave. 'Mr Venditto has not been suspended from duty, nor did he 'storm out' of any police premises and he has not cleared his office out.' The story remains online but has not been followed up by other media. A spokesperson for Seven told Weekly Beast: 'We're comfortable with the story.'
ABC News
14-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Political commentator Hannah Ferguson concerned by influencers who accept payment from politicians
Prominent social media figure Hannah Ferguson has called for better regulation of political endorsements on social media and slammed the use of the word influencer while reflecting on the impact of content creators during the federal election campaign. Ms Ferguson, who hosts a podcast and runs Cheek Media, a business through which she promotes progressive politics, addressed the National Press Club in Canberra and raised concerns about content creators who accepted money from politicians during the election. "There's a lot of people who were accepting money and doing authorisations on social media posts, and that did concern me greatly," she said. "An influencer saying 'I'm voting for this person' — that seems fair and reasonable to me. "[But] when they're getting paid to do that, I think that needs to be very clear from the outset: at the start and at the end of the video, it needs to be in the caption." While Ms Ferguson's content was extremely critical of the Coalition, to the extent she sold T-shirts that said: "Good morning to everyone except Peter Dutton," she says she did not accept payment from any political figures, despite being offered, and pointed out it was frustrating to be "lumped together" with those accepting money. She also called out her peers who co-authored Instagram posts with politicians during the election. "For me, we shouldn't be collaboratively posting with politicians, I think that that is an endorsement," she said. Collaborative posts between influencers and politicians on Instagram became an issue earlier this year, after the Australian Electoral Commission issued guidance telling politicians to authorise all co-authored posts with influencers. The issue was further thrust into the spotlight after Independent MP Allegra Spender admitted to paying an agency to commission social media posts from influencers, which were later edited to be more clearly authorised. But Ms Ferguson called for greater transparency on the influence of both politicians and the Murdoch press, arguing content creators were "being scapegoated while Goliath continues his rampage." While media organisations are bound by industry standards and regulations, Ms Ferguson questioned how strongly they were applied to some parts of the press. Ms Ferguson also hit out at the use of the word "influencer" during the election, as a term largely used to describe young women. "Influencer has been the dirtiest word of this campaign," she said. "The agenda is clear — to undermine our intelligence, to paint us as untrustworthy, and to conflate us with green juice and a discount code. "There is nothing wrong with being an influencer, but the label is intended to cause significant reputational damage. "The impact is deeply misogynistic." Ms Ferguson also used the address to reiterate her intention to run as an independent for the NSW Senate at the next federal poll. She said it would be "virtually impossible" to get elected because she'd need to win hundreds of thousands of votes, but she wanted to "step into the arena" as her next attempt at achieving change. "Running a campaign and losing, I think, is also a powerful thing to do to show other young women that they can do the same thing and that it's not embarrassing — it's actually a triumph that you attempted to challenge a system and an establishment," she said.
The Guardian
14-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Cheek Media boss Hannah Ferguson planning 2028 independent Senate tilt
Cheek Media co-founder Hannah Ferguson, who curated a distinct progressive voice on social media during the election campaign, will make her own run for parliament at the next election. Speaking for the first time to the National Press Club, the content creator vowed to run as an independent senator for New South Wales in 2028 – though, she added, 'not because I think I would win'. 'Running a campaign and losing, I think, is a powerful thing to do to show other young women that they can do the same thing and that it's not embarrassing,' Ferguson said. 'It's actually a triumph that you attempted to challenge a system and establishment.' The room was filled with young women, some within the political space, including Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young (who Ferguson endorsed to become the next leader of the minor party) and members of independent senator David Pocock's office. Ferguson was part of a growing wave of content creators who dominated the social media space during the 2025 election. She is the CEO of the independent news commentary platform, which publishes short reels on politics attracting tens of thousands of views. She also hosts a podcast, Big Small Talk. After she was invited to cover the federal budget earlier this year alongside other creators – some of whom had travel expenses covered – Ferguson was criticised by some media outlets. Highlighting in her speech that she had not accepted payment for political content during the election, she later said she was 'concerned' about being 'lumped together' with paid creators. 'I said 'no' to money from multiple political organisations that offered it to me this election cycle, and that was why so much of it was offensive, because I actively ensured I was a commentator that was freed from [bias] ... Everything was my bias, but I was forthcoming with this.' While criticising traditional media for perceived bias on Wednesday – and pointing the finger directly at the Murdoch press – Ferguson also acknowledged the social media space should be regulated for its political content. 'I believe that there should be structural accountability for people online … there's guidelines to be changed [and] I think there should be enforceable standards,' she said. 'We have to have frameworks in place to regulate this kind of work. But regulation should be uniform. Let's force the Murdoch media to do the same.' Ferguson backed a royal commission into Australia's media concentration, but going even further than one proposed by the former prime minister and current US ambassador, Kevin Rudd. She said a commission should also look at new media. 'A government that will pass a world-first ban on social media for under-16s should establish a royal commission into Australia's media concentration,' she said, 'examining not only Murdoch, but the entire industry, including unregulated space and social media for which I form part.' Ferguson, who between her personal and Cheek Media pages has a combined following of around 275,000 , called for stronger rules around transparency and accountability for paid content. 'A lot of tests need to be put in place. I'm not an expert but I think in the media landscape there needs to be a fit and proper person test. At a social media level, there needs to be clear regulations and guidance when it comes to authorisations, endorsements, collaborative posting,' Ferguson said. 'There's not really that many limitations to who can advertise on different forms of media and what they can say and how they can lie.' Ferguson said she considered herself a commentator, rather than a journalist. But she was adamant she and her peers should not be labelled as 'influencers', accusing mainstream media and politicians of trying to 'undermine' their work. 'Influencer has been the dirtiest word of this campaign,' she said. 'They want to invalidate and undermine a group of powerful young women who developed the ability to communicate with audiences in a way that traditional media can't.' 'The idea that influencers is an umbrella term that applies to me and [to] someone being paid by the Greens or a particular candidate, when I refuse to do that, that's my concern. Because it delegitimises me in the process.'
The Advertiser
14-05-2025
- Politics
- The Advertiser
No tuning out as influencers reshape political campaign
Young people are turning to social media influencers and commentators to get their news, with politicians warned to either adapt or face irrelevancy. The federal Liberals largely ignored influencers and it stopped them from reaching a large cohort of female voters, Cheek Media CEO and host of the Big Small Talk podcast Hannah Ferguson said. Ms Ferguson, whose channel reached four million individuals during the election campaign, said media giant News Corp had weaponised the word 'influencer' to target progressive young women as part of a culture war. "The agenda is clear - to undermine our intelligence, to paint us as untrustworthy, and to conflate us with green juice and a discount code," she told the National Press Club on Wednesday. "There is nothing wrong with being an influencer, but the label is intended to cause significant reputational damage. The impact is deeply misogynistic." Large media corporations "want to invalidate and undermine a group of powerful young women who developed the ability to communicate with audiences in a way that traditional media can't", she said. Painting every female podcaster with the same brush, depicting them as "friendly, unserious and surface level", sought to delegitimise what they were doing, she added. While Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used podcast appearances to humanise himself, former opposition leader Peter Dutton had refused to engage, particularly with platforms run by women, she said. "(It) was one small, yet huge, decision in a series of reckless refusals to attempt to communicate with the voter base that would eventually end his political career," she said. People paid for endorsements on social media needed to ensure this was made abundantly clear in all their posts, she said, adding she had turned down political parties offering payments. Ms Ferguson intends to run as an independent for a Senate spot in 2028. Influencers were invited to the federal budget lockup at Parliament House for the first time in 2025. This helped the government get its message out to people who otherwise wouldn't have paid attention, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said. "It's really clear that new media are going to feature in politics ... and they have a legitimate place at the table." Ms Ferguson agreed, adding her audience was less concerned about the gritty details of a budget that traditional media would focus on and wanted to know what was in it for them in a digestible way they understood. Young people are turning to social media influencers and commentators to get their news, with politicians warned to either adapt or face irrelevancy. The federal Liberals largely ignored influencers and it stopped them from reaching a large cohort of female voters, Cheek Media CEO and host of the Big Small Talk podcast Hannah Ferguson said. Ms Ferguson, whose channel reached four million individuals during the election campaign, said media giant News Corp had weaponised the word 'influencer' to target progressive young women as part of a culture war. "The agenda is clear - to undermine our intelligence, to paint us as untrustworthy, and to conflate us with green juice and a discount code," she told the National Press Club on Wednesday. "There is nothing wrong with being an influencer, but the label is intended to cause significant reputational damage. The impact is deeply misogynistic." Large media corporations "want to invalidate and undermine a group of powerful young women who developed the ability to communicate with audiences in a way that traditional media can't", she said. Painting every female podcaster with the same brush, depicting them as "friendly, unserious and surface level", sought to delegitimise what they were doing, she added. While Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used podcast appearances to humanise himself, former opposition leader Peter Dutton had refused to engage, particularly with platforms run by women, she said. "(It) was one small, yet huge, decision in a series of reckless refusals to attempt to communicate with the voter base that would eventually end his political career," she said. People paid for endorsements on social media needed to ensure this was made abundantly clear in all their posts, she said, adding she had turned down political parties offering payments. Ms Ferguson intends to run as an independent for a Senate spot in 2028. Influencers were invited to the federal budget lockup at Parliament House for the first time in 2025. This helped the government get its message out to people who otherwise wouldn't have paid attention, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said. "It's really clear that new media are going to feature in politics ... and they have a legitimate place at the table." Ms Ferguson agreed, adding her audience was less concerned about the gritty details of a budget that traditional media would focus on and wanted to know what was in it for them in a digestible way they understood. Young people are turning to social media influencers and commentators to get their news, with politicians warned to either adapt or face irrelevancy. The federal Liberals largely ignored influencers and it stopped them from reaching a large cohort of female voters, Cheek Media CEO and host of the Big Small Talk podcast Hannah Ferguson said. Ms Ferguson, whose channel reached four million individuals during the election campaign, said media giant News Corp had weaponised the word 'influencer' to target progressive young women as part of a culture war. "The agenda is clear - to undermine our intelligence, to paint us as untrustworthy, and to conflate us with green juice and a discount code," she told the National Press Club on Wednesday. "There is nothing wrong with being an influencer, but the label is intended to cause significant reputational damage. The impact is deeply misogynistic." Large media corporations "want to invalidate and undermine a group of powerful young women who developed the ability to communicate with audiences in a way that traditional media can't", she said. Painting every female podcaster with the same brush, depicting them as "friendly, unserious and surface level", sought to delegitimise what they were doing, she added. While Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used podcast appearances to humanise himself, former opposition leader Peter Dutton had refused to engage, particularly with platforms run by women, she said. "(It) was one small, yet huge, decision in a series of reckless refusals to attempt to communicate with the voter base that would eventually end his political career," she said. People paid for endorsements on social media needed to ensure this was made abundantly clear in all their posts, she said, adding she had turned down political parties offering payments. Ms Ferguson intends to run as an independent for a Senate spot in 2028. Influencers were invited to the federal budget lockup at Parliament House for the first time in 2025. This helped the government get its message out to people who otherwise wouldn't have paid attention, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said. "It's really clear that new media are going to feature in politics ... and they have a legitimate place at the table." Ms Ferguson agreed, adding her audience was less concerned about the gritty details of a budget that traditional media would focus on and wanted to know what was in it for them in a digestible way they understood. Young people are turning to social media influencers and commentators to get their news, with politicians warned to either adapt or face irrelevancy. The federal Liberals largely ignored influencers and it stopped them from reaching a large cohort of female voters, Cheek Media CEO and host of the Big Small Talk podcast Hannah Ferguson said. Ms Ferguson, whose channel reached four million individuals during the election campaign, said media giant News Corp had weaponised the word 'influencer' to target progressive young women as part of a culture war. "The agenda is clear - to undermine our intelligence, to paint us as untrustworthy, and to conflate us with green juice and a discount code," she told the National Press Club on Wednesday. "There is nothing wrong with being an influencer, but the label is intended to cause significant reputational damage. The impact is deeply misogynistic." Large media corporations "want to invalidate and undermine a group of powerful young women who developed the ability to communicate with audiences in a way that traditional media can't", she said. Painting every female podcaster with the same brush, depicting them as "friendly, unserious and surface level", sought to delegitimise what they were doing, she added. While Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used podcast appearances to humanise himself, former opposition leader Peter Dutton had refused to engage, particularly with platforms run by women, she said. "(It) was one small, yet huge, decision in a series of reckless refusals to attempt to communicate with the voter base that would eventually end his political career," she said. People paid for endorsements on social media needed to ensure this was made abundantly clear in all their posts, she said, adding she had turned down political parties offering payments. Ms Ferguson intends to run as an independent for a Senate spot in 2028. Influencers were invited to the federal budget lockup at Parliament House for the first time in 2025. This helped the government get its message out to people who otherwise wouldn't have paid attention, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said. "It's really clear that new media are going to feature in politics ... and they have a legitimate place at the table." Ms Ferguson agreed, adding her audience was less concerned about the gritty details of a budget that traditional media would focus on and wanted to know what was in it for them in a digestible way they understood.
