Kate Ferguson

Every day, journalists ask hard questions of politicians and hold the powerful to account. People in public roles must accept the scrutiny that comes with their position and treat journalists with respect. #MEAAmedia theguardian.com/media/2024/o…

Congratulations to Paul Garvey, WA Journalist of the Year 2024 and winner of the Beck Prize for Political Reporting. Read the full list of winners here: meaa.org/meaa-media/state-me… #MEAAmedia #WAMediaAwards

Members at The Guardian have today overwhelmingly voted yes on a protected action ballot. While negotiations have made progress in recent weeks, management has still not done enough to address members concerns around job security, career development and pay. #MEAAmedia

MEAA has been campaigning for strong regulation to protect creative and media workers from being exploited by AI, to ensure Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property is embedded into law and to stop the proliferation of AI-generated disinformation, deepfakes, scams and other harmful content. The Federal government has released proposals for the regulation of AI which includes several options ranging from tinkering around the edges to enacting a comprehensive Australian AI Act. As the union for creative and media workers, we support the legislation of the strongest possible protections through an Australian AI Act. However, we know that Big Tech companies like Amazon, Meta and Google are lobbying hard for the weakest laws so they can continue to undercut and exploit us. We need to raise our voices and be heard by the members of Parliament. We’re asking you jump onto our Stop AI Theft campaign page and use the email tool to send a message to your local MP and Senators that we want urgent and strong action on AI through an Australian AI Act. meaa.org/stop-ai-theft #stopAItheft

Media release: ACM’s announcement today that it would cut 35 jobs across 11 newsrooms, which follows its decision to discontinue printing eight newspapers, is a blow to quality local journalism. #MEAAmedia #OurCommunitiesOurStories

MEAA's Federal Council has paid tribute to two of our most staunch union stalwarts by awarding them our highest honour: life membership. Martin Saxon (left) joined the Australian Journalists Association in 1974 and has been an activist in the WA Branch for decades. He was a long-serving member of the MEAA Board before retiring this year. Simon Collins (right) initially joined our union as a member of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, was instrumental in the establishment of the Symphony Orchestra Musicians Association, and served as Federal President from 2015 until this year. We thank them both for their long service in the interests of their fellow workers in the media, entertainment and arts industries. They are pictured with MEAA Federal President Michael Balk. #MEAAmedia #MEAAsoma #strongertogether

Media release: The next managing director of the ABC must act quickly to restore the confidence of staff and audiences by firmly defending the independence and integrity of its news reporting. meaa.io/3yBPlWQ #MEAAmedia

Why is commercial TV news such a toxic workplace, especially for women? Because proprietors have actively discouraged unionism, allowing bad behaviour to flourish. theage.com.au/business/compa…

If you work in commercial TV news and current affairs and want that to change, the first step you should take is join your union. meaa.org/join/ #MEAAmedia #strongertogether

If the work of journalists is to be fed into AI machines, it should only be done with full consent and compensation. It appears Cosmos magazine has not done either of these things. #MEAAmedia #StopAItheft abc.net.au/news/science/2024…

Tony Armstrong, Paul Kelly, Dave Hughes and Jane Harper are among the dozens of high-profile Australians standing with journalists from the newsrooms of The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Financial Review, Brisbane Times and WAToday, demanding quality jobs for quality journalism. We need your support, please share our message and sign the petition. meaa.org/dont-torch-journali… #donttorchjournalism #MEAAmedia

MEAA Media House Committees around Australia have posted messages of support for journalists at Nine Publishing who began a five-day strike on Friday, July 26. meaa.org/mediaroom/nine-publ… #MEAAmedia #DontTorchJournalism

At a government inquiry today, members of #MEAAmusicians, including Montaigne, will call for an investigation into the anti-competitive dominance of the live music industry by corporate giants like Live Nation. smh.com.au/culture/music/ant…

Journalists at @smh, @theage, @FinancialReview, @brisbanetimes & @WAtoday are among the best in Australia. They deserve to be paid fairly, to have diverse workplaces & protections over the use of AI. #MEAAmedia #DontTorchJournalism

Scraping content without consent or compensation to train AI is theft, plain and simple – theft of people’s voices, their faces, their music, their stories and art. afr.com/companies/media-and-… #stopAItheft