Tag Archives: Shaun Brown

Man overboard!

Less than a week after SBS managing director Shaun Brown officially left the corporation’s Artarmon headquarters, one of his closest underlings, the head of SBS television and online content, Matt Campbell, announced he was quitting – the first of Brown’s executives to leave since new broom Michael Ebeid officially took over at SBS. Could this be the start of the much-anticipated shake-up of Australia’s multicultural broadcaster? Read More

White-anting starts early for new SBS boss

White-anting started early for SBS’s new managing director Michael Ebeid – two months before getting his feet under his new desk in Sydney. Some saw his qualities and qualifications – including his Egyptian heritage – with trepidation or outright animosity. Some senior executives feared for their jobs or their easy life. It was not a good omen for a “new start” for Australia’s embattled multicultural broadcaster. Read More

Can this man reignite passion for SBS?

Egyptian-born, Australian-raised Michael Ebeid is such a cleanskin he’s almost translucent. Yet he has been chosen to be the next managing director of Australia’s national multicultural broadcaster, SBS. Many people rise to senior public jobs out of left field, but there’s usually a trail of some sort. With Ebeid there’s not much. So is he the man who will provide the spark to reignite a passion for Australia’s once-loved SBS? Read More

That was the year that wasn’t

We are now in the third decade of the 21st Century, so what has happened in the last 10 years? Certainly, had it not been for WikiLeaks, 2010 itself might have gone down as another forgettable year for media in Australia and around the world, few examples of great journalism, no breathtaking, game-changing technical innovations, not even any great “end-of-an-era” events at which we could pause and take stock. Read More

Cuts in news send strange signals from SBS

Cuts in SBS Television’s news staff could, ironically, signal Australia’s multicultural broadcaster is trying to get back on track. SBS TV News has been the darling of Managing Directors for many years, so to see it under the axe suggests something strange is happening at SBS. And on the general assumption that things cannot get any worse for the embattled broadcaster, anything – however strange – might herald hope. … Read More

The many voices of one Australia – just not inside the building please!

SBS was once renowned as “the many voices of one Australia”, but now it’s decided it doesn’t need as many in the actual building. It’s decision to outsource large parts of it’s world-famous Subtitling Unit is not just a sign of how far it has strayed from its multicultural charter but is also a clever way of chanelling taxpayer funding to the private sector. … Read More

Too little too late for SBS?

After years of neglecting the multicultural demands of its charter in a bid for ratings and revenues, there are signs SBS is trying to repair the rift with the movers and shakers in multicultural Australia. But is it all hot air and spin? And does the expertise still exist inside their Artarmon headquarters to achieve anything meaningful? Time will tell, but to-date it’s not looking good. … Read More

The bad news SBS was never going to report – about itself.

When a news organisation discovers bad news about itself, the temptation is to junk its commitment to free and fearless reporting and bury the story. When the bad news is about how unhappy staff are with their bosses, the temptation is overwhelming. That’s what happened to SBS when it unwisely asked its staff what they thought about their managers – and the staff told them in no uncertain terms. … Read More

SBS’s lost decade – an accident or vandalism?

As SBS attempts to chart a new course after the 10-year reign of fashion designer Carla Zampatti as Chairman, we look back at what many critics say was not so much a series of bungles and missed opportunities but more a lost decade in the multicultural broadcaster’s once-illustrious history. How much was the wrong person in the wrong job and how much the result of a conscious policy of the Howard Government? … Read More

Can the ethnic lobby save Australia’s multicultural broadcaster?

The likely merger of the ABC and SBS was the elephant in the room during a senate estimates hearing in the Australian Federal Parliament. But is the threat of losing an independent multicultural broadcaster enough to galvanise renewed support from the ethnic lobby? In 1986 the threat brought thousands onto the streets in protest but can ethnic leaders rally their supporters today? Or is it too little too late? … Read More