Digital fundraising to fund news is increasingly high on the political agenda

Welcome to Tuesday’s update from Unmade. The full version is for our paying members.

Above the paywall you will find an announcement for a speaker from the Hobart Compass. We have already announced Sydney And Adelaide trains: Brisbane, Perth and Melbourne will arrive in the next few days.

Below the paywall, at the bottom of this post, is a coupon code for Unmade members to get a free pass to Compass, as well as our night-time economy marketing event, Unlock.

Today’s newsletter contains analysis of last night’s news that a parliamentary inquiry into social media has uncovered a levy on advertising on social platforms.

If you’ve been thinking about upgrading to an Unmade membership, now is the time. Your membership includes:

• Free ticket to all Unmade events including Unblock (October 31), Compass (during November), HumAIN (Q2 2025) and Redone (Q3 2025);

• Members-only content like this post; and all our paid archives;

• Your own copy Media not created.

Kat McGinn writes:

Today we can preview a panel that will take place next month at the inaugural edition of annual industry meeting Unmade Compass in Hobart.

The panelists include Ellie Bradley, CEO of Southern Cross Austereo for Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria and North America; Chas Bayfield, one of the world’s most awarded creatives and member of the Diemen Awards jury; Linden Cleary, Tourism Tasmania Marketing Director, Abe Abe, founder of audio production company Abe’s Audio; and Simon Crerar, editor-in-chief of SmartCompany.

The discussion will be moderated by Unmade’s Tim Burrows. All six speakers are based in Tasmania.

The pub conversation will later be featured as the Unmade podcast.

Paid Unmade members are eligible for free space on Compass and tickets are also on sale here.

Unmade’s Compass takes place in six states.

• Wednesday 6 November – Hobart, Hope and Anchor;

• November 12, Tuesday – Brisbane, Prince Consort;

• Wednesday 13 November – Sydney, The Sporting Globe;

• Monday 18 November – Perth, The Globe;

• Tuesday, November 19 – Adelaide, British pub Elephant;

• Wednesday 20 November – Melbourne, The Garden State Hotel.

  

Tim Burrows writes:

You should give this to Google.

By allowing Facebook to take the lead in the battle against news publishers, the larger player has successfully sidelined.

Yesterday’s episode interim report of the Federal Parliament’s Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian Society makes Facebook the star of the show. Google and parent company Alphabet received just 31 mentions in the report. Facebook and Meta 229.