Seven West news boss Anthony De Ceglie has called on the federal government to scrap a tax on commercial broadcasters.

De Ceglie wants tax breaks to support commercial newsrooms as the public contends with misinformation from the “evil forces” of social media.

“We are the shining light on the hill in an increasingly dystopian world of conspiracy theorists and deepfakes and anti-vaxxer cookers,” he said in a speech to the Melbourne Press Club on Tuesday.

By contrast, billionaire Elon Musk, proprietor of social media platform X, did not care about the truth, De Ceglie said.

“He revels in peddling lies and boasts about using his bin fire of a site to influence the US election,” he said.

“Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg is seemingly happy for Meta to profit off the page impressions that child sex offenders create when they routinely use his site to prey on their next victim.”

De Ceglie estimated the Commercial Broadcast Tax, levied on transmitter licences, would cost stations such as Seven, Nine and Ten a combined $45 million in the 2024/25 financial year.

What’s more, the federal government should stop treating Australia’s news stations with disdain and look into a rebate for producing news and current affairs, he said.

“If the prime minister is genuinely worried about the toxicity of Facebook and Meta and X and TikTok … then bloody well give a helping hand to the journalism that fights for facts,” he said.

De Ceglie was previously editor-in-chief of West Australian Newspapers and had not worked in television before becoming head of Seven’s news network.

Six months into the job, he has introduced a good news segment to bulletins, as well as star sign readings and a satirical component by comedian Mark Humphries.

In August, a Four Corners expose aired claims of bullying and sexism at the Seven Network and persistent allegations of a toxic workplace culture.

De Ceglie said he felt it was not his place to comment on the past and assured the Press Club audience he had confidence in his new leadership team.

He outlined the “no dickheads policy” he applies to newsrooms, where journalists are encouraged to support each other.

The Four Corners program followed allegations outlined in the Federal Court that the Seven Network paid for illicit drugs and sex workers to secure an interview with former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann.

Less than a year earlier in June 2023, former elite soldier Ben Roberts-Smith resigned from his role as general manager of Seven West Media’s Queensland operations, prompted by a Federal Court ruling that news reports he had committed war crimes were substantially true.

Seven West Media’s full year net profit has dived 69 per cent to $45 million.

 

Liz Hobday
(Australian Associated Press)