In short:
Bill Shorten all but confirms to Q+A the federal government will reject calls from some in his party for a total ban on gambling advertising.
Ads during kids’ TV will be targeted but Mr Shorten says media companies need gambling [ad] revenue in a battle with social media giants.
What’s next?
- Cabinet is expected to sign off on legislation regulating gambling advertising on traditional and social media this week.
Related coverage:
- SBS: Former PMs, premiers and sportspeople demand Labor go all-in on gambling reform
- The Conversation: The gambling industry is pulling out all the stops to prevent an ad ban, but the evidence is against it
- The Conversation: Does free-to-air TV really need gambling ads to survive?
- [Satire] The Shovel: New hotline to help television networks addicted to gambling revenue
When we’re talking about ads and media, I highly recommend reading the relevant chapter in Manufacturing Consent (PDF version can easily be found for free online).
But really, intuition will get you the raw basics: using the ad revenue model gives the advertiser control over a media outlet. If media truly ‘need gambling ads’, then this implies they cannot afford to lose them. So, they therefore cannot offend the gambling industry or especially the companies advertising with them. And therefore, they are pressured into media bias, into failing to be critical of an obviously harmful, corrupt industry dealing in addiction manufacture AND laundering at the same time!