AFL Media is an Australian

sports media Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...

company operated by the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL) to provide coverage of the league and the sport of

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

History

Established in 2012, AFL Media provides content to AFL.com.au and the AFL Live

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...

, and formerly published the ''

AFL Record The ''AFL Record'' is the official program available at Australian Football League (AFL) matches. The publication began as the ''Football Record'' in Melbourne, Australia in 1912, making it one of the oldest magazines in Australia. The publicati ...

'' from 2012 to 2018. Although

Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets voice, mobile, internet access, pay television and other products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 ...

currently holds the digital media broadcasting rights for AFL games, there is an agreement in place that allows AFL.com.au to host video content from

Telstra Media Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets voice, mobile, internet access, pay television and other products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 ...

. Telstra also receives the advertising revenue from the website. Although AFL Media is located in the same building as the AFL's headquarters in

Docklands, Victoria Docklands, also known as Melbourne Docklands, is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. Docklands recorded a population ...

, it employs an independent editorial and journalist team to report on the league and produce content on its various mediums. Since its inception as a business, AFL Media had published the match-day ''

''; however

Crocmedia Sports Entertainment Network (SEN), formerly Crocmedia, is an Australian radio and television distribution company established in 2006 by journalists James Swanwick and Craig Hutchison. SEN's parent company is Sports Entertainment Group (SE ...

acquired the publishing arm of AFL Media in July 2018, and will assume the operations of producing the ''AFL Record'' and its related brands from 2019.

Standing down of Mitch Cleary controversy

The Mitch Cleary standing down controversy was a dispute centred around AFL Media's decision to stand down journalist Mitch Cleary for posting a tweet revealing Brooke Cotchin, the wife of Richmond Tigers player

Trent Cotchin Trent William Cotchin (born 7 April 1990) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a Brownlow Medallist, an All-Australian, a three-time Richmond best and fairest ...

, had breached the

‘s (AFL) social distancing rules in the interstate "hubs" that all Victorian and New South Wales AFL teams were in following a resurgence of COVID-19 in Victoria and

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. The move was widely condemned as a “betrayal of journalism”, and led to widespread public backlash, with many figures urging AFL Media to reinstate him to his position. Among the figures calling for his reinstatement was Brooke Cotchin, who voiced her support for Cleary in a tweet. Due to the backlash, AFL Media eventually walked back on their decision, reinstating Mitch Cleary to his previous position.

Reactions and aftermath

Journalist Caroline Wilson recommended that Cleary, who she deemed a "serious journo", should stop working for AFL Media. After the incident, fellow AFL Media journalist Damian Barrett declared his support for the AFL’s decision, a statement which was widely criticised. The controversy resulted in a significant worsening of approval towards AFL Media, with several figures, including president of the

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The club w ...

Eddie McGuire Edward Joseph McGuire AM (born 29 October 1964) is an Australian television presenter, journalist and Australian Football League commentator. He is also an occasional ''Herald Sun'' newspaper columnist. He hosts Channel Nine’s Millionaire ...

and radio broadcaster

Gerard Whateley Gerard Whateley is a Melbourne-based sports broadcaster and writer. Since January 2018 he has been chief sports caller and host of the ''Whateley'' program on the sports radio station SEN1116. He is also co-host of Fox Footy's ''AFL 360'' program ...

, stating that it had undermined the image of AFL Media as being independent from the Australian Football League. Journalist

Rohan Connolly Rohan Connolly (born 1965) is an Australian journalist specialising in Australian rules football writing for ''The Age''. Connolly began his media career writing for ''The Sun News-Pictorial'' in 1983 before moving to ''The Age'' in 1987, where ...

deemed the event a "disaster", and stated that it was the product of a gradual decline in the quality of AFL Media's reporting. He went on to state that the event could undermine public confidence in the AFL.

Content

AFL Media provides content for a range of digital products including AFL.com.au and the 18 clubs' official websites, the AFL Live mobile app and the various social media channels operated by the AFL on platforms such as

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

Snapchat Snapchat is an American multimedia instant messaging app and service developed by Snap Inc., originally Snapchat Inc. One of the principal features of Snapchat is that pictures and messages are usually only available for a short time before the ...

and

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

. It also produces a range of

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

s and online videos analysing various aspects of the AFL, as well as operating the league's photography and film departments: AFL Photos and AFL Films, respectively. It has been speculated that AFL Media could potentially control the broadcast of AFL games in future broadcasting agreements, and either directly sell to audiences itself or on-sell the content to free-to-air and subscription television networks.

Criticism

Due to its direct affiliation with the Australian Football League, AFL Media has received criticism from rival media outlets and journalists questioning whether it can truly provide independent coverage of the league, and that it is not just a

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

tool. Former St Kilda coach Grant Thomas publicly reiterated this criticism in 2016, stating that AFL Media was "avoiding" reporting on several controversial issues to protect the AFL's brand.

References

External links

* {{Official website, afl.com.au Australian Football League Australian rules football mass media Mass media companies of Australia Mass media companies established in 2012 2012 establishments in Australia