Official publication of Wells Haslem Mayhew THE Official publication of Wells Haslem Mayhew I S S U E 9 Autumn 2017 DIVERSITY IN LEADERSHIP A very important shift... A good move for the company, a great move for our clients Welcome to the first edition of Wells Haslem’s magazine, The Shell for 2017 – our Autumn edition. Wells Haslem Mayhew: Leadership change All the members of the Wells Haslem team are working John Wells, Chairman on a range of new and exciting projects. A very important shift has taken place at Wells Haslem and is the subject of this edition. For a long time I have thought that the range and diversity of the work within the company required a subtle change in our leadership. While Ben has done a great job in helping guide the company to success over our initial five years, Alexandra has played no small part in its initial success. Therefore the three partners have agreed that Alexandra will become joint CEO with Ben. I will remain chairman and continue to work full time with the rest of the team. Alexandra’s elevation is a good move for the company, it’s a great move for our clients and demonstrates that we reward ability and commitment. Alexandra, along with Ben and I have helped grow the business to the point it is now, and even more importantly, has built strong and enduring client relationships. Along with Alexandra’s elevation to a management role, we will also make a slight change to the name to reflect her position as joint CEO. At a time when we are making adjustments to the leadership, we are also moving office…. From Neutral Bay to North Sydney. We have rented our own dedicated office in Walker the team at DOOLEYS Lidcombe Catholic Club prepare for Street and will take over our new digs towards the end of a very major redevelopment; the ATO on a range of April. projects; public company Ingenia Communities which is Just a short walk to North Sydney station, everyone will seeking to redevelop another caravan park site for older be able to catch the train to work. The new office has Australian seeking a community-style retirement. plenty of room for growth, and will get a new lick of paint Thank you all for your ongoing support and and some flash office furniture…courtesy of Ammo’s encouragement. design skills. I hope you enjoy reading edition eight of The Shell, we've Since our last edition where we touched on the US enjoyed putting it together for you. election, Donald Trump has been elected. One of our IPREX partners, Cincinnati-based NICK VEHR has provided a great overview of Trump’s election win and its impact on the US. The past six months have been both hectic and exciting for Wells Haslem. We have worked closely with a range of clients including British American Tobacco (BATA) on trying to have e- John Wells cigarettes regulated, James Hardie on Asbestos Injuries Chairman related disease; the AICF which pays compensation to legitimate claims with Asbestos injuries, helping: How do you solve a problem like fake news? It’s on us Fake news is nothing new but modern technology and social media mean now more than ever, the onus is on all of us to become smarter, more skeptical and more critical, argues Timothy Mantiri Against the global backdrop of an the upheaval hitting the The term “fake news” and its ubiquitous use has even led to it political establishment, and in which the intersection of politics, being named Macquarie Dictionary’s word of the year. journalism and social media became even more integral to the What is fake news? political process, no other phrase in recent political discourse has The term came to the fore last year in the lead up to the US gained more prominence than “fake news”. Presidential election, originally as a way of describing web sites The term has been used widely by many in the media and that published genuine looking news stories shared on social commentarial to help explain Donald Trump’s shock victory in media, particularly Facebook. last year’s US presidential election as well as by President Trump Some of the most prominent examples included one which himself when describing certain news outlets. The most notable falsely claimed that Pope Francis had endorsed Donald Trump, occasion was a fiery exchange with CNN reporter Jim Acosta which picked up over a million Facebook engagements as well as during a press conference, where Trump refused the outlet a an article that alleged without basis that Hillary Clinton would be question by stating “you are fake news”. indicted just before the election. The term has even had a run closer to home with Treasurer Scott Mainstream news outlets at the time picked up on the Morrison earlier in the year describing reports of a push inside proliferation of these articles. A month before the election The the Coalition to kick start the same sex marriage debate as ‘fake Washington Post published the results of its own experiment news’ as well as late last year when Resources Minister Matt that monitored four users’ Facebook accounts from August 31 to Canavan accused the ABC of running “nothing but fake news” in September 22 of last year and found that five “indisputably fake” its reporting of the Adani coal mine in Queensland. and three “profoundly inaccurate” stories trended on the Unsurprisingly, One Nation senators Pauline Hanson and website, meaning that they were placed by Facebook’s news Malcolm Roberts have also embraced the phrase. algorithms front and centre in users’ newsfeeds. pg. 3 | Fake news – it’s on us – Timothy Mantiri Similarly, a few days before the election There is nothing new about lies This is a notion shared by President Buzzfeed unveiled the results of its own propagated by individuals, organisations Obama who in one his final appearances extensive analysis, which found that and governments in political discourse, as President, noted the threat of fake hyper-partisan Facebook pages most however advancements in news to a functioning democracy. In a likely to post inaccurate stories received communications technology, in news conference on a visit to Germany far more shares, likes, and comments particular the development of social the then President aired his unease at the than mainstream news pages. media, has enabled the increasing way that ‘so much active misinformation’ These reports into the proliferation of proliferation of fake news stories in the can be ‘packaged very well’ and deliberately misleading news articles on information ecosystem as well as its presented as fact on people’s social social media referred to these stories as distribution to an audience wider than media feeds; ‘If we are not serious about ‘fake news’ thereby assigning a ever before. Furthermore as an facts and what’s true and what’s not, if shorthand moniker to the new and increasing number of people admit to we can’t discriminate between serious disturbing phenomena. getting their news from social media, the arguments and propaganda, then we potential for fake news articles being have problems…we can lose so much of More recently, the term has been used consumed and crucially, believed, grows what we’ve gained in terms of the kind of by politicians around the globe as an inexorably. democratic freedoms.” attempt to discredit criticism from journalists and news media. Ironically, While instances were seen among What can be done? Looking to the tech this characterisation of the mainstream supporters of both sides of the recent US sector media as fake news was first used by one election battle, Donald Trump’s Since the shock electoral victories of of its greatest beneficiaries, President campaign was seen by many as a 2016 that rocked established notions of Trump himself, who in December last particular beneficiary of fake news politics; experts, the commentariat and year tweeted “Reports by @CNN that I reports. As a study by economists at politicians themselves have been will be working on The Apprentice during Stanford University and New York searching for an explanation for their my Presidency, even part time, are University published two months after causes. Much of the analysis has been ridiculous & untrue, FAKE NEWS!” From November’s US presidential election focused on the intersection of politics, that moment and on many occasions found; in the run-up to the vote, fake journalism and social media in this day since, President Trump has resorted to anti-Clinton stories were shared 30 and age, and how the new phenomena of the term to describe media outlets he million times on Facebook, while those tech-enabled fake news has had an regards as dishonest and deceitful. favouring her were shared only eight impact on political discourse and the million times. However, it is worth noting A real and dangerous problem functioning of democracy. While that recent reports have signaled that thorough social science research has yet While President Trump and other fake news has begun to skew more left to emerge, many have looked to reforms politicians have begun to trivialise the with President Trump in power indicating for the tech sector and social media term by using it to attack reputable the problem isn’t unique to one side of platforms that facilitate the spread of media outlets whom they deem politics. Regardless of one’s thoughts on fake news as the best way to address this unfavourable, the phenomena fake news a candidate’s stated policies, few would issue. – originally coined to describe the disagree that an electoral result which Huge improvements in deliberate construction of fabrications may have been heavily swayed on telecommunications technology, the and lies in the form of news articles deliberate misinformation does anything proliferation of internet tech companies intended to mislead the public, usually but undermine our democracy.