Podcast appearances and mentions of michael balk

Macca and Kenny are joined live on air by Michael Balk President, Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA); Pay Up: Should AI companies pay for the creative work they use? Artificial intelligence is changing how we create, consume and discover news, music, books and art. But as AI companies train their models on enormous amounts of creative work, artists, journalists and performers are asking a simple question: if your work is being used to build billion-dollar AI products, shouldn’t you be paid? Joining us this morning is Michael Balk, President of the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, to discuss the union’s Pay Up campaign. Michael is an actor and producer best known for his work in children's television and theatre as part of dirtgirlworld (An animated program that appeared in the 2010s and is now a touring show), but has also appeared in musicals, theatre productions and television commercials. The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) is Australia’s union representing journalists, actors, musicians, screen workers, voice artists, photographers and other creative professionals. Its Pay Up campaign argues that generative AI systems are being trained using enormous collections of copyrighted creative works—including journalism, books, photographs, illustrations, music, scripts and performances—without creators’ knowledge, consent or payment. The campaign calls for governments to change the law so creators will receive an ongoing, fair payment whenever their work is used, rather than a one-off fee, under a system called Equitable Remuneration. It also calls on them to give workers a secure right to be paid when the works they create are licenced, traded or used in any way – including by AI companies. Equitable Remuneration currently does not exist in Australia, but does in the UK and other nations. Australian DJ and music producer Josh Fawaz used AI to generate vocals and drums for a cover of Madonna's 1989 hit “Like a Prayer” which spent 4 weeks on top of the National Radio Airplay charts and peaked at Number 2 on the ARIA charts. After initially saying nothing, he has now been compelled to add AI credits to the track on Spotify. The AI-assisted cover is currently beating Madonna's new single “Danceteria” on the ARIA charts. At its national conference this week, the ALP announced it would launch a Fair AI Taskforce through its Chifley Research Centre, which proposes to give Australian workers a greater say in how the technology shapes the nation. Microsoft signed a one-year pilot deal to access news articles from Nine Media to inform its Co-Pilot AI system, letting it use information from news stories to inform its answers – but not to give users access to the full story. Nine did not disclose the value of the deal. Nine Entertainment will lay off 30 people from The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald due to “the extreme state of disruption” caused by AI. The company has plans to retrain and to hire people for “digital-first, reader-savvy, data-informed roles”, The Guardian reports. According to the Reuters Institute's Digital News Report 2026, 10% of news consumers around the world use AI chatbots to get their news. For those aged under 35, it climbs to 16%. The post Sat, July 25th, 2026: Michael Balk President, Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA); Pay Up: Should AI companies pay for the creative work they use? appeared first on Saturday Magazine.

Wednesday Headlines: Donald Trump walks back threat to charge toll on the Strait of Hormuz Albanese to announce world-first AI office Brisbane teen critical after school stabbing Angus Taylor rules out a coalition with One Nation First FIFA World Cup semi-final underway Deep Dive: Beetlejuice has cancelled its national tour; Waitress is no longer coming to Sydney. The big musicals said that production costs were too high and sales were too low. The show could not go on. This week, the Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance held an emergency meeting to discuss the future of Australia’s musical theatre industry and how to save it. In this episode of The Briefing, the Federal President of the MEAA, Michael Balk, joins Sacha Barbour Gatt to reveal the union's plan to save the industry, and how fans and the government can help. Follow The Briefing: TikTok: @thebriefingpodInstagram: @thebriefingpodcast YouTube: @TheBriefingPodcastSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Seventy-one percent of MEAA members are deeply concerned about AI replacing human-led creativity. MEAA is campaigning for strong regulation through an Australian AI Act and for big tech to pay a levy for using artists' work to train AI. Join MEAA's Policy team, Lilia Anderson and Matt Byrne and Industrial Officers Miles Hunt and Tess Chappell with MEAA President, Michael Balk chairing, for a vital briefing on AI and performers. They'll unpack how AI threatens the creative industries, the risks for performers, how MEAA is pushing governments and companies to act, and what safeguards could protect your image, voice and data.

FULL SHOW: Dayne Zorko, Michael Balk, Alex Tselios + MORE! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

FULL SHOW: Dayne Zorko, Michael Balk, Alex Tselios + MORE! 

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America in truth and hilarity. Michael Balk, Scott Welliver, Tim Bousum, Josiah Ramirez, Joel Burgei

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America. Michael Balk, Scott Welliver, Tim Bousum, Joel Burgei, Cilla Albee, Happy Wyatt

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America in truth and hilarity. Michael Balk, Tim Bousum, Scott Welliver, Joel Burgei, Cilla Albee, Happy Wyatt

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America in truth and hilarity. Michael Balk, Tim Bousum, Joel Burgei, Scott Welliver, Happy Wyatt, Cilla Albee

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America in truth and hilarity. Michael Balk, Scott Welliver, Joel Burgei, Cilla Albee, Happy Wyatt, Tim Bousum

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America in truth and hilarity. Michael Balk, Scott Welliver, Cilla Albee, Happy Wyatt, Tim Bousum, Joel Burgei

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America in truth and hilarity. Michael Balk, Joel Burgei, Scott Welliver, Cilla Albee, Happy Wyatt, Tim Bousum, Josiah Ramirez

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America in truth and hilarity. Tim Bousum, Michael Balk, Joel Burgei, Cilla Albee, Happy Wyatt, Scott Welliver

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America in truth and hilarity. Michael Balk, Happy Wyatt, Cilla Albee, Scott Welliver, Joel Burgei, Tim Bousum

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America in truth and hilarity. Michael Balk, Joel Burgei, Tim Bousum, Scott Welliver, Happy Wyatt, Cilla Albee

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America in truth and hilarity. Michael Balk, Happy Wyatt, Scott Welliver, Cilla Albee, Tim Bousum, Joel Burgei

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America in truth and hilarity. Michael Balk, Tim Bousum, Cilla Albee, Happy Wyatt, Joel Burgei, Scott Welliver

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America in truth and hilarity. Michael Balk, Happy Wyatt, Cilla Albee, Scott Welliver, Joel Burgei, Tim Bousum

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America in truth and hilarity. Cilla Albee, Michael Balk, Happy Wyatt, Tim Bousum, Josiah Ramirez, Scott Welliver

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America in truth and hilarity. Michael Balk, Scott Welliver, Happy Wyatt, Cilla Albee

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America in truth and hilarity. Michael Balk, Cilla Albee, Scott Welliver, Joel Burgei, Happy Wyatt, Tim Bousum

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America in truth and hilarity. Happy Wyatt, Michael Balk, Scott Welliver, Tim Bousum, Cilla Albee

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America. Michael Balk, Tim Bousum, Scott Welliver, Happy Wyatt, Joel Burgei, Cilla Albee

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America in truth and hilarity. Scott Welliver, Cilla Albee, Michael Balk

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America in truth and hilarity. Michael Balk, Scott Welliver, Cilla Albee, Tim Bousum

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America in truth and hilarity. Scott Welliver, Michael Balk, Cilla Albee, Tim Bousum, Joel Burgei

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America in truth and hilarity. Michael Balk, Joel Burgei, Scott Welliver, Cilla Albee, Happy Wyatt

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America in truth and hilarity. Scott Welliver, Happy Wyatt, Cilla Albee, Michael Balk, Josiah Ramirez

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America in truth and hilarity. Cilla Albee, Michael Balk, Happy Wyatt, Tim Bousum, Scott Welliver, Joel Burgei

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America in truth and hilarity. Michael Balk, Happy Wyatt, Cilla Albee, Scott Welliver, Tim Bousum

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America in truth and hilarity. Scott Welliver, Michael Balk, Cilla Albee, Joel Burgei, Josiah Ramirez, Tim Bousum

The how and the why of religious freedom in the United States of America in truth and hilarity. Cilla Albee, Happy Wyatt, Michael Balk, Scott Welliver

It's not what happens to disobedient children who talk with predators. It's what happens to the predators in the laws of sowing and reaping! Michael Balk, Cilla Albee, Happy Wyatt, Scott Welliver

Scrappy's rise to power in the underworld before he met Jesus. Michael Balk, Scott Welliver, Joe Lyons, Phil Petty, Cilla Albee, Happy Wyatt

Scrappy's friends come to his side after an attempt on his life before he met Jesus. Michael Balk, Cilla Albee, Happy Wyatt, Phil Petty, Scott Welliver, Joe Lyons