Pulse Tasmania
{{Short description|Digital media company}}
{{Use Australian English|date=May 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Infobox website
| name = Pulse Tasmania
| logo = Pulse Tasmania Logo.jpg
| website_type = News and entertainment
| company_type = Private company
| language = English
| foundation = {{start date and age|df=yes|2016|04|1}}
| owner = Pulse Media Group Pty Ltd.
| url = {{URL|http://www.pulsetasmania.com.au}}
| advertising = Native, Display
| current_status = Active
| location_city = Hobart, Tasmania
| location_country = Australia}}
Pulse Tasmania is a digital news publisher owned by Pulse Media Group Pty Ltd based in Hobart, Australia.
Pulse publishes freely accessible local Tasmanian news content on digital platforms, including its [https://pulsetasmania.com.au website] and social media pages (like X and Instagram).
Pulse's office and newsroom is located at 99 Liverpool Street, Hobart.
According to Mediaweek, Pulse reaches more than 150,000 Tasmanians each week.{{Cite news|url=https://www.mediaweek.com.au/pulse-media-group-completes-rebranding-from-pulse-fm-to-pulse-hobart|title=Pulse Media Group completes rebranding to Pulse Hobart|date=2022-02-15|work=Mediaweek|access-date=2022-02-15}}
History
Pulse started as a radio station (Pulse FM) in 2016, serving sub-regional areas of Hobart.{{Cite news|url=https://radioinfo.com.au/news/pulse-fm-hobart-pivots-position-itself-content-creator/|title=Pulse FM Hobart pivots to position itself as a content creator|date=2020-08-31|work=RadioInfo|access-date=2022-02-15}}
In September 2020, Pulse announced it would be pivoting to position itself primarily as a content publisher rather than a radio station, with the radio station moving in-line with the digital content platforms.{{Cite news|url=https://radiotoday.com.au/pulse-fm-grows-its-brand/|title=
Pulse FM grows its brand in Hobart beyond just radio|date=2020-09-01|work=RadioToday|access-date=2022-02-15}}
In October 2021, Pulse FM Hobart officially rebranded to Pulse Hobart – positioning itself primarily as a digital publisher. The radio station remained under the Pulse FM branding.{{Cite news|url=https://radiotoday.com.au/pulse-fm-rebrands-to-pulse-hobart/|title=Pulse FM rebrands to Pulse Hobart!|date=2022-02-16|work=RadioToday Australia|access-date=2022-02-16}}
In the 12 months of 2021, Pulse Hobart accumulated more than 2.4 million social media interactions.{{Cite news |date=2022-02-15 |title=Pulse FM Hobart completes its transition to Pulse Hobart |url=https://radioinfo.com.au/news/pulse-fm-hobart-completes-its-transition-to-pulse-hobart/ |access-date=2022-02-16 |work=RadioInfo Australia}}
On 1 January 2024, Pulse FM Hobart (the radio station) was separated from Pulse's news brand, becoming [https://slamtas.com.au slam! Hobart]. The change was soft-launched.{{Cite web |date=2023-12-31 |title=Slam New Year Change |url=https://forums.mediaspy.org/t/narrowcast-and-am-narrowband-radio/860/1312?u=tx42 |access-date=2024-04-13 |website=Media Spy |language=en}} On 27 January 2024, Pulse Hobart adopted a statewide brand,{{Cite web |title=Pulse Hobart is now Pulse Tasmania |url=https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=899511588846590&set=a.722828043181613 |access-date=2024-04-13 |website=Pulse Tasmania - Facebook}} changing its name to Pulse Tasmania and becoming a purely news-focused brand.
In January 2024, a member of Tasmania's Aboriginal community complained about the large number of negative comments which contained racism, homophobia and threats of violence which were made on Pulse Tasamania's Facebook page, after a post was made about Invasion Day.{{cite news |last=Rojahn|first=Madeline|date=20 May 2024|title=Pulse Tasmania Facebook page reported to anti-discrimination body over allegations of racist comments on post |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-20/pulse-facebook-page-reported-to-anti-discrimination-body/103866690|work= |location= |access-date=20 May 2024}} Pulse initially responded to the complaint by saying it did not have the resources to continually monitor comments across all posts and that after the publication of a story, moderation was considered on an "as-reported" basis. However, Pulse ultimately disabled comments on the story and apologised for any hurt caused due to the comments.
In May 2024, the Multicultural Council of Tasmania submitted a formal complaint to Equal Opportunity Tasmania alleging that Pulse Tasmania had failed to adequately moderate comments on its posts to social media. MCOT alleged Pulse Tasmania was facilitating the incitement of hatred towards people of migrant backgrounds after a large number of negative comments were made on a post by Pulse about former premier Peter Gutwein's fundraising proposal for the Migrant Resource Centre. However, Pulse said it had not received any requests to remove specific comments related to the story.