(Image: Adobe) It’s not news that the Australian news media is on the ropes. Some would say it’s going down for at least the second time. The big media organisations are buffeted by billionaires while a valiant group of independent news publishers tries to survive while fighting dwindling ad revenues, a news-avoiding public and a potential killer punch from Meta, which is threatening to kick them off Facebook.
Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland told publishers at the Local and Independent News Association (LINA) Summit in Port Douglas this month that the federal government has their backs. Rowland said the government’s News Media Assistance Program (News MAP) would support independent news publishers in filling the vacuum after the legacy media closed or downsized hundreds of newsrooms. The minister’s assurance came as the Public Interest Journalism Initiative’s (PIJI) Australian News Data Report found contractions in the news industry outpace expansions.
In the backlash over Meta’s Instagram decision we missed its other disturbing move Read More A handful of independents including Crikey , Schwartz Media and Solstice Media are doing well but the majority of independent news platforms are serving their communities with vital information while barely making a living. Newsroom closures continue PIJI has recorded 323 contractions and 171 expansions of newsrooms since January 2019, with a net change of minus 152. Independent news publishers are stepping up a.
