tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/news-corp-australia-7143/articlesNews Corp Australia – The Conversation2022-02-04T06:03:57Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1764622022-02-04T06:03:57Z2022-02-04T06:03:57ZNews Corp’s deal with Google and the Melbourne Business School questioned by journalism academics<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444471/original/file-20220204-25-z0c3h4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1040%2C4333%2C2312&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>News Corp Australia and Google have announced the creation of the <a href="https://www.digitalnews.academy/">Digital News Academy</a> in partnership with the Melbourne Business School at the University of Melbourne. It will provide digital skills training for News Corp journalists and other media outlets.</p>
<p>Is this a good thing or a bad thing? </p>
<p>The academy won’t provide full degrees, just certificates and a chance to upgrade digital skills in a fast-changing media environment.</p>
<p>Many companies in various industries have partnered with universities to deliver what used to be in-house training programs. Strengthening the links between industry and the academy has been welcomed in many sectors and certainly encouraged by governments for many years.</p>
<p>Why then are we as journalism academics concerned? </p>
<p>There are several reasons. The first and most obvious is the incursion of a high-profile and controversial media company into the higher education sector and the extent to which that is funded by a large disruptive digital search company.</p>
<h2>Antagonism towards academia</h2>
<p>It is telling that the Digital News Academy will be housed in the University of Melbourne’s private arm, the Melbourne Business School, rather than its Centre for Advancing Journalism within the Arts faculty.</p>
<p>Australia’s largest commercial media company has long criticised university journalism education, and journalism academics, including each of the authors of this article and many of our colleagues. The company even <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/oct/13/student-indoctrination-claim-unethical-and-untrue-say-media-lecturers">once sent an incognito reporter into a University of Sydney lecture</a> to <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/uni-degrees-in-indoctrination/news-story/9f67f148e0c75c3d0d34af2416f5ab1a">uncover criticism of News Corp in the classroom</a>. That reporter, Sharri Markson, is now investigations editor at The Australian and a member of “the panel of experts” that will oversee the Digital News Academy. </p>
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<span class="caption">DNA.</span>
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<p>So it comes as no surprise that News Corp has avoided journalism programs.</p>
<p>News Corp Australasia’s executive chairman, Michael Miller, has said part of the academy’s role will be building a stronger Australia by keeping society informed through “strong and fearless news reporting and advocacy”. </p>
<p>Yet partnering with a journalism program would have facilitated that. It might also have helped assuage News Corp critics, some of whom have been active online during the week with reminders about News Corp’s unethical conduct during the hacking scandal and its disregard for scientific evidence in its reporting on climate change. </p>
<p>University journalism courses teach ethics and critical thinking alongside practical skills such as new digital ways of fact checking, gathering information and telling stories. Google Australia already offers free tutorials to journalism programs about smart ways to use its search engine to find and check investigative stories.</p>
<p>University journalism programs also distinguish between training and education; the former is predominantly about skills, the latter places those skills in context and teaches students how to think critically about the industry and environment in which they work. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/more-than-protection-australian-journalism-needs-better-standards-171117">More than protection, Australian journalism needs better standards</a>
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<p>By placing this course in a business school and not a liberal arts or humanities faculty, the venture gets the kudos of the University of Melbourne’s backing without the challenging academic culture News Corp dislikes. </p>
<p>News Corp and Google are corporate clients, paying the university for these courses, so the capacity for independent criticism of Australia’s most dominant newspaper company is eroded even further.</p>
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<img alt="The Digital News Academy will be within the Melbourne Business School, rather than the University of Melbourne's Centre for Advancing Journalism." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444504/original/file-20220204-19-iru8er.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444504/original/file-20220204-19-iru8er.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444504/original/file-20220204-19-iru8er.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444504/original/file-20220204-19-iru8er.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444504/original/file-20220204-19-iru8er.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444504/original/file-20220204-19-iru8er.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444504/original/file-20220204-19-iru8er.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The Digital News Academy will be housed within the Melbourne Business School, rather than the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Advancing Journalism.</span>
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<h2>What will the Digital News Academy do?</h2>
<p>All we know so far about the academic credibility of the Digital News Academy comes from its promotional announcement, in press releases <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/digital-evolution-news-corp-google-unite-to-train-journalists/news-story/e2e0dfa37dba21b135dccfa02280affa">reported</a> in the Media section of The Australian (published by News Corp). </p>
<p>The publicity says the nine-month course will take 750 enrolments from journalists at News Corp Australia, Australian Community Media (the stable of 160 regional publications formerly owned by Fairfax) and smaller media partners.</p>
<p>A “governance committee” will select candidates (who nominate themselves or are put forward by their employers). These students will be expected to use the Google suite of tools as they collaborate online at the Melbourne Business School, to generate, build and sell stories to the course’s “Virtual Academy Newsroom”.</p>
<p>Each year there will be what is being billed as a major journalism conference and a US study tour for a select group of trainees.</p>
<p>There are no public details yet of the academic credentials of the certificate program but the academy has drawn on a “panel of experts”, almost all of whom come from inside News Corp and Google.</p>
<h2>Google gains influence</h2>
<p>It’s easy to see why Google was motivated to fund a News Corp training academy above and beyond what it is required to do as part of its bid to stop further intervention in its workings by the Australian government under the terms of the News Media Bargaining Code.</p>
<p>But there are some deeper questions about why a company that has such a stranglehold on the new digital economy is involved. By funding the academy Google may be undercutting full university degrees specialising in journalism.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-news-media-bargaining-code-could-backfire-if-small-media-outlets-arent-protected-an-economist-explains-155745">The news media bargaining code could backfire if small media outlets aren't protected: an economist explains</a>
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<p>Relying on Google to make up the shortfall in news organisations’ training budgets is a problem. It allows Google to shape curriculum while appearing to be a champion of the same journalism industry it has been accused of undermining.</p>
<p>As journalism academics we respect the need for specialised training and skills development. But journalism programs should never be captured or constrained from being critical of the industry for which they prepare students. They should continue to embed ethics in their courses. The aim, after all, is to improve journalism, for everybody’s benefit.</p>
<p>As it is often said, <a href="https://biblio.com.au/book/just-another-business-journalists-citizens-media/d/665176342?aid=frg&gclid=CjwKCAiAl-6PBhBCEiwAc2GOVK3MhOR3JubEbpE5gFZkdlJUIcRSrMUbLODaMj_bpEKyTPtUbY4WlBoCB0MQAvD_BwE.">news is not just another business</a>. While studying journalism often involves the study of business, business imperatives should not drive the study of journalism itself.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176462/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Dodd worked as a journalist at The Australian newspaper and has provided in-house legal and news writing training for News Corp. He is currently employed as the director of the Centre for Advancing Journalism, which is mentioned in this article. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexandra Wake provided in-house training for the ABC and for Australian Provincial Newspapers. She is the elected President of the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia and is the current programs manager for journalism at RMIT.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Ricketson has worked on staff at The Australian, among other news outlets. He was a member of the Finkelstein inquiry into the media and media regulation which was sharply criticised in News Corp Australia publications. His appointment as the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance's representative on the Press Council was also criticised by News Corp Australia. </span></em></p>Does Australia benefit from Google paying for News Corp training?Andrew Dodd, Director of the Centre for Advancing Journalism, The University of MelbourneAlexandra Wake, Program Manager, Journalism, RMIT UniversityMatthew Ricketson, Professor of Communication, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1396492020-05-29T11:47:04Z2020-05-29T11:47:04ZDigital-only local newspapers will struggle to serve the communities that need them most<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338461/original/file-20200529-51509-xgwve9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C102%2C2450%2C1529&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>This week News Corp Australia announced the end of the print editions of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/may/28/news-corp-announces-end-of-nearly-100-australian-print-newspapers-in-huge-shift-to-digital">112 suburban and regional mastheads</a> – about one-fifth of all of Australia’s local newspapers. Of those, 36 will close and 76 become purely online publications. </p>
<p>Getting <a href="https://piji.com.au/research/the-australian-newsroom-mapping-project/">the chop entirely</a> are small regional newspapers such as the Herbert River Express in far north Queensland. Its circulation at last boast was “more than 2,700”. Those going digital include free suburban papers such as Sydney’s Manly Daily, established in 1906. As recently as 2017 it came out five times a week. Since 2018 is has been published <a href="https://mumbrella.com.au/news-corp-scales-manly-daily-back-two-editions-per-week-487802">twice a week</a>. </p>
<p>Whether the online-only papers can survive remains to be seen. But our research at the <a href="https://www.uts.edu.au/research-and-teaching/our-research/centre-media-transition">Centre for Media Transition</a> suggests it will be hard for them to match what local print editions offered communities. </p>
<h2>Losing readers and advertisers</h2>
<p>Like print media in general, local newspapers have been squeezed by readers and advertisers moving online. Most of the revenue, even for those with a cover price, has come from advertising. This has been eroded by the likes of Google and Facebook as well as localised classified sites such as Gumtree.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/digital-platforms-why-the-acccs-proposals-for-google-and-facebook-matter-big-time-108501">Digital platforms. Why the ACCC's proposals for Google and Facebook matter big time</a>
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<p>While this has happened at slower pace than the loss of the “rivers of gold” for metropolitan newspapers, the “desertification” of local news has progressed steadily. In the decade to 2018, <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Digital%20platforms%20inquiry%20-%20final%20report.pdf">106 local and regional newspapers closed</a> in Australia, leaving 21 local government areas – 16 in regional areas – without a local newspaper. </p>
<p>Those that have survived have seen their staff slashed, with reporters expected to produce more “content” at the cost of doing the serious reporting that made local newspapers so valuable to their communities.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/after-a-dark-decade-for-australias-regional-newspapers-a-hopeful-light-flickers-116359">After a dark decade for Australia's regional newspapers, a hopeful light flickers</a>
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<h2>Local media ‘keystones’</h2>
<p>As Danish researcher Rasmus Kleis Nielsen notes in <a href="https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2017-12/Local%20Journalism%20-%20the%20decline%20of%20newspapers%20and%20the%20rise%20of%20digital%20media.pdf">Local Journalism: The decline of newspapers and the rise of digital media</a> (IB Taurus, 2016), local newspapers have been the “keystone” of “local news ecosystems”. </p>
<p>No other local media comes close to the local coverage they provide. “Most of the many stories about local politics produced by the local paper never appear anywhere else,” says Nielsen. Local radio and television have tended to piggyback on their work. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-a-local-newspaper-means-to-a-regional-city-like-newcastle-116276">What a local newspaper means to a regional city like Newcastle</a>
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<p>Without this reporting, local democracy suffers. Research <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2018/07/16/how-closures-of-local-newspaper-increase-local-government-borrowing-costs/">in the United States</a> shows local papers are essential to keep local government accountable. </p>
<h2>Local news doesn’t scale</h2>
<p>Given declining revenue for traditional print, and the cost of printing, moving to digital-only platforms was perhaps inevitable. </p>
<p>But the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the move by killing off advertising from local businesses such as restaurants and pubs. In April News Corp <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/apr/01/news-corp-to-suspend-print-editions-of-60-local-newspapers-as-advertising-revenue-slumps">suspended the print runs of 60</a> local papers. Just three – the Wentworth Courier, Mosman Daily and North Shore Times, serving Sydney’s most affluent suburbs – will resume, thanks to their lucrative property advertising.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-is-killing-quality-journalism-heres-one-possible-lifeline-138627">Coronavirus is killing quality journalism – here's one possible lifeline</a>
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<p>Making the rest viable as digital-only local news services is going to be tricky for two reasons.</p>
<p>The first is to do with how online advertising works. The second is how readers in these areas relate to the news, and their willingness to pay for online news.</p>
<p>A key characteristic of the historical readership and advertising markets for local newspaper is their “bounded” nature. But the defining characteristics of online news and advertising is “scaleability”. </p>
<p>Once all newspapers could largely dictate prices to advertisers. This was particularly the case with local papers, often the only game in town. But the game has changed. What they can charge for online advertising is a fraction of what they once could for print. </p>
<p>Most metro newspapers responded with plans to grow their readership by providing their content free online. The idea was that more readers would help maintain them as an attractive advertising platform.</p>
<p>This has generally not proved the winning strategy they had hoped. So papers from <em>The Age</em> to <em>The Daily Telegraph</em> have been moving to paywalls, enticing their print buyers to online subscriptions.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cash-for-clicks-the-herald-sun-model-cant-be-the-future-of-journalism-119638">Cash for clicks: the Herald Sun model can't be the future of journalism</a>
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<h2>Unwillingness to pay</h2>
<p>Our research suggests doing the same with non-metropolitan newspapers is likely to be harder. Readers in rural and regional areas are less willing than those in cities to pay for online news services.</p>
<p>As part of our report <a href="https://www.uts.edu.au/sites/default/files/2019-09/Regional%20News%20Media%20-%20State%20of%20play_0.pdf">Regional News Media: State of Play</a> published in 2019, we surveyed 266 people living in regional and rural areas, demographically representative of the population of country Australia.</p>
<p>Just 14% indicated willingness to pay for news online, with 49% saying they would not (and 37% unsure). </p>
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<p>The News and Media Research Centre at the University of Canberra has found similar reluctance to pay. The results of its <a href="https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2019-06/apo-nid240786.pdf">Digital News Report Australia 2019</a> show just 12% of regional news consumers had paid for online news, compared with 16% of urban news consumers. More detailed research produced for our <a href="https://www.uts.edu.au/sites/default/files/2019-09/Regional%20News%20Media%20-%20State%20of%20play_0.pdf">report</a> shows the difference is starkest for subscriptions. </p>
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<h2>Poorest communities hurt the most</h2>
<p>That unwillingness to pay for online content may change if it’s the only way to get local news. Attitudes to online subscriptions are shifting, and people do value local news. Research commissioned for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Digital Platforms Inquiry found <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/ACCC%20consumer%20survey%20-%20Consumer%20use%20of%20news%2C%20Roy%20Morgan%20Research.pdf">71% of the population </a> rated it as important as national news for social participation. </p>
<p>But the portents aren’t great for quality local news coverage – particularly in regional areas. The likelihood is further desertification of the local news landscape, with poorer communities most affected. </p>
<p>This is confirmed <a href="https://www.usnewsdeserts.com/reports/expanding-news-desert/loss-of-local-news/">by US research</a> that shows the people with the least access to local news are often “the poorest, least educated and most isolated”.</p>
<p>As Matthew Hindman of Harvard’s <a href="https://shorensteincenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Stickier-News-Matthew-Hindman.pdf">Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy</a> has noted: “Even the clearest local digital success stories employ only a few reporters – far less than the number laid off from the papers in their own cities. </p>
<p>"Worrisome, too, is the fact they have found the most traction in the affluent, social-capital rich communities that need them least.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139649/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chrisanthi Giotis works at the Centre for Media Transition which has previously been contracted by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to research the impact of digital platforms on news and by the Australian Communications Media Authority (ACMA) to research localism.
She is a member of the Australian Labor Party.</span></em></p>Research by the UTS Centre for Media Transition suggests it will be hard for digital-only local newspapers to match what local print editions gave their communities.Chrisanthi Giotis, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Communication, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1196382019-07-04T06:27:26Z2019-07-04T06:27:26ZCash for clicks: the Herald Sun model can’t be the future of journalism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282582/original/file-20190704-126400-1231wzf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Melbourne newspaper the Herald Sun plans to use cash bonuses to incentivise its journalists to lure more readers and hook more subscribers.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As newspapers around the world struggle with revenue, News Corp Australia’s Melbourne tabloid the Herald Sun is trialling a bold idea to lure more readers over its paywall. </p>
<p>The plan is to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/jun/24/news-corp-tabloid-the-herald-sun-offers-journalists-cash-bonuses-for-clicks">give its reporters bonuses</a> of $10 to $50 based on page views and if casual readers attempting to read a paywalled story are motivated to buy a subscription. Herald Sun reporters could potentially make hundreds of dollars extra a week.</p>
<p>But the rest of us should be concerned about this strategy – particularly that it might succeed.</p>
<p>At a time when readership, circulation and advertising revenues are collapsing, it is important to examine the innovations print media companies are deploying to stay afloat. Their responses to the contraction of print news have implications for the broad distribution of information that is crucial to a healthy modern democracy. </p>
<h2>Declining revenue</h2>
<p>The Herald Sun plan comes as owner News Corp Australia continues to struggle with declining revenue. </p>
<p>The company’s latest <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/news-corp-swings-to-33m-profit-20190510-p51m08.html">profit figures</a> show revenue down 7% across its almost-150 Australian news titles. While digital subscriber numbers were up an impressive 20.5%, from 409,000 to 493,200, over 12 months, this did not offset losses from its traditional revenue streams, print subscriptions and advertising.</p>
<p>As with other newspaper organisations, job cuts have become an annual event. Last month News Corp Australia announced another <a href="https://mumbrella.com.au/news-corp-to-cut-50-jobs-from-across-the-business-582594">50 jobs</a> would go, with a particular focus on the Herald Sun and journalists <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/jun/04/news-corp-australia-plans-to-axe-journalists-without-digital-skills">lacking digital skills</a>. </p>
<p>New skills were needed as the company focused on digital publishing, said executive chairman Michael Miller: “We’ll see some skills come into the company and unfortunately some people who have been here a while will be leaving.” </p>
<h2>You won’t believe what’s driving this!</h2>
<p>So this bonus scheme is clearly intended to accelerate the growth in online subscribers, given its strategies so far have not managed to keep up with losses. </p>
<p>Will it succeed, and what are the possible consequences? </p>
<p>First, there is the strong possibility it will further promote <a href="http://mediaengagement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/ENP-Investigating-the-Influence-of-Clickbait-News-Headlines.pdf">clickbait</a> and encourage reporters to focus on stories about sex, crime and entertainment at the expense of politics or analysis. A problem with any online economic model based on monetising “views” is that it <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pra2.2015.145052010081">incentivises speed and spectacle</a> over restraint and verification. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australians-are-less-interested-in-news-and-consume-less-of-it-compared-to-other-countries-survey-finds-118333">Australians are less interested in news and consume less of it compared to other countries, survey finds</a>
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<p>Second, the strategy is unlikely to boost advertising revenue. Search engine analysts say the value of internet advertising is <a href="https://searchengineland.com/auction-dynamics-traffic-can-mean-less-revenue-209845">more complicated than that</a>. More important than sheer numbers is focused, high-quality, high-value traffic. </p>
<p>Third, focusing on traffic and click conversions overlooks an alternative approach to finding a sustainable news model.</p>
<p>Newspapers can look to use technology in a variety of way to become more viable propositions. In the Herald Sun’s case, News Corp has commissioned a “<a href="https://www.thedrum.com/news/2019/06/24/news-corp-tabloid-pay-journalist-cash-bonuses-clicks-page-views-and-subscriptions">proprietary analytics platform</a>” called Verity that will give editors “real-time performance updates”. </p>
<p>But it could have gone another way. In other parts of the world news organisations are using technology to pursue an alternative strategy – better connection with their communities.</p>
<h2>Investing in conversations and community</h2>
<p>In the US, the New York Times and the Washington Post are collaborating with <a href="https://www.mozilla.org/en-GB/">Mozilla</a> (developer of the open-source Firefox browser) to build tools to increase engagement between news organisations and readers. It is known as the <a href="https://coralproject.net/">Coral Project</a>, and backed by the philanthropic <a href="https://knightfoundation.org/">Knight Foundation</a>, which believes “informed and engaged communities […] are essential for a healthy democracy”.</p>
<p>Knight has given almost US$4 million for the Coral Project to build a new commenting platform, <a href="https://www.niemanlab.org/2017/05/how-the-washington-post-plans-to-use-talk-the-coral-projects-new-commenting-platform/">called Talk</a>. Its developers hope Talk can help overcome the behavioural problems prolific on commenting systems. The goal is for comment sections to foster better conversation.</p>
<p>“Talk is a key way for The Washington Post to integrate reader voices with our reporting, and to grow our communities of readers who engage with news,” says the <a href="https://coralproject.net/portfolio/washington-post/">Post’s comments editor</a>, Teddy Amenabar. “Coral’s software was created by newsrooms for newsrooms, so their tools are tailored to our needs.” </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-conversation-makes-an-impact-by-doing-things-differently-118259">How The Conversation makes an impact by doing things differently</a>
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<p>Another trend in journalism is hyperlocal journalism – internet-based media focused on the stories and interests of a local community. So far the model for hyperlocal journalism is very small. A lot of it is done by volunteers. But there are cases of viable businesses. At this stage it is not a big money spinner but it’s early days, and there is a lot of experimentation. </p>
<p>As traditional newsrooms lose the resources to practise “shoe leather” journalism, hyperlocal ventures are “promising alternatives for fostering civic discourse and engagement,” according to media academic <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1329878X16648390">Andrea Carson and colleagues</a>. This is despite “a reduced capacity for verified journalism”.</p>
<p>Certainly these examples of using technology to connect with a community are closer to the way newspapers originated 300 years ago. They brought communities together with news travelling by word of mouth or letter, and circulating in taverns and coffee houses in the form of pamphlets, newsletters and broadsides. </p>
<p>The Herald Sun model to drive traffic moves in the opposite direction.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119638/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leon Gettler does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A newspaper paying its journalists bonuses to chase page views has big implications for its role in a democracy.Leon Gettler, PhD student, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/552982016-02-28T19:02:21Z2016-02-28T19:02:21ZDiversity and local voices at risk as media owners aim to become emperors of everything<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112997/original/image-20160226-18059-65ewct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mitch Fifield seems to have herded enough fractious media cats into the cage to get his media reform package through.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Lukas Coch</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia is about to experience its biggest shake-up in <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2016/02/24/media-ownership-shake-cards">media ownership laws</a> for nearly 30 years.</p>
<p>In 1987, then-treasurer Paul Keating <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/ruperts-gorilla-tactics-20110716-1hj4o.html">declared</a> media owners could be “queens of screen or princes of print but not both”. But digital technology has obliterated that distinction, and media owners may now become emperors of everything.</p>
<p>Using online platforms and social media, television and radio broadcasters now publish text; newspapers now publish audio and video. Audiences – at least where the infrastructure is good – can stream and podcast anything from anywhere. Digitisation mocks the rule that says a broadcast licence-holder can own only two out of three distribution platforms in any one market – when the field consisted of newspapers, radio and television.</p>
<p>Similarly, the rule that a broadcaster’s audience reach is restricted to a maximum of 75% of the population is unenforceable when audiences can download from anywhere.</p>
<p>However, the underlying rationale for those rules remains valid. It is in the public interest to have a diversity of voices in the news media and some restraints on the concentration of media power.</p>
<p>Australia already has extremely concentrated news media ownership. This is most vividly exemplified by News Corp’s control of <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-does-murdoch-own-70-of-newspapers-in-australia-16812">about 70% of daily newspaper circulation</a>. This, incidentally, was the most spectacular consequence of the 1987 shake-up.</p>
<h2>Policy challenges</h2>
<p>Achieving a diversity of news media voices remains a difficult policy challenge. </p>
<p>Theoretically, digital technology enables everyone with a computer, access to the internet and the skills of basic literacy to become a publisher. A few new players have emerged as a result, most notably Crikey and The Guardian Australia, but the overwhelming majority of people who get their news online get it from the long-established media organisations – the ABC, News Corp and Fairfax.</p>
<p>The reason is that even with the <a href="http://mumbrella.com.au/is-this-the-worst-time-to-be-a-journalist-155470">heavy cuts to journalists’ jobs</a>, these organisations still have more resources, more access to newsmakers, a bigger news-making capability and stronger reputations than most start-ups.</p>
<p>If the mooted rule changes go through, the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2015/s4412387.htm">mergers</a> already foreshadowed by the media industry will mean less diversity – not more.</p>
<p>A further unresolved policy challenge concerns the provision of local news services in regional and rural Australia. </p>
<p>Regional news services have been cut or centralised in locations far from the communities they are meant to be serving. For example, the WIN regional television network has centralised its Victorian news operation <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-28/win-news-ballarat-closes-studio/6893656">in Wollongong</a>, which is about as far from Mildura as Paris is from Berlin.</p>
<p>The National Party has <a href="http://www.crikey.com.au/2016/01/28/nats-mull-more-draconian-content-rules-in-the-bush/">raised concerns</a> about the risk of reform to regional and rural news services. But, so far, the best it has done by way of solutions is to say the ABC should do more – with the same money. The ABC’s outgoing managing director, Mark Scott, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/mark-scott-pushes-for-postabbott-abc-funding-boost-20151009-gk5jhp.html">has said</a> he will argue for more money specifically for regional and rural news, but success here looks a long shot in the current federal budgetary environment.</p>
<p>The government has also been making vague noises about a <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/local-news-quota-part-of-reform-plan/news-story/0147169581fe71ddae2b319bfb9e0d12">quota system</a> for local news and programming, but there has been no detail. </p>
<p>An obvious question is: how do you define “local”? Is a news service based in Bendigo local enough for Warrnambool? Or one in Orange local enough for Dubbo?</p>
<p>As matters stand, regional and rural communities look likely to be the biggest direct losers from these rule changes.</p>
<h2>Lessons from the past</h2>
<p>For all that, the fact that Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has got a package of changes <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/media-reform-turnbull-cabinet-approves-new-laws-paving-way-for-mergers-and-acquisitions-20160222-gn0t56.html">this far</a> is remarkable considering the ill-fated recent history of attempts at media reform.</p>
<p>Fifield appears to have <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-24/media-ownership-law-reform-generally-welcomed/7195808">stared down News Corp</a> over more access to big sporting events for Foxtel. News wanted some events removed from the anti-siphoning list, which prevents pay TV from shutting out free-to-air TV from these events, and tried to use an offer of support for the other rule changes as leverage.</p>
<p>However, Fifield seems to have herded enough of the other fractious media cats into the cage to get his changes through with or without News’ support. Considering that parts of the regional television industry campaigned against the changes, using an astro-turfing operation called <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s4303509.htm">Save Our Voices</a>, this is no mean achievement.</p>
<p>Look at what happened when Malcolm Turnbull tried to get this done when he was communications minister under Tony Abbott. Abbott took one look at the scrapping mass of contending media industry interests and <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/tony-abbott-dodges-media-reform-fight/news-story/6ba3a655a1175219231795f3d6b627d7">looked away</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113000/original/image-20160226-18063-1u1um9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113000/original/image-20160226-18063-1u1um9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113000/original/image-20160226-18063-1u1um9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113000/original/image-20160226-18063-1u1um9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113000/original/image-20160226-18063-1u1um9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113000/original/image-20160226-18063-1u1um9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113000/original/image-20160226-18063-1u1um9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113000/original/image-20160226-18063-1u1um9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">How News Corp’s Daily Telegraph responded to the Gillard government’s 2013 attempt at media reform.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Daily Telegraph/ABC</span></span>
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<p>And in 2013, when Julia Gillard and her communications minister, Stephen Conroy, tried to push through a program of admittedly ill-considered reforms to <a href="https://theconversation.com/media-reforms-a-historic-opportunity-missed-12963">media accountability mechanisms</a>, the uproar from the industry and the Rudd-Gillard leadership spill caused them to sink them without trace.</p>
<p>Over time the media have exerted decisive influence over public policies that affect their own interests, as in 2013. However, the extent of their influence over other areas of policy is a complex and contested question.</p>
<p>What is unusual about this fresh wave of change is that it is about to be achieved in circumstances where the industry was not united but was persuaded that the benefits outweighed its objections.</p>
<p>The big perceived benefit lies in mergers and consolidations, which the industry believes will deliver better returns to shareholders. Nine Entertainment, for one, is gearing up for a major lobbying effort under the new regime, appointing former federal treasurer Peter Costello <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/media-and-marketing/peter-costello-named-new-nine-entertainment-chair-to-succeed-david-haslingden-20160224-gn2fge.html">as chairman</a>. One of most talked-about <a href="http://www.afr.com/business/media-and-marketing/dream-deals-a-threeway-merger-between-fairfax-media-nine-entertainment-co-and-southern-cross-media-20151224-glul88">possible mergers</a> is between Nine and Fairfax.</p>
<p>And while News Corp might not have got its way on the anti-siphoning laws, it looks like being <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/feb/24/coalition-drafts-new-media-rules-to-allow-mergers-across-tv-print-and-radio">able to merge</a> with Network Ten.</p>
<p>Thus, corporate media interests stand to gain from this round of reforms, but at a cost to the public interest in diversity of voices and in news services to the bush.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55298/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Denis Muller does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The fact that Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has got a package of changes to Australia’s media laws this far is remarkable considering the ill-fated recent history of attempts at media reform.Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Advancing Journalism, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/553822016-02-25T23:47:27Z2016-02-25T23:47:27ZEnd of an era in regional publishing as APN puts papers up for sale<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112987/original/image-20160225-15160-9se4w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">APN's regional arm includes 12 daily newspapers.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Twitter</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>This week <a href="http://mumbrella.com.au/apn-news-media-australian-regional-media-sell-revenues-348949">APN News & Media announced</a> it planned to sell off its regional newspaper business. </p>
<p>It signals the end of an era. Regional publishing has been at the heart of APN since <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/collapse-the-fall-of-tony-o-reilly-1.2348585">Tony O’Reilly</a> bought the Queensland newspapers from Rupert Murdoch in the late 1980s.</p>
<p>The sale paves the way for Murdoch’s News Corp to buy them back. As well as being a 14.9% shareholder of APN, News Corp already has dailies in <a href="http://www.cairnspost.com.au/">Cairns</a>, <a href="http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/">Townsville</a> and the <a href="http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/">Gold Coast</a> so the additional Queensland papers could complement those. APN also has a <a href="http://mumbrella.com.au/apn-bolsters-its-new-regional-paywalls-offering-readers-access-to-a-slew-of-news-corp-assets-313385">bundling arrangement</a> with News to give paid regional newspaper subscribers access to News Corp titles. Added to that News Corp’s Executive Chairman, Michael Miller, is a former CEO of APN News & Media. It’s clear they would know how to value the business for a purchase.</p>
<p>APN’s newspapers comprise twelve daily papers and more than 30 community papers and specialist publications. They cover an area from <a href="http://www.coffscoastadvocate.com.au/">Coffs Harbour</a> in Northern NSW to <a href="http://www.dailymercury.com.au/">Mackay</a> in North Queensland. </p>
<p>Most of the papers were originally founded as family or local concerns, often with their own printing press. But under the management of APN in recent years a lot of the production was centralised to the offices of the “flagship” <a href="http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/">Sunshine Coast Daily</a>.</p>
<p>That proved to be a hard sell, as editors in North Queensland or New South Wales felt their pages were losing the local touch readers demanded.</p>
<p>For city dwellers it’s difficult to register the sheer size of the geography APN’s regional publishing covers. And from a commercial perspective it seems the logistics and costs of running a collection of small newspapers across such a spread has just become too painful.</p>
<p>The inside joke about APN has always been that it is the biggest media company no one has ever heard of. That might have been true before the company rebranded its outdoor business and highly visible billboards in Melbourne and Sydney suddenly appeared bearing the APN name.</p>
<p>But in regional Queensland and Northern New South Wales it has been well known for years, a vital part of the local economies and a key training ground for young journalists.</p>
<p>Some of the titles are over 150 years old. <a href="http://www.dailyexaminer.com.au/">The Daily Examiner</a> in Grafton and <a href="http://www.qt.com.au/">The Queensland Times</a> in Ipswich were both founded in 1859. Five of the other dailies are more than 140 years old. That represents an enormous amount of history and an incredibly valuable connection to regions such as Rockhampton, Mackay, the Fraser Coast and Lismore.</p>
<p>But the web has well and truly arrived in these places, and despite holding out until 2006, APN did eventually join the digital race. </p>
<p>With such a long print tradition it was inevitable that a digital transition would not be smooth. In addition to the same challenges that metro publishers face in becoming digitally focused, APN also had to deal with a unique set of issues such as local advertiser expectations.</p>
<p>From this week’s news it appears perhaps the corner has been turned. The company reported consistent digital audience growth and, after introducing paywalls, 86% conversion to subscriptions of those who trialled the offer. </p>
<p>But it seems the effort has been too much and it’s time to get out.</p>
<h2>Potential buyers</h2>
<p>So who might the buyers be for a network of newspapers with shrinking print sales and some digital growth, where costs have been stripped to the bone, but where the footprint covers a potent mix of rural, mining and tourism based regional economies?</p>
<p>The two obvious starters are News Corp and Fairfax Media. Either company could roll its digital technology into the APN network and bolster the sales teams for network advertising sales. </p>
<p>Fairfax might be interested, to help support its Domain business. Domain struck a resell deal with APN in 2009 which gave it reach into northern property markets it otherwise couldn’t get to. At a very low price it might be interested. But it’s hard to see Fairfax getting involved in the slog of local publishing in those regions.</p>
<p>A dark horse might be The West Australian. It showed some interest a few years ago because of the Queensland mining jobs boom and the chance of joining east coast mining job ads to its west coast listings. But mining is on the wane and The West’s digital platforms are now all sourced from Yahoo. So a purchase like this is probably unlikely. </p>
<p>That leaves a possible break up and a series of smaller sales to independents and local groups. In the long run that might be best for local markets, but it would be a slow and difficult process for APN unless there was a conglomerate of small groups ready to go and with a network ad sales plan to execute.</p>
<p>So while Fairfax probably has the cleanest balance sheet of the big players, my bet would be on News Corp picking up a bargain by buying back the papers it sold in 1988.</p>
<p>Under that scenario the winners - apart from News - would be readers and their communities. It might seem counter-intuitive that further reduction in the number of news providers through a purchase by News Corp would be a good thing for readers, but in this case the alternative might be that the papers actually cease publishing in any form. News Corp would offer welcome stability, publishing expertise in all formats and a solid commitment to the regions. </p>
<p>There might, however, be some consolidation of titles particularly around the Sunshine Coast, where The Sunshine Coast Daily and the Noosa News compete directly with existing News Corp publications.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55382/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hugh Martin was General Manager of APN Online from 2007-2010.</span></em></p>The sale of APN’s regional newspaper arm could see Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp buy back the papers it sold in the ‘80s.Hugh Martin, Lecturer in Journalism, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/425392015-05-29T05:59:34Z2015-05-29T05:59:34ZMX axed: how your mobile killed off the freebie paper<p>When free newspaper MX first hit Melbourne’s streets in 2001 it triggered what became known as the newspaper wars. News Limited modelled the success of Britain and Sweden’s giveaway press and directly aimed MX at young readers and commuters. Fairfax caught wind of its rival’s plans and hurriedly fired back with its own similarly named version, Melbourne Express. Both launched on the same day in February that year.</p>
<p>Reporting on the “wars”, an ABC reporter at Flinders Street described sassy young things wearing “baseball caps and trendy t-shirts” beguiling commuters to take a free newspaper. Both publications were tabloid and carried a mix of the day’s news, sport and celebrity gossip with cheeky headlines and an irreverent writing style. It was an exciting time for those in the newspaper business, and a development that seemingly suggested the internet was no threat to print.</p>
<p>Like most wars, it was hard fought, ending with one victor. While the two papers were similar, MX was a much smarter business model. It was an afternoon paper, meaning that the distribution was centralised mainly within the city for captive commuters to pick up and read for the tedious train ride home. Melbourne Express was a morning paper, handed out to commuters as they arrived at Flinders Street station ready for work. To catch readers before their travel meant Fairfax had to set up a radial network outside the CBD with many more distribution points than MX, adding to its costs. The Fairfax experiment ended after just nine months.</p>
<p>Yet, this week, News Corp Australia chief executive Julian Clarke announced that MX would wind up operations in a fortnight. It would appear the screen is supreme for younger readers who prefer their smart phones over the free newspaper for their news fix.</p>
<p>A former reporter for the paper said he felt sad and nostalgic hearing the news, somewhat ironically on Facebook last night: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It was the most fun I have had at work, I was paid for the privilege of writing cheeky and creative headlines,“ he said. "Four am starts aside, it was a really satisfying role, there is nothing like finishing work, hopping on the train and seeing people chuckling at stories in the paper that you have just produced. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The paper had moments of glory despite very early warnings that free newspapers set a dangerous precedent for the paid-for masthead market. It was timely for breaking the news of Schapelle Corby’s Indonesian jail sentence for drug smuggling in 2005, and it was often first with very late night sporting results that missed the paid-for daily’s deadlines.</p>
<p>Based in Melbourne, MX initially proved so popular with young, train commuters that editorial staff numbers grew quickly to 25, and a Sydney edition was launched in 2005. Two years later, the franchise expanded to Brisbane with total editorial staffing levels at around 30. This was just before the global financial crisis, and the success of MX had killed off the PM edition of its cousin, the paid-for Herald Sun.</p>
<p>Media academics such as Britain’s Bob Franklin around this time identified that the "free newspaper” factor should not be underestimated as an influential force in the steady decline of the paid print newspaper market. </p>
<p>Franklin argued that the freebie factor was at least as significant as the internet in earlier days for disrupting paid-for newspapers’ business model because the freebie mastheads “cannibalised” content and poached circulation and advertising revenue from traditional paid mastheads, sometimes within a newspaper group. </p>
<p>It’s an argument strongly reminiscent of the fervent ongoing debate between proponents of digital paywalls for newspapers and those media outlets who provide free digital access to their news products.</p>
<p>But some might argue that MX was always fairly thin on the ground with its news coverage and that it was more interested in scandal and weird stories than informing the public; not to mention its reader feedback with its ‘Vent Your Spleen’ and ‘Overheard’ columns. </p>
<p>In any case, like its hardcopy cousins with a cover price, MX’s circulation was steadily declining. Clarke blamed this on the “audience’s swift shift to mobile” for their information and entertainment. And, there is plenty of evidence to show he is right in thinking that we prefer to get our news from our screens.</p>
<p>An <a href="http://www.digitalnewsreport.org/">Oxford University Reuters Institute report</a> last year studied ten countries and found that the use of smartphones and tablets for reading news had jumped significantly from 2013 to 2014. </p>
<p>More than a third of online news users across all ten countries (39%) used two or more digital devices each week for news, and one in five said that their mobile phone was their primary access point. Denmark was ahead of the pack with more than half of its surveyed citizens getting news from the mobile phone. In Australia, <a href="http://ipsos.com.au/i-view-mobile/">Ipsos research</a> shows that four out of five of us own a smart phone.</p>
<p>It doesn’t take an advertising guru to see what is shaping up to be the next, largely untapped, frontier for targeted advertising — you only need to check your phone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/42539/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea Carson was a journalist at The Age when MX was launched.</span></em></p>You might have loved its cheeky light news, or avoided it as (literally) trash. Either way, MX will cease to exist. The killer? Your mobile phone.Andrea Carson, Lecturer, Media and Politics - Political Science; Honorary Research Fellow, Centre for Advancing Journalism , The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/389792015-03-24T19:15:18Z2015-03-24T19:15:18ZHeed Fraser’s warning on Australian media concentration – it’s getting worse<p>The passing of former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser last Friday prompted me to recall his warning about the state of Australian media ownership <a href="http://electionwatch.edu.au/australia-2013/election-rewind/malcolm-fraser-contemporary-media-and-politics">in an interview</a> I did with him during the last federal election.</p>
<p>He said: “In my term, there were seven print proprietors. Now there is one and a bit. We have the most concentrated media in any democratic country, anywhere in the entire damn world. That is dangerous.”</p>
<hr>
<p>Malcolm Fraser for The Conversation: <a href="https://theconversation.com/malcolm-fraser-does-it-matter-who-owns-our-papers-yes-it-does-7738">Does it matter who owns our papers? Yes it does</a></p>
<hr>
<p>Malcolm Fraser’s warning is one we should take seriously. As Fairfax Media finalises union talks this week to cut 80 local jobs across its regional newspapers, and federal communications minister Malcolm Turnbull is again flagging relaxing media ownership laws, local news is particularly under threat in the global media environment where large audience reach matters.</p>
<h2>More regional cuts</h2>
<p>In Victoria, to remain competitive in this environment, Fairfax has proposed cutting 62 editorial jobs among the 80 full-time positions earmarked for redundancy across 13 regional mastheads including Albury Wondonga’s Border Mail, The Ballarat Courier, Bendigo Advertiser and The Warrnambool Standard. </p>
<p>Local MPs and city councillors in these regions have spoken out against the cuts with independent MP Cathy McGowan telling the <a href="http://www.bordermail.com.au/story/2955199/cathy-mcgowan-stands-up-for-the-border-mail/">Federal Parliament last week</a> that regional newspapers such as the Border Mail play an important role providing local news and any job cuts could impact on this service.</p>
<p>The union representing local reporters, the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, will meet Fairfax in Sydney today to discuss the cuts. It is understood that the Border Mail will lose up to 23 staff, the Wimmera Mail will lose 40% of its workforce, the Ballarat Courier will lose some reporting staff and its news director, and most of the newspapers will lose some photographers and sub-editors.</p>
<h2>Diversity being squeezed</h2>
<p>Fairfax’s regional publishing business Australian Community Media (ACM) is also proposing a common newspaper template with opportunities for content sharing. Journalists spared from the sackings will be required to do more with less including taking photographs, sub-editing their stories and uploading them online. </p>
<p>The implications of these changes are concerning for the diversity of local reporting, its accuracy and future print circulation figures, which until now have remained buoyant compared to their city cousins. A well-functioning democracy requires an informed citizenry and, to do this, journalists find and verify information in the public interest, rather than just selecting information from press releases. Citizen journalists can fulfil some of this local news gathering role, but subject coverage can be patchy and lacking editorial authority.</p>
<p>The all-too-soon forgotten <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/1205_finkelstein.pdf">Finkelstein media inquiry in 2012</a> reminds us that some local communities are already the poorer for losing local news outlets. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>There is some evidence that both regional radio and television stations and newspapers have cut back substantially on their news gathering, leaving some communities poorly served for local news. This may require particular support in the immediate future, and I recommend that this issue be investigated by the government as a matter of some urgency.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Changes mooted for media laws</h2>
<p>Yet, Malcolm Turnbull, photographed last year standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the nation’s media executives and flagging changes to media laws, has this month again raised the prospect of such reforms in a submission to the Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Turnbull’s argument essentially is that the internet has lowered the barriers to entry and enabled greater competition and more media diversity. At face value this sounds promising. Yet, such changes would make possible further media mergers and acquisitions and what such reforms would mean for local news reporting requires careful consideration.</p>
<p>Veteran journalists can readily recall the days when Canadian Conrad Black divested his stake in Fairfax because foreign ownership laws in 1996 prevented his company owning more than a 25% share of an Australian media outlet. </p>
<p>Today, among Australia’s top 10 news websites, all are digital iterations of traditional media outlets. The only new entrants to this list are not new Australian start-ups but large, foreign-owned companies such as Britain’s Daily Mail (fourth) and the Australian version of the British-owned Guardian (sixth).</p>
<h2>Foreign arrivals</h2>
<p>Foreign-owned media companies are reaching out to Australian shores as never before — not only do we have Australian versions of the Guardian and Daily Mail, but BuzzFeed, and very soon the Huffington Post (in a 51-49 partnership with Fairfax). In the broadcast media sphere US-owned Netflix announced it will undercut local competitors — Presto, jointly owned by Foxtel and Seven West Media; and Stan, a Fairfax and Nice Entertainment Co. partnership — to stream video content to Australian subscribers for $8.99 a month.</p>
<p>The arrival of foreign-owned media is interesting in the context that we once had specific laws to guard against it in the name of protecting Australian news content and its democratic function. Oddly, in 2015 when local newspapers are experiencing financial duress, there is little examination about what these offshore arrivals mean for Australian audiences and Australian news content, particularly in terms of local news. </p>
<h2>Start-ups struggling to survive</h2>
<p>Perhaps, the important question arising out of this global media environment is not how to limit competition and potential sources of news diversity; but rather, what can be done to encourage growth in Australian news media start-ups? The current environment makes it very difficult for them to succeed long-term, as Wendy Harmer identified yesterday when announcing her online outlet <a href="http://thehoopla.com.au/">The Hoopla</a> will close. In the US, start-up news reporting entities are tax-exempt non-profits recognised by the IRS under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code.</p>
<p>Australia’s Finkelstein media review also included suggestions for tax breaks for non-profit news outlets. Another idea was to allocate a proportion of Australia’s multi-million dollar government advertising and public notices expenditure for new news ventures.</p>
<p>Of course, the ABC plays a unique role delivering local Australian news across the nation’s states, but it too has suffered recent substantial funding cuts and journalism job losses.</p>
<p>The right formula to preserve the diversity of Australian local reporting might lie elsewhere, but shouldn’t we at least engage in the conversation?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/38979/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea Carson is part of a research team based at the University of Melbourne's Centre for Advancing Journalism that is investigating the civic impact of journalism and local news reporting.</span></em></p>if anything, media concentration is worsening and diversity won’t be improved by changing Australia’s media ownership laws.Andrea Carson, Lecturer, Media and Politics; Honorary Research Fellow, Centre for Advancing Journalism , The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/339372014-11-07T01:13:19Z2014-11-07T01:13:19ZGlimpses of gold in rivers of mud?<p>Mr Murdoch is reported to be <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/murdochs-bet-on-newspapers-pays-off-once-silted-the-river-is-flowing-again/story-e6frg8zx-1227115212422">smiling once more</a>, or at least his investors are. News Corp’s shares are up nearly 7% on the back of increased revenues and earnings from book publishing, education and realestate.com.au. </p>
<p>The news division, separated off from the high-earning bits of the company in 2013, is still declining as a source of income but not by as much as before – 3% year-on-year, to be precise. This prompted CEO Robert Thomson to declare that “the Murray River was silted up, and now it’s flowing again”. </p>
<p>In this publishing economy, that’s something to be pleased about. The Australian is still losing money, as are premium News Corp titles in other markets such as the UK and US, but overall earnings for shareholders are nonetheless up by 21%.</p>
<p>At Fairfax, meanwhile, publishing revenues are also <a href="http://www.adnews.com.au/news/fairfax-revenue-down-2-3">down by “2-3%”</a>, but like News Corp, slowing pace of decline in its journalism business is offset by revenue growth in its non-news divisions such as real estate offshoot Domain, up 21%.</p>
<p>Coverage of these “moderate” declines has been largely positive, with The Australian reporting that “News Corp’s bet on newspapers opening up new avenues with audiences in the digital age is paying off”. In the same article, global CEO Thomson declares that the company’s Australian newspapers have “turned a corner”. </p>
<p>I take away two observations from these figures. First, the decline of print journalism continues, as readers move from newspaper to digital platforms. That is an irreversible trend, and although the death of print may yet be a long way off – whoever imagined, when those first CDs came out in the 1980s, that there would still be a market for vinyl LPs in 2014? – the end of its historic dominance as a news consumption platform is rapidly approaching. </p>
<p>The monetisation of digital journalism proceeds, moderating the decline in print revenues but not entirely replacing them. Perhaps it never will. </p>
<p>Hence my second takeaway. In the digital era journalism cannot be profitable as a stand-alone capitalist enterprise. Not journalism as we have known and valued it, at least, given any foreseeable future estimates of online user numbers and digital advertising revenue. </p>
<p>Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell this week <a href="http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/shaun-micallefs-mad-as-hell/LE1404V007S00#playing">lampooned Fairfax’s most recent round of newsroom cuts</a> with a hilarious, if scarily resonant sketch about a local newspaper produced entirely by an untrained cadet with grammar and spelling issues. </p>
<p>The future of “quality” journalism – by which I mean the products of news media adequately resourced for original investigative work, international coverage and other expensive, labour-intensive outputs – will depend on one of the following approaches. </p>
<p>Cross-subsidy on the News Corp model, for example, has kept The Australian, The Sunday Times and other Murdoch titles afloat for years. The issue here is: for how much longer will News Corp shareholders support the maintenance of loss-making news media, especially after the powerful founder is no longer around to advocate for the journalism which he undoubtedly loves? This model requires sustained support by individuals and corporate boards, and the readiness of shareholders to think beyond profit maximisation. </p>
<p>In the old days, media barons, notably Rupert Murdoch, used their newspapers as megaphones for the wielding of ideological and political influence. Today the power of the press, such as it was, has eroded in the face of digital proliferation of news sources and the fragmentation of audiences. The incentive for powerful men and women to own loss-making news media is declining. </p>
<p>Then there are the various forms of public support and sponsorship of journalism, such as the non-profit trust model of the UK Guardian, or the donations readers make to one of my favourite sites, <a href="http://www.scottishreview.net/">The Scottish Review</a> (which make it independent of advertising). </p>
<p>Cultural philanthropy of this type has played an important role in the maintenance of journalism down the years, but has the obvious drawback that it produces clubby, cliquey titles which – and this is no criticism, just a statement of fact – service special interests, or preach to the converted, rather than reach out to the broader public. </p>
<p>State subsidy is another approach, but outside of some European countries not one adopted by liberal capitalist societies where press freedom is deemed to be irreconcilable with reliance on the state for income. The publicly funded ABC and its counterparts around the world such as the BBC have been legally protected from government interference since their foundation, and continue to enjoy public support for their journalistic work. But even these behemoths often struggle to get the government of the day off their backs. </p>
<p>The financial viability of independent, quality journalism is a hard nut to crack in the digital age, then, and despite the encouraging figures from News Corp and Fairfax this week, remains elusive. Which is not to say that there is no solution – perhaps that Zuckerbergian entrepreneur who can truly change the game is right now sitting at a computer somewhere in the world. </p>
<p>Until he or she emerges, there is only one way to ensure that you have access to decent journalism not just tomorrow, or next year but in a decade or two – pay for it, as you pay for your water and your council services. Support those who make it with your subscriptions and, for non-corporate providers, donations. </p>
<p>As consumers of news we have power, and we must increasingly use it to support the media we want to see survive.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/33937/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Mr Murdoch is reported to be smiling once more, or at least his investors are. News Corp’s shares are up nearly 7% on the back of increased revenues and earnings from book publishing, education and realestate.com.au…Brian McNair, Professor of Journalism, Media and Communication, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/181252013-09-11T20:47:39Z2013-09-11T20:47:39ZFormer News Corp chief plays coy on election coverage<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/31184/original/7bbdzhyw-1378898060.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Former News Corp Australia chief executive Kim Williams speaking with journalist Kerry O'Brien at a QUT business leaders' forum.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kim Stephens/Brisbane Times</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In his first major speech since <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-09/kim-williams-resigns-news-corp/4875670">his sudden resignation</a> last month as News Corp Australia’s chief executive, Kim Williams had the packed Grand Ballroom at Brisbane’s Hilton hotel abuzz with speculation. </p>
<p>What might he reveal about Rupert Murdoch and News Corp’s internal politics? And what would he say about the News papers’ <a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/consign-rudd-to-the-bin-of-history/story-fni0cwl5-1226691046953">“Kick this mob out”</a> election coverage?</p>
<p>As The Australian Financial Review’s Brisbane bureau chief Mark Ludlow <a href="https://twitter.com/M_Ludlow/status/377619628006309888">tweeted</a>, “Former News Corp boss Kim Williams about to speak at QUT Biz Leaders Forum, partly sponsored by Courier Mail. Awkward.”</p>
<p>Queensland University of Technology invited Williams to speak at its prestigious <a href="http://www.qut.edu.au/business/about/events/qut-business-leaders-forum">Business Leaders Forum</a> some time ago, before his resignation. The lunchtime events are intended to celebrate exceptional leadership and achievement in business, and Williams was an obvious choice, given his experience up to and including News Corp.</p>
<p>Until the fateful day, that is, only days after the federal election had been called, when <a href="https://theconversation.com/news-is-the-story-as-boss-kim-williams-resigns-16889">Williams walked away from the Murdoch empire</a>.</p>
<p>As many media observers wrote at the time, that decision was not only connected to <a href="http://www.afr.com/p/national/allan_puts_punch_back_into_news_hHeGfA2cYTy02WpFU7AUjJ">personality and power clashes within News Corp</a>, but also possibly linked to the increasingly shrill anti-ALP tone of its newspapers in particular. This was widely believed to be the result of the <a href="http://inside.org.au/col-allan-murdochs-100-million-man/">return to Australia of Col Allan</a>, Rupert’s bulldog in charge of whipping the troops into shape for a Coalition victory.</p>
<p>On the day of the resignation, both Murdoch and Williams <a href="http://mumbrella.com.au/kim-williams-resigns-171875">restricted their public statements</a> to protestations of mutual admiration and respect, and the story soon faded from view as the election campaign gathered steam. Those of us on the guest list for his Brisbane speech did wonder, though, if the lunch would go ahead. </p>
<p>Well, Williams did come to Brisbane yesterday, and he did talk about News Corp’s election coverage. (<a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/former-news-boss-defends-election-coverage-20130911-2tk6e.html">You can watch some of the highlights here</a>, in which Williams also discusses “grin-f***ing”, Australia as “the land of the glass jaw”, and his opinion of Rupert Murdoch.)</p>
<p>Asked by <a href="http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/18880167/election-coverage-wont-hit-news-williams/">an AAP reporter</a> whether he thought News Corp had damaged its brand by running so hard against Labor, Williams replied “I saw nothing in the last election that was [brand damaging]”. He added:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Campaigning journalism in elections has been a periodic and regular phenomenon in Australian media, particularly in print media, and I see nothing in the last election that was… I mean there may have been a greater degree of energy in that campaign, but whatever commercial rewards that will be harvested from that will be through the response of consumers and their products or not.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In other words - and as he had argued earlier in his official speech - “consumers are now in charge”. If they don’t like News Corp’s coverage, they can vote with their eyes and wallets and go elsewhere.</p>
<p>Interestingly, however, when gently prodded by moderator and <em>Four Corners</em> host Kerry O’Brien on “how did you personally feel” while reading The Daily Telegraph and The Australian each day through the campaign, Williams became less forthcoming.</p>
<p>“As a personal matter, I’ll probably keep it in the personal inbox,” Williams replied, to laughter from the crowd.</p>
<p>“I think you’ve answered the question,” O'Brien said. “I think if you had felt comfortable entirely you probably would have said something.” Williams simply smiled.</p>
<p>Elsewhere in his Q&A session with O’Brien, Williams spoke highly of Rupert Murdoch, describing him as more complex than the caricature many people saw; “at his best he is tremendously insightful and a remarkable human being”.</p>
<p>Williams again attacked the Gillard government and then Communications Minister Stephen Conroy’s unsuccessful attempt to regulate the news media. And he connected that failed move with a broader denunciation of Australia’s regulatory culture, which he argued “is verging on out of control” and out of synch with an increasingly engaged public, armed with a universe of information and communication tools through the internet.</p>
<p>In a well-received and <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FVJZhxZ_QO7xrNeWn_-Oflw2mu-MT6BZ1SRG1Kx9A-A/edit?usp=sharing">wide-ranging address</a>, Williams spoke of the discipline he learnt through music and his work in the arts; how Australians don’t give or take criticism well (“I think it is a real national limitation”); and his optimism that big data could be “a force for good”.</p>
<p>He also confessed to being a recent convert to Twitter. Having told 7.30 presenter Leigh Sales he thought Twitter was “rubbish”, he said she had put him straight and that he is now a keen reader of tweets. (But before you start following @KimWilliams, it’s being used as a spam account; Williams doesn’t have a public profile yet.)</p>
<p>And he observed how some Australian commercial radio hosts – no names were mentioned, <a href="http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/why-alan-jones-should-be-scared-of-what-happened-to-vile-kyle/story-e6frfmqi-1226487273417">none were required</a> – had been called to account by their listeners using social media. To paraphrase him, people are no longer prepared to be condescended to or treated like passive subjects of top-down authority – a lesson not just for the media, he argued, but for all institutions, public and private.</p>
<p>These are important observations, coming as they do from the man responsible for the restructuring of News in recent years. One hopes that future News Corp managers will share Williams’ pragmatism. </p>
<p>As for dishing the dirt on News Corp and what lay behind his sudden resignation - well, we’ll have to wait for the memoir.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/18125/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian McNair receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>In his first major speech since his sudden resignation last month as News Corp Australia’s chief executive, Kim Williams had the packed Grand Ballroom at Brisbane’s Hilton hotel abuzz with speculation…Brian McNair, Professor of Journalism, Media and Communication, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.