Of the four concessions One Nation won from the government in the latest media reforms, one has the potential to seriously threaten the public broadcaster.
As coal has muscled its way to the centre of the stage, we’ve seen the showdown between the government and AGL over the future of its Liddell coal-fired power station.
The last-minute bargaining on media reforms are a minimalistic band-aid response that will do nothing to prevent further concentration of Australia’s media landscape.
The proposed anti-siphoning changes certainly shift the economic balance from free-to-air to pay-TV, as well as from government intervention in the sport TV market to more open market play.
The Australian media policy omelette cannot simply be unscrambled. But forward-thinking diversity rules could help prevent further concentration of media ownership.
As the federal government looks to reform media ownership laws, the Australian media environment – in diversity and stability – is looking decidedly shaky.
The Turnbull government is engaged in a media reform process that is all about the sideshow – not forward-thinking policy with the public interest in mind.
If the word “reform” implies genuine public benefit, then real reform has been in short supply for all of the 106 years of electronic media regulation in Australia.
Before media reform becomes a runaway train, we need to return to the drawing board and rethink the maps that define and guide broadcasters on reporting news for “local areas”.
Mitch Fifield has announced a shake-up of Australia’s media ownership laws. What rules are being scrapped? And what effect might their axing have on Australia’s media sector?