Research shows Google News results often prioritise mainstream media over smaller news businesses. It’s a double-edged sword. While local outlets suffer, it’s actually better for readers.
Nine’s fundraiser for the Liberal party left journalists appalled, as they should have been.
Julian Smith/AAP
While the Liberal party reaped mega dollars at Nine’s Monday fundraiser, Nine and its chief executive faced a backlash from staff at the company’s recently acquired former Fairfax newspapers.
The 2015 movie Spotlight portrayed how journalists at the Boston Globe uncovered child sex abuse in the Catholic Church. But not all ‘investigative journalism’ is as rigorous.
IMDB/Open Road Film
A new form of journalism, dubbed “access journalism” is creeping into the media, and its reliance on allegations and lack of evidence poses a serious threat.
A merger between Nine and Fairfax was announced in July this year.
AAP Image/Dean Lewins
What does the Nine Fairfax merger mean for diversity and quality journalism?
Eric Beecher of Private Media, Stephen Mayne of the Mayne Report and ABC finance presenter Alan Kohler join Andrew Dodd and Andrea Carson to discuss what the Nine Fairfax merger means for quality journalism.
Only the competition regulator stands in the way of further media concentration in Australia, but few expect the first of probably a number of mergers to be blocked.
David Moir/AAP
Australian media ownership is already among the most concentrated in the world, but if the competition regulator approves the Nine-Fairfax deal, expect the race for survival to produce more mergers.
In 1988, The Age was ranked the most influential institution in Melbourne.
ELAINE TO
The Age Charter of Editorial Independence – the first document of its type in Australia – first emerged in 1988. It was defended time and again over the following three decades.
Frank and Kerry Packer would be pretty happy to see the company they founded on the cusp of swallowing Fairfax.
Dean Lewins/AAP
Two companies with very different histories and cultures will now be forced to work together in search of efficiencies and revenue in a brutal media landscape.
Keating said the media free-for-all the Turnbull government was permitting under its new law would “result in an effective and dramatic close down in diversity and with it, opinion”.
David Moir/AAP
News Corp on the right, Fairfax on the left. This division has a long history in Australia, to the detriment of quality journalism and public debate.
The pattern of disinterest in Schapelle Corby’s release also reflected in our data on the total number of visits to these Australian news sites.
Made Nagi/EPA/AAP
The Schapelle Corby media circus wasn’t reflected in Twitter stats and calls to boycott Fairfax during the staff strike show limited impact on this social media platform as well.
The New York Times continues to invest in its newsrooms and expand internationally (it has journalists filing stories from over 150 countries), while Fairfax continues to chop newsroom jobs.
Elaine To/AAP
While digital revenue streams may be delivering, there’s still a strong reliance on print for revenue and research shows readers engage more with print.
Claims that ABC News siphons readers away from Fairfax publications are unfounded.
AAP Image/Joel Carrett
Explaining Fairfax’s struggles, CEO Greg Hywood blamed the ABC for distorting the market - but the national broadcaster actually drives traffic to its commercial competitors.
Culture depends on the conversations between artists and critics, audiences and researchers.
Theatre image from www.shutterstock.com
Was shadow minister for communications Michelle Rowland right when she said Australia’s level of media ownership concentration is one of the highest in the world?
Both News Corp and Fairfax get a decent profit from their digital real estate services.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
Media companies say their results are an indicator of a transformation taking place from traditional business to newer profitable digital platforms, but it seems the proof is still missing.
Fairfax is caught between boosting a profitable side of its business and retaining its traditional business at a loss.
Paul Miller/AAP
Firms that are trying to branch out into new technology, while at the same time retaining traditional business, are facing similar problems to startups.
Mergers are the next logical step as media leaders chase profits.
Paul Miller/AAP