The sale of Australian Community Media may signal better fortunes for regional publishing. But there are ongoing concerns about the viability of the local news business model.
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.
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.
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.
The recommendations of the Senate inquiry into the future of public interest journalism are unlikely to get much traction, but the very real issues it was investigating remain unresolved.
Public interest journalism exposes corruption and wrongdoers, and holds the powerful to account. But it is increasingly under threat, and we need to find ways to protect it.
Imposing local content levies on Facebook and Google to help fund public interest journalism would take Australia towards a more European model of media regulation.
As the federal government looks to reform media ownership laws, the Australian media environment – in diversity and stability – is looking decidedly shaky.
David Leyonhjelm’s complaint over being called an ‘angry white male’ could showcase the difficulty in launching a successful action under Section 18C and undermine an argument in support of repeal.