A thriving, sustainable democracy depends on citizens having access to reliable information about their communities, their governments and the institutions that shape their lives.
That is why public interest journalism matters. It informs citizens, scrutinises power and strengthens democratic accountability.
But Australia’s news ecosystem is under sustained pressure.
Digital platforms have captured both audiences and advertising revenue once used to fund journalism. Those revenues increasingly flow to large foreign-owned technology companies that produce little or no original public interest reporting in Australia.
At the same time, online business models reward outrage, sensationalism and misinformation.
The result is a media environment that too often amplifies division while weakening trust.
The consequences are visible across the country.
Local newsrooms have closed, merged or downsized. Journalists have disappeared from some regional communities. Specialist reporting has contracted. Australians now receive less coverage of local councils, courts, planning decisions, health services and state politics – the very institutions that most directly affect daily life.
The Public Interest Journalism Initiative has documented this decline extensively.
Australia now has dozens of news deserts and many more news-poor communities with only limited local coverage. Since 2019, hundreds of newsroom contractions, publication closures and service reductions have been recorded nationwide.
This is not simply a commercial problem. It is a democratic problem.
Successive governments deserve credit for recognising the issue. Importantly, support for public interest journalism has remained bipartisan.
The News Media Bargaining Code was an important first intervention. It recognised that digital platforms derive substantial value from news content and should contribute financially to the production of journalism.
However, the scheme also exposed significant structural weaknesses.
Large commercial publishers were best positioned to secure deals, while many small, independent and regional outlets struggled to participate on equal terms.
The Commonwealth’s proposed Statutory Payment Scheme is therefore an important next step. By levying major digital platforms that refuse to enter commercial agreements, the scheme seeks to create a more stable and equitable funding framework for Australian journalism.
But careful policy design is critical.
It is essential that everyone has the opportunity for a seat at the table, and any funds flowing from this incentive scheme must get to the organisations that need them most.
If public funding mechanisms rely too heavily on newsroom headcounts alone, they risk overlooking the realities of independent media.
Many smaller publishers depend on unpaid founders, volunteers, community broadcasters and student journalists. Yet these organisations often provide essential civic value disproportionate to their size.
The policy objective should not simply be preserving large media businesses. It should be preserving public interest journalism.
That requires government to assess journalism not only as an economic activity, but as essential democratic infrastructure.
The social value extends well beyond geography.
Community broadcasters and specialist publishers serve culturally and linguistically diverse audiences, seniors, people with disabilities and faith communities.
During natural disasters, local radio frequently becomes the most trusted and accessible source of emergency information.
A healthy media system must therefore be judged by more than scale.
The central question is whether Australians will continue to have access to accurate, independent and locally relevant reporting.
Future funding models should reflect that principle directly – rewarding editorial standards, civic contribution, local accountability reporting and public interest outcomes.
This debate should not be framed narrowly as an industry assistance package. It is about democratic resilience.
Markets alone will not always sustain the journalism a healthy democracy requires.
When market failure threatens the public interest, governments have a responsibility to respond carefully, proportionately and on the basis of evidence.
That is the task now before Australian policymakers.
– PIJI chair Allan Fels AO