In this month’s edition, we reveal the latest quarterly and monthly data from the Australian News Data Report, share a special audio-led blog about the results of the Digital News Report and mark a milestone for commercial radio.
More LGAs going without local news
PIJI’s June 2023 monthly and quarterly research report shows an increase in the number of geographic areas without a print or digital news service.
Thirty local government areas have no local print or digital news publisher, an increase of six since the last quarter, according to PIJI’s latest data released this week.
The data also shows almost 500 market changes in news production and availability since January 2019, translating to 148 fewer news outlets as a net effect.
Deep dive: Digital News Report
We talk to Professor Sora Park about the Digital News Report: Australia 2023. Professor Park is one of the authors of the report and a member of PIJI’s Expert Research Panel. What were the key results of the report and what do they mean for newsrooms?
The state of British news
A clearer picture is emerging of the state of local news across the UK thanks to the release of a new map released by the Public Interest News Foundation.
Among the findings is that there are 38 news deserts in the UK, representing 4.1 million people. London in particular was picked out as being “poorly served” by local news.
Read the full blog piece on our website.
Commercial radio marks a milestone
Commercial radio in Australia marked its 100th birthday this month, and we’ve got a bit of a wrap-up showing radio’s important contribution to the Australian news landscape. Did you know that 83 per cent of Australians listen to radio weekly?
Walkley Opportunity Scholarship now open
Funded by Ampol, the Walkley Opportunity Scholarship will provide two aspiring journalists of any age with an opportunity to work in a metropolitan newsroom for a 10-week placement. These placements are intended for individuals who identify as coming from a socio-economically disadvantaged background.
For more details or to apply, visit the website.
Final tickets available for Women in Media Conference
The Women in Media National Conference 2023 will be held in Sydney on September 8-9. Tickets are now available for both men and women to attend.
Social shout-out
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Industry news
Australia:
- A twist in a defamation case involving the ABC.
- It’s been revealed the majority of viewers of a major ABC News bulletin are over 55.
- A new news service for not for profits launches.
- A hopeful story about local news.
- Australia’s new approach to tackling mis and disinformation.
- More publishers sign deals with generative AI companies.
- A blow to local journalism, this time in radio.
- An ACM study finds that local news keeps communities connected.
- The ABC partners with researchers to support local journalism.
- Government launches a review of funding and governance at ABC and SBS.
- Three new members appointed to ACMA.
- A big change is coming to a “distinctive” journalism training program.
- Musings on Big Tech and journalism, and does getting Big Tech to pay for journalism save news?
- Concern about an AI-written article about refugees.
- How to save local news.
- Peter Greste talks media freedom.
- News Corp uses AI to produce thousands of articles each week.
- 360info newswire service gets a new partner.
- ABC changes its plans on national 7pm bulletin.
- SBS adds five new language services.
- TV and media execs lobby the government.
- ABC exits Twitter/X.
- Reimagining journalism from an Indigenous perspective.
- The Conversation pairs academics with reporters for big investigations.
- Google rolls out AI-generated article summaries.
International:
- Could India learn from Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code?
- Mixed results for GNI in Africa and the Middle East.
- New Zealand’s Public Interest Journalism Fund closes.
- A report into public interest journalism in Wales makes recommendations about news deserts.
- A potential tax on streaming services could help fund public access media in Massachusetts.
- Philadelphia Local News Sustainability Initiative launches.
- Meta ends news access in Canada.
- Concerns raised about foreign influence in Pacific media.
- An extensive research report released on local news in the UK.
- A new collaborative local news project launches in Scotland.
- New York Times updates its terms of service to stop AI from scraping its content.