What does the new year have in store?
Let’s stop and take a breath, because we’ve almost made it to the end of 2020. It must surely be the strangest year on record, with challenges for all of us, not least public interest journalism, which continues to fight for survival.
Today PIJI is releasing our inaugural Annual Report 2020, which outlines our first 18 months of research, policy development and financial performance.
We are also pleased to announce PIJI is now a registered charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), further confirming our commitment to best practise with respect to governance and financial transparency and reporting.
Please note PIJI’s offices will close from December 24 to January 11. We can still be contacted for urgent queries, including by media, but for non-urgent queries, we look forward to speaking with you in the new year.
Thank you for your support and collaboration in seeking a sustainable future for public interest journalism in Australia.
Wishing you a safe festive season from the PIJI team.
CEO
Mapping Project
November was a quiet month for the Australian Newsroom Mapping Project, which logged only two changes.
The Gunnedah Times (Gunnedah NSW) and The Port App (Port Macquarie-Hastings NSW), both launched during this reporting period, and another three entries were added, taking the total number of active entries to 251; 194 contractions and 57 expansions.
To read more about those changes in news availability, click here.
Thank you to everyone who made submissions on industry contractions or expansions during 2020 and we look forward to your input in 2021.
Dosinformation Code
PIJI recently made a submission to the DIGI’s draft Australian Code of Practice on Disinformation.
Our submission highlighted the limited focus of this draft code on user experience rather than addressing the issues of news quality and the role that the availability of high-quality news plays in improving the digital information ecosystem. PIJI has recommended these issues be revisited, a clear framework developed for assessing news quality, as well as appropriate measures to signal that quality to users in digital environments.
Community Value
The Australian public’s media consumption has increased substantially through 2020, according to the third Community Value of Public Interest Journalism survey.
Australians accessed news media in all formats more frequently over the past year, but public broadcasting experienced the sharpest rise, with 55 per cent of respondents in the PIJI survey tuning in at least daily, up from 44 per cent in October 2019.
Meanwhile, 65 per cent and 63 per cent of Australians used commercial television and digital social media at least once daily, respectively. This was up substantially from 55 per cent and 47 per cent in PIJI’s October 2019 survey, before the crisis.
You can read our press release or the complete report findings here.
ACCC & Senate
PIJI continues to engage with industry and government ahead of the expected introduction of the Treasury Laws Amendment (New Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) Bill to Parliament during the final sitting week for the year.
PIJI last week issued a statement calling on the government, and all parliamentarians, to ensure the Code is inclusive and provides meaningful support for the public interest journalism, which continues to be under significant threat, with more closures and job losses expected before Christmas.
It is expected that the new version of the Code will allow ABC and SBS content under its bargaining terms.
Meanwhile, PIJI is also preparing a submission to the Senate Inquiry on Media Diversity which is scheduled to report back by March 31, 2021.
Please email us if you wish to engage with any of PIJI’s policy submissions.
PIJI in the news
- Australian Community Media receives $10.4m under the Public Interest News Gathering Fund. Port Macquarie News, Nov 6
- Google and Facebook news payments to include ABC and SBS after change to draft code. The Guardian, Nov 25.
- Media bosses urge government to act on code amid intense lobbying. AFR, Nov 23
- Kevin Rudd Murdoch petition sparks Greens push for inquiry. Canberra Times, Nov 11
- News Corp cuts more jobs at end of brutal year for media. The Guardian, Nov 27
News
Australia
- Federal Government urged to take a public health approach to disinformation on digital platforms. Croakey, Nov 25
- Sarah Hanson-Young to push for media diversity inquiry after Kevin Rudd’s Murdoch petition. The Guardian, Nov 11.
- Netflix faces local content quota under proposed Australian TV reforms. The SMH, Nov 27
USA
- The future of journalism is on the ground. Boston Globe, Nov 30
- The Only Meaningful Way to Save American Journalism. KCRW, Nov 6
United Kingdom
- Treading the line between public interest news and campaigning journalism. Journalism.co.uk, Nov 30
New Zealand
- Media giant Stuff apologises for ‘racist’ past reporting. The Guardian, Nov 30
Industry News
As a new addition to PIJI’s updates, we will present a monthly selection of new research from academic and industry groups, relevant to the future of public interest journalism.
- What’s in a label? The effect of news labels on perceived credibility
Cynthia Peacock, Gina M. Masullo, Natalie Jomini Stroud | Journalism - Is citizen journalism dead? An examination of recent developments in the field
Bruce Mutsvairo, Susana Salgado | Journalism - Too close for comfort: journalists’ ethical challenges in regional Australia
Jane Stephes (Fynes-Clinton), Rosanna Natoli, Michele Gilchrist | Media International Australia - Editor’s note: Continuing to digest the report ‘News Deserts and Ghost Newspapers’
Dane S. Claussen | Newspaper Research Journal - Why do so few people share fake news? It hurts their reputation
Sacha Altay, Anne-Sophie Hacquin, Hugo Mercier| New Media & Society