April report plus new data on news outlet ownership
PIJI’s Australian News Data Report: April 2023 edition is now available and for the first time, we are including a new data set of news outlet ownership.
During April, there were 23 changes made to the Australian News Index, with 16 in April and seven backdated. The April changes include 11 in ownership, relating to the sale of titles by Australian Community Media to the Today News Group. Three mastheads closed, PS* Brimbank temporarily. There were three masthead openings in April, and one reopened. Two mastheads ceased their print editions.
Our new data set – news outlet ownership – aims to provide insight into diversity in Australian media ownership, operation locations, company structures and characteristics of news entities and the news outlets they operate. This data is now available in the report, and online in the Australian News Index, with data to be expanded in the coming months.
Reuters Digital News Report
Reuters has released its Digital News Report 2023, noting that these are “difficult times” for news publishers as well as consumers, but that against the backdrop of global upheaval, “structural shifts towards more digital, mobile, and platform-dominated media environments” have taken place in news publishing. The Australian chapter of the report was produced by the The News and Media Research Centre at the University of Canberra.
Read the highlights in our blog post.
Submission to Senate inquiry into operation of Commonwealth FOI laws
On 5 June, PIJI and the Centre for Advancing Journalism made a joint submission to the Senate inquiry into the operation of Commonwealth Freedom of Information laws.
Our submission was one of 19 made to the inquiry, and our recommendations included providing the necessary resources to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner to enable timely resolution of applications and appeals.
Read our full submission on our website.
PIJI unveils new-look website
We’ve been going through some changes! PIJI is pleased to reveal our new website.
In addition, we’ve made some name changes to better reflect the aims of our various research projects, which you can read about here.
Ben Roberts-Smith case highlights importance of public interest journalism
It was called the “trial of the century”: decorated soldier Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation suit against some of the giants of Australian journalism, the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and the Canberra Times. But what does the case mean for news producers? Read our wrap-up of the coverage here.
Industry news
PIJI in the news
- Ben Roberts-Smith decision shows importance of journalism, defamation laws.
- The Reuters’ Digital News Report 2023 Australia snapshot considers the state of the media in Australia.
News
- The New York Times and The Guardian consider the turmoil in digital publishing following the closure of Vice and BuzzFeed.
- The Law Society Journal looks at the impact of reforms to Australia’s privacy laws on public interest journalism.
- The Irish Times apologised after publishing an AI-generated opinion piece.
- The Guardian reports on changes to the categories in the Walkley Awards following a major overhaul.
- What does AI mean for journalism? This piece in The Interpreter investigates.
- Stan Grant writes about his reasons for stepping away from journalism for the ABC.
- Lenore Taylor writes in The Guardian about truth in journalism in an AI-fuelled world.
- What is objectivity in journalism? This piece from Columbia Journalism Review considers its value.
- The Guardian Australia looks back on 10 years of journalism.
- Nieman Lab looks at the growth in nonprofit newsrooms.
- The Victorian Government’s advertising decision sends shockwaves through the media industry.
- The ABC publishes its next five-year plan.
- California takes a leaf out of Australia’s book as it looks to make journalism sustainable.