National broadcaster using Deakin expertise to inform future of regional and rural news

Key facts

• Deakin University is working alongside the Australian Broadcasting Corporation ABC to explore new ways to support local news sustainability.
• In a study funded through the Australian Research Council Linkage grant scheme, Deakin researchers are aiming to ensure the future of high-quality local journalism in rural and regional Australia.
• The research comes at a time of declining local media coverage in regional and rural areas in a post-COVID,’ digital-first’ world, despite evidence showing the importance of local community news.
• Deakin’s new partnership with the ABC follows previous work with Country Press Australia that was used to inform a senate inquiry on media diversity and a parliamentary inquiry into local newspapers.
• This work is led by Professor Kristy Hess, an expert in Australia’s changing media landscape.

With almost 30% of the nation’s population living in rural and regional areas, country and regional news outlets represent a vital part of Australian journalism. The COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters have exacerbated some of the challenges facing the local news sector – especially traditional print newspapers – at a time when reliable, credible information sources are essential for local communities.

Local newspapers remain important for regional and rural Australians to feel connected to their local community, however researchers found many local papers rely on advertising and syndicated stories from metro outlets.

Deakin researchers say government investment is vital to the long-term sustainability of small, independently owned news outlets.

The ABC partnership follows the extensive work and report developed by Deakin and Country Press Australia (CPA) over more than a decade of partnership.

In 2018-22, Professor Hess led a separate ARC-funded project in partnership with independently owned local newspapers to assess the value and health of the sector in the digital age.

The study included a national survey of audiences – the biggest of its kind in Australia – and recorded responses from 4000 local newsreaders.

The work culminated in a blueprint for achieving sustainability in local news in the digital era and guarantees regional voices are heard in discussions about the future of independent news in Australia.

The researchers made 22 urgently needed recommendations to policymakers to inform subsidies, advertising, industry practice, government policy and future research areas.

The final ‘Media innovation and the civic future of Australia's country press’ report, released in 2023, found that:

• Audiences value rural and regional news but want more of the ‘local’ original content about the towns, cities and suburbs where they live or with which they have a sense of connection. They are acutely aware of, and resistant to, publications with lots of syndicated content, reproduced media releases, plenty of advertisements from multinational companies and some government advertising.
• The notion that ‘print is dead’ in Australia’s rural and regional media is not true and the printed product is considered an essential service to communities.
• Government policies and advertising spending are vital to the long-term sustainability of small, independently owned news outlets. Subsidies have been vital in supporting news outlets, but existing taxpayer funds supporting media have been misdirected into larger metro outlets and social media.
• Defining ‘local’ can be tricky for policymakers when determining how to adequately assess whether a news outlet is providing quality and reliable news to its community. More work is needed to encourage news providers to outline more clearly the area in which they provide a reliable form of public record and quality source of regular civic, social and political information.
• Many newsrooms have begun to diversify their operations to focus on and draw attention to the strong connection they have to their regions, such as adding lifestyle publications, commercial printing, merchandise manufacturing (for example, tea towels that feature images of historic newspaper front pages), historical records and online information apps and business directories.
• There is a need for small news providers to enhance collaboration across regional, state and national levels and share problems and opportunities.

Bruce Morgan, CPA’s former Executive Officer, says the tabling of the CPA-Deakin research project was a highly significant event.

‘It is a beginning, not an end; a launching pad, if you like, for what will be the new model of community-based journalism, where publishing in regional and rural communities is very much still a business but also a critical part of their fabric,’ he says.

‘Crucially, too, this research report now provides an academically tested framework from which policymakers can better understand the importance of community journalism, and act accordingly.’

The research has since had a strong influence on government and media policy and continues to inform more than 174 local newspaper operations across Australia.