- Have any questions?
- 02 9247 6000
- media@commsroom.co
- Have any questions?
- 02 9247 6000
- media@commsroom.co
Menu
Regional and rural newspapers will be receiving $15 million in grants in light of rising print costs that have jeopardized the industry’s future.
According to Communications Minister Michelle Rowland, newspapers are crucial information conduits in rural and isolated areas, and closing newsrooms would harm community access to information.
The minister said, “The Australian government will support eligible print publishers to alleviate the increasing costs of print publishing, which threatens the sustainability of regional and local community newspapers, and local journalism jobs.”
Australian Community Media (ACM) managing director Tony Kendall said the grants would help preserve the accessibility of local journalism for devoted newspaper readers across the nation.
Kendall said, “We welcome the support of Minister Rowland and thank the government of Anthony Albanese for responding swiftly to this threat to hundreds of newspapers serving Australia’s regional and suburban communities.”
“We look forward to working with the department to present the case for ACM’s trusted mastheads to share in the funding, which will greatly assist in maintaining local newspapers and the jobs they support,” he added.
The Newcastle Herald, Illawarra Mercury, Launceston Examiner, Border Mail, and Bendigo Advertiser are some ACM-owned mastheads qualified to receive funding in July.
Following fears that newsrooms outside the big cities would close down without government assistance, Labor made a $29 million financial commitment for regional print and television media before the election.
Read here: CBAA welcomes Labor election announcement of support (commsroom.co)
Within the pool of funds Labor pledged, $10 million will go to regional mastheads and $5 million to local publications. This covers independent suburban, First Nations, and multicultural publishers.
In a demand-driven scheme, eligible media outlets can submit proposals to the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts.
The department will decide on which publishers get the grants based on a proportion of printing costs.
Labor first brought up the issue of print cost hikes in April with Rowland partly attributing the industry’s vulnerability to outside shocks like a rise in print prices to the previous administration’s poor management.
Bipartisan support for funding local media emerged during the recent election campaign, with the Coalition committing its own rescue package of $10 million.
Jaw de Guzman is the content producer for Comms Room, a knowledge platform and website aimed at assisting the communications industry and its professionals.
