There is renewed pressure on the federal government to help ensure locals stay connected and informed, after several community newspapers folded in recent weeks.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The federal government is being urged to step in, following the newsroom closures in Victoria, NSW and Queensland.
Public Interest Journalism Initiative (PIJI) chair Professor Allan Fels, says the COVID-19 pandemic is putting greater strain on regional newsrooms.
READ MORE:
"Measures taken by the federal government, such as cash injections for small business are a great start, as is payroll tax relief being offered by state governments," Mr Fels said.
"It is clear ministers are working as quickly as possible to inject much-needed stimulus into the economy.
"But given the inherent public interest in maintaining a healthy news sector, we are asking the government to urgently look at stimulus measures to keep public interest journalism alive.
"The sector was already struggling under the weight of a broken revenue model - unless we act now, there will be little news infrastructure left to save."
Parkes MP and federal minister for regional services Mark Coulton said he had recently met with several independent media companies to help tackle the issue.
"Recently, I hosted a round-table meeting with independent media company owners, including ACM (the publisher of this masthead) to discuss the issues facing the industry at the moment," Mr Coulton said.
"I know in my electorate, we recently saw the temporary closure of the Barrier Daily Truth in Broken Hill, which is a major informer of people in that community.
"From the round-table meeting, I got a very good understanding of each outlet's challenges and to me it was clear it was not just limited to one type of media.
"I know regional public radio is struggling a bit as well, so it is right across the board."
New England MP Barnaby Joyce said regional media was vital to having a healthy democracy.
"It is an absolute priority that we have a vibrant fourth estate to support our democracy and our nation," Mr Joyce said.
"I have stated the source of a lot of the problems is Google, Facebook, Reddit and a whole range of other platforms that use the news as a mechanism for attracting advertising revenue, but they don't invest in regional staff.
"Basically they miss out on the investment in the community but collect on the revenue that would normally go to regional mastheads.
"I have said at a national level this has to be addressed."
Mr Coulton said the government was working hard at finding a way to address the issue.
"I am regularly talking with all of my colleagues in Parliament about the issue," he said.
"I wouldn't want to preempt anything, but we are certainly working hard as a government."