Federal funding to support public interest journalism

COUNTRY Press Australia has welcomed the federal government’s announcement of a package to better sustain and support public interest journalism over the coming years.

The News Media Assistance Program (News MAP)  is a suite of measures to preserve the provision of local news, which is vital to Australian communities, and support innovation and resilience for news organisations.

Yesterday’s (Monday, December 16) announcement followed months of consultation and a submissions process.

Country Press Australia president Andrew Schreyer said News MAP came at a critical time for the industry, as regional and local newspapers played an important role in their communities that could bot replicated through other forms of media, and the package was a welcome relief.

“This is another important plank in the federal government’s efforts to support public interest journalism and follows the unveiling of the $15 million News Media Relief Program, last week’s announcement of the News Bargaining Incentive, as well as $10.5 million for ACMA’s Media Diversity Measurement Framework.”

The package includes $116.7 million to support news production and journalism through sustainability funding to news media outlets over three years from July 1, 2025, as well as grants for capacity building and transformational projects to help make news media outlets more sustainable in the future.

Mr Schreyer said Country Press Australia was keen to learn more about how the funding would be provided, so that publishers could make informed decisions about their businesses with the most up-to-date information.

“We are pleased to see other stakeholders such as the Australian Associated Press and the community and First Nations broadcasting sectors gain much-needed funding.

“We understand the government might not be able to provide every detail of this important funding package as quickly as would like, but we need greater clarity, and sooner, for our publishers.”

He said Country Press Australia appreciated the overall announcement but was disappointed the package included only $3 million of advertising.

“We believe advertising is the single best way to provide support to the newspaper industry and the $3 million falls well short of doing that.

“This merely maintains the status quo and reflects a situation that contributes to the ongoing crisis in the news industry.”

He said the latest announcement capped a period of significant and much-appreciated investment by the federal government into fostering public interest journalism that would lay for the foundations for further transformation of the industry.

“The federal government has recognised local media as critical to the health of our democracy, to social cohesion and to informing regional and rural communities, and we greatly appreciate their support.”

For more information on the measures in News MAP, head to infrastructure.gov.au/media-communications-arts/news-map