Government urged to act before more regional journalism jobs go

Regional media businesses are pushing Communications Minister Paul Fletcher to urgently change laws to allow mergers to save journalism jobs following the axing of hundreds of regional journalists by News Corp.

There are growing fears of more media cuts when the government's JobKeeper scheme ends on September 30, with advertising – which funds the radio and TV businesses – not expected to bounce back rapidly because of hardship in regional areas.

The regional media industry is focused on the removal of the one licence to a market rule for TV, two licences to a market rule for radio, and the loosening of the voices test, which requires four separate media companies in regional markets.

These rules do not factor in online media, be it streaming, news websites or social media.

News Corp's confirmation it would cease printing 112 community and regional newspapers, transition 76 to online-only and close down 36 altogether, first revealed by The Australian Financial Review earlier in May, means a loss of a "voice" even if a digital version remains because the internet is not counted under the legislation.

Regional media businesses have been among the worst hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has seen advertising suffer dramatic falls in the past 12 weeks, compounding an already tough market for media outside of metropolitan centres.

The News Corp changes will result in large-scale job cuts, foreshadowed by the Financial Review on Wednesday, with just 375 journalists to be focused on covering regional and community for News Corp across Australia. Previously, community and regional operations had between 1200 and 1300 staff.

Sources told AFR Weekend a raft of regional media businesses, including WIN Corp, Prime Media, Southern Cross Austereo, Grant Broadcasters, ACE Radio, Capital Radio Network, Broadcast Operations and Australian Community Media have been talking to the government and urging the removal of ownership legislation which does not factor in the existence of the internet.

Moving quickly

Those discussions have ramped up since the majority of Australians were asked to work from home in mid-March.

“The minister is actively engaging with the media, entertainment and screen sectors, consistent with the process announced in December to harmonise the media regulatory framework," a spokesman for Mr Fletcher said.

“The government is aware of the many structural challenges facing the entire sector and has moved quickly to respond to the recent downturn caused by COVID-19."

The government pointed to an options paper on how best to support telling Australian stories, the $50 million Public Interest News Gathering (PING) program, $5 million from the Regional and Small Publishers Innovation Fund, and a mandatory code of conduct for the commercial dealings between Facebook and Google with the media industry as ways the government is helping the sector deal with the change environment.

"Anyone who loses a job, that's a bad day and that's why as a government we're focused on creating jobs and trying to protect from further job losses," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.

"I spoke with Michael Miller [News Corp Australasia executive chairman] last night. It was a hard day for those journalists and those who are working in that sector, particularly in rural and regional areas."

Last November, the Financial Review revealed recommendations by retired PwC partner Megan Brownlow in a Department of Communications Commission report to scrap the remaining media ownership laws .