The Government is giving journalists $67.6m, and they’re not declaring it.
Governments have a long history of trying to save declining industries.
- Car manufacturing
- Steel
- Shipbuilding
And now: journalism
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With news of a 67.6 million dollar bailout for some of Australia’s biggest media companies, I have to ask: Is the Government wasting taxpayer money?
It’s food for thought with revelations the Albanese Government is quietly funding journalists from mainstream media companies to the tune of a maximum 7.5 million over three years for each company.
You can watch a video version of this article in the YouTube player below:
According to the official Government website, the Journalism Assistance Fund is helping the sustainability of Australian news publishers by providing a proportion of the wages for journalists producing core news content that is distributed digitally.
The story first popped up on the One News Australia website – as far as I can tell and was followed up today on the Daily Mail.
Considering news outlets usually love reporting on the use of taxpayer money, the big players have all been suspiciously quiet on this one.
Maybe that’s because Nine received $16.1m across two grants. The Daily Mail reports that it subsidises roughly 375 journalists.
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Seven received $11.3, while ACM collected $6.7m.
Crikey parent company Private Media received $737,022.
Youth outlet The Daily Aus got $549,000, while Mamamia received $268,000.
A source within the Communications Ministry confirmed to the Daily Mail that it’s up to the news organisations to disclose how they are funded.
Whatever the reason for their silence, you have to wonder whether these grants are something that should be declared whenever these outlets are reporting on the Government.
While I don’t believe most journalists would let these grants skew their reporting, it’s a bit hypocritical to deny viewers and readers the information.
But there’s a deeper issue.
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Is the Government wasting taxpayer money by propping up a dying business?
Journalism plays an important role in our democracy, to be sure.
But should private companies be subsidised if their business model is not sustainable?
And let’s be clear, this is just one of many packages funding media companies in this country.
Including the new Journalism Assistance Fund, the Government is spending around $160 million in direct commitments.
That’s not even including the advertising the Government spends with traditional media.
That’s a LOT of money… and still these media companies are cutting jobs.
Just this week Nine revealed it was cutting around 30 jobs in its newspaper divisions.
So, will all these Government grants save the industry?
It’s unlikely.
Australia spent decades subsidising automotive manufacturing.
The Productivity Commission estimated around $30 billion was spent in assistance between 1997 and 2012.
The Outcome?
Ford ceased manufacturing in 2016.
Toyota and Holden ceased manufacturing 2017.
The Productivity Commission concluded that decades of assistance: “…forestalled, but did not prevent” the industry’s collapse.
Despite spending $30 billion trying to save the car industry, the Commission found subsidies delayed closure but could not make Australian manufacturing globally competitive
So, where does that leave the media industry?
Look, I don’t want media jobs to go. There’s very little work for media people out there at the moment. High-level producers are now serving coffee at local shops. It’s bad news. But also, as a taxpayer, I do wonder why we keep propping up businesses that aren’t sustainable.
At the end of the day, if your business is not sustainable, you don’t have a business.
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