The Conversation launches push into coverage of creative industries, funded by Screen Australia
Academia-meets-journalism site The Conversation is to expand its coverage of the creative industries with a new dedicated arts and culture section set to launch on Monday.
The new section, partly funded by Screen Australia, will cover all aspects of the creative industries. According to Screen Australia, the $50k of funding is because “arts journalism is under pressure”.
Paul Dalgarno, who has been with The Conversation since before its launch two years ago, will edit the section, having shifted his focus from technology to the arts.
Dalgarno said the section will cover everything from “high arts to pop charts” with articles by informed academics on all aspects of the creative industries including media, film, television and advertising.
Catriona Menzies-Pike, the former managing editor at New Matilda, will be arts editor of the section, and The Conversation’s Sunanda Creagh will be creative industries editor. Both are based at the University of Technology in Sydney.
A fourth member of the team, yet to be announced, will focus on the business side of the arts and culture industry, be it advertising, arts or architecture, Dalgarno said.
Andrew Jaspan, the former editor of The Age who co-founded The Conversation and is executive director of the site, said the section would be be funded by The Conversation’s university partners as well as some funding from Screen Australia.
The Conversation is based on the title’s editors helping university academics create accessible commentary and find a wider public audience. The universites provide funding for the project in return.
Dalgarno said: “One of the things is that across media and traditional media particularly, is that budgets are shrinking, resources are disappearing and specialists are bearing the brunt.
“People in the past who would have a broad, deep expertise in those areas are either dwindling or disappearing from newspaper outlets, and as a result we have a lot more opinion, because it’s cheaper to produce, and people who are generalist are favoured because they can just fill slots in pages.
“We are looking to bring back an element of deep expertise and deep knowledge of arts, with people who have a real interest and a real track record writing on their specialist points of expertise.”
As The Conversation allows free publication of its material by other news outlets, Dalgarno said he hopes the work will also replenish coverage of the arts in other media outlets.
“Our model is creative commons so we are also hoping it’s picked up free of charge and republished elsewhere so there’s a bit of a reverse effect going on; as newspapers lose specialists we are looking to bring back that sense of expertise in arts coverage more generally.”
The launch comes days after subscription newsletter Crikey’s publisher Private Media said it planned to launch its own arts offering, The Daily Review.
Screen Australia’s manager of strategy, research and communications Georgie McClean said in a statement released to Mumbrella: “Screen Australia has sponsored The Conversation’s new arts, culture and creative industries section (with $50k) as a platform for new research and public debate on the Australian screen sector. Screen Australia’s remit includes support for Australian screen culture, in which discussion, debate and research play important roles. The Conversation is one of Australia’s largest independent news and commentary sites and its evidence-based, open access platform is a good site for such debate, particularly at a time when arts journalism is under pressure. Articles on The Conversation can be republished in arts sections of newspapers and websites across Australia.”
Poor old Fairfax has to compete with Government funded ABC and SBS streams of journalism (plus they generate the most valuable journalism -video), and also the not for profit (more like “for loss’) Guardian group too. Add The Conversation as another largely government funded (got an extra $2m in the last Labor budget), and now even more so with Screen Australia backing, is the death of that paper group on the left, as long as these remnants of Labor policy continue. Latin American semi and full blown dictators do the same to the private sector media when it goes against them.
I feel sorry for the for profit sector – crikey, and News.
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I totally disagree with Mr Colman’s comment. They have had every opportunity to develop strong arts coverage on a commercial basis and they haven’t done so.
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Will The Conversation write a critical article about Screen Australia, about its Board and its management or will it swallow its press releases whole? Given it is really the only show in town when it comes to financing Australian feature films, TV mini-series and documentaries it seems pretty ludicrous to have such a direct financial nexus. There has to be a more arms length solution if government is to support digital arts research and criticism.
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Hey Briony,
Why don’t you ask some of the pople on this list how much they pay for their banner ads? Then do some calculations in excel on how many people would need to see that article in order for you to get the costs back for creating that content.
That’s right. It doesn’t work. In the B2B space yes. In the consumer space? No.
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Ditto above. State media, what next? State control of the entire arts sector. Hang on a sec.
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State controlled media is always biased. It must be, it’s the nature if it. But I feel sorry for the independent operators who have to compete. Their taxes fund their competitors. Competitors who don’t need to earn money from customers, they just take it at the point of a gun.
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So…taxpayer funded Screen Australia is now funding left-wing activism sites, which are little more than a salon des refuseés from The Age and Canberra Times.
Charming.
While needy Australians miss out, the old Labor-Greens mates network continues to plunder what remnants of the national wealth they can get their hands on.
Mr Hockey – please take note for the next time Screen Australia has its hands out.
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