How councils are future-proofing themselves against shrinking regional media
Locals and journalists are the two main casualties that come up in conversations around regional media closures, but what about the councils which rely on local titles to get their messages out into the community? Mumbrella’s Hannah Blackiston speaks with Bundaberg Council’s Michael Gorey and Ipswich City Council’s Simon Holt – two men at the front of the trend for councils to launch their own news platforms – to find out why they took the step and why they believe other councils will do the same.
It’s been a turbulent year for regional media. WIN News closed five newsrooms across NSW and Qld, West Australian Newspapers called for voluntary redundancies, there were print closures and mergers, a number of titles moved behind a paywall, and Nine offloaded its entire ACM regional newspaper portfolio for around $115m.
The main concerns are obvious – what does it mean for independent journalism if there are no newsrooms in regional areas? Where will people in regional outposts get news about their area if there’s no local reporting? And with many independent publishers in regional locations, if the business models don’t seem to be surviving, what will happen overall in Australia if we’re only left with the larger companies based in metropolitan areas?
But there are other frustrations too. For local councils, it means the news they want to spread about their towns no longer has an outlet. There isn’t a local journalist who goes along to community events anymore, nobody reports on what’s happening at the art gallery, or celebrates local wins, or spreads information about charity events. It’s these frustrations which led Bundaberg Council’s Michael Gorey to take action.
As someone who works in publishing and lives in a regional area I’m interested in this kind of thing.
Though the way I see it, there’s a void being created by a lack of news/journalism and local regional councils like Bundy and Ipswich are taking that space and filling it with essentially content marketing.
“The reporting will only be on good news” isn’t news, that’s content marketing.
One of the biggest local news topics I would guess, is coverage of the local council, councillors, rates increases, etc. That’s not going to be addressed, and arguably more important than the current display at the art gallery (not to discount local artists..)
In terms of smaller regional publishers, I’ve been following what the guys in Canberra are doing with Region Group / RiotACT. Small independent publishing that’s self funded through more local initiatives etc.
It’s not exactly “journalism”, but how great to see Ipswich and Bundaberg seeking to better serve their constituencies with the demise of local media. Councils have some great stories to tell but most of them hide their light under the bushel. And, as I write in my book The DIY Newsroom, local governments should be at the forefront of modern community communications.
http://www.diynewsroom.com