The closure of AAP is yet another blow to public interest journalism in Australia
Australia needs more reputable news outlets, not fewer, and the loss of AAP should be mourned by everyone who believes in an informed public and holding the powerful to account, says Alexandra Wake in this crossposting from The Conversation.
Australia’s news landscape, and the ability of citizens to access quality journalism, has been dealt a major blow by the announcement the Australian Associated Press is closing, with the loss of 180 journalism jobs.
Although AAP reporters and editors are generally not household names, the wire service has provided the backbone of news content for the country since 1935, ensuring every paper (and therefore every citizen) has had access to solid reliable reports on matters of national significance.
All news outlets have relied on AAP’s network of local and international journalists to provide stories from areas where their own correspondents couldn’t go, from the courts to parliament and everywhere in between.
Despite a shrinking number of journalists in recent years and a rapid decrease in funding subscriptions, AAP continued to stand by its mission to provide news without political partisanship or bias. Speed was essential for the agency, but accuracy was even more important.
Not to be overly negative, and not to cast any shade on AAP (which seemed much more straight down the line than opion based). But lets face it – the industry has lost the trust of its audience anyway. There’s been so much lip-service to “public interest” without action that when the audience does see it, they are too cynical to notice it. Boy who cired wolf effect. Decades of abusurd bias, writing for the subject rather than the audience and advertorials are going to need some time to undo.