Journalism in Australia
So now that we’ve outlined to you all what ‘Open Journalism’ actually is, we need to address the question of whether or not the current landscape in Australia is embracing this model. Part of understanding why there are all these issues of trust in Australian Journalism today involved actually looking at the current landscape. Sadly, although there are signs that things are beginning to change, what we’re seeing is that news corporations and journalism in Australia is still a very closed sort of environment. Despite the fact that newspapers have moved to the online environment, the internet in itself fostering, and in a way demanding, an extremely open model of communication, the corporations are still very much trying to hold on to the old model – that is the journalists as the 4th estate, and the ones with power and authority to report and give opinions on the news.
There are really two corporations that control the commercial News Media in Australia – that being Fairfax and News Limited. Just a quick run down - Fairfax owns such papers as The Sydney Morning Herald, the Age, the Canberra Times and the Australian Financial Review, and News Limited owns Herald Sun, the Daily Telegraph, the Australian and the Mercury. These corporations, and News Limited especially (which is owned by none other than Rupert Murdoch) have a rather antagonistic relationship with bloggers, and the more citizen, or unofficial journalists.
In fact in 2009, Mr. Murdoch declared to the world that ‘Quality content is not free.’ He has plans, which are just beginning to be implemented with online mastheads such as The Australian, to introduce a pay wall – meaning people will soon have to begin to subscribe to access content online. Currently it is still possible to access The Australian content for free online, and they are also currently offering a free 28 day subscription trial. The subscription apparently gets you access to all areas of the site on tablet, iPhone and laptop.
The problem that these corporations have is not really revenue. Yes, they are getting less and less money from print advertising these days, and circulation is dropping. On a global scale however, Australian newspapers are ranked more highly than their U.S and U.K counterparts in terms of growth, reach and revenue building. Money made from online advertising is also increasing yearly, as is the overall readership of individual mastheads such as The Age, when you combine print and online publications.
One of the main reasons for the introduction of this paywall, and again, this is something Rupert Murdoch has actually said, is to stop what they see as the bloggers simply re-appropriating the content that the professional journalists are putting out there. He even went so far as to refer to it as stealing.
For the most part, what we’re seeing in Australia is not a shift in the way journalism operates, but the news corporations simply shifting content from one platform to another, without adapting to the more open environment that online journalism would seem to demand.
I did say, however, that there were signs of things beginning to shift, and I don’t think the outlook is completely pessimistic.
One of the examples we came across was data journalism, which is a very new approach to journalism in Australia. Data journalism is when the raw data is what is used to create and tell the story. The data is presented in an interesting way (usually infographic) and the public is able to analyse and come up with their own opinions/interpretations that allow them to challenge the interpretations of the journalist. It is one way of fostering discussion and takes a very dialectical approach to journalism. Most importantly it provides the transparency that is such a key point of the open journalism model. As said, it is still very new, but one organisation that is really taking the lead (and perhaps surprisingly so) is the ABC.
They used data journalism in their story on Coal Seam Gas Mining. The ABC also seem to be far more in touch with their audiences needs and demands, and are really trying to embrace the online environment, with websites such as
ABC OPEN, ABC POOL (which I know a lot of us have used) and THE DRUM. The Drum is, in its own words, about ‘analysis and views on the issues of the day’, rather than just the ‘he said, she said’ type of reporting. It invites people to comment, send longer emails if they have more to say, or even write a column if they wish to contribute in a substantial manner. ABC OPEN is really a place for community building. It recognises that social media is becoming a huge part of how people tell stories, and invites regional communities (its main focus) to share stories, photos and videos relevant to them. There are a great deal of stories on there for example, about the recent Brisbane flooding. Admittedly Pool and Open aren’t the places for ‘hard-hitting’ political discussion, which is where the major trust issues are occurring, but the principle on which they operate is still valid.
There are really two corporations that control the commercial News Media in Australia – that being Fairfax and News Limited. Just a quick run down - Fairfax owns such papers as The Sydney Morning Herald, the Age, the Canberra Times and the Australian Financial Review, and News Limited owns Herald Sun, the Daily Telegraph, the Australian and the Mercury. These corporations, and News Limited especially (which is owned by none other than Rupert Murdoch) have a rather antagonistic relationship with bloggers, and the more citizen, or unofficial journalists.
In fact in 2009, Mr. Murdoch declared to the world that ‘Quality content is not free.’ He has plans, which are just beginning to be implemented with online mastheads such as The Australian, to introduce a pay wall – meaning people will soon have to begin to subscribe to access content online. Currently it is still possible to access The Australian content for free online, and they are also currently offering a free 28 day subscription trial. The subscription apparently gets you access to all areas of the site on tablet, iPhone and laptop.
The problem that these corporations have is not really revenue. Yes, they are getting less and less money from print advertising these days, and circulation is dropping. On a global scale however, Australian newspapers are ranked more highly than their U.S and U.K counterparts in terms of growth, reach and revenue building. Money made from online advertising is also increasing yearly, as is the overall readership of individual mastheads such as The Age, when you combine print and online publications.
One of the main reasons for the introduction of this paywall, and again, this is something Rupert Murdoch has actually said, is to stop what they see as the bloggers simply re-appropriating the content that the professional journalists are putting out there. He even went so far as to refer to it as stealing.
For the most part, what we’re seeing in Australia is not a shift in the way journalism operates, but the news corporations simply shifting content from one platform to another, without adapting to the more open environment that online journalism would seem to demand.
I did say, however, that there were signs of things beginning to shift, and I don’t think the outlook is completely pessimistic.
One of the examples we came across was data journalism, which is a very new approach to journalism in Australia. Data journalism is when the raw data is what is used to create and tell the story. The data is presented in an interesting way (usually infographic) and the public is able to analyse and come up with their own opinions/interpretations that allow them to challenge the interpretations of the journalist. It is one way of fostering discussion and takes a very dialectical approach to journalism. Most importantly it provides the transparency that is such a key point of the open journalism model. As said, it is still very new, but one organisation that is really taking the lead (and perhaps surprisingly so) is the ABC.
They used data journalism in their story on Coal Seam Gas Mining. The ABC also seem to be far more in touch with their audiences needs and demands, and are really trying to embrace the online environment, with websites such as
ABC OPEN, ABC POOL (which I know a lot of us have used) and THE DRUM. The Drum is, in its own words, about ‘analysis and views on the issues of the day’, rather than just the ‘he said, she said’ type of reporting. It invites people to comment, send longer emails if they have more to say, or even write a column if they wish to contribute in a substantial manner. ABC OPEN is really a place for community building. It recognises that social media is becoming a huge part of how people tell stories, and invites regional communities (its main focus) to share stories, photos and videos relevant to them. There are a great deal of stories on there for example, about the recent Brisbane flooding. Admittedly Pool and Open aren’t the places for ‘hard-hitting’ political discussion, which is where the major trust issues are occurring, but the principle on which they operate is still valid.