Thisshiftinwherebrandsare
advertisinghastranslatedinto
massredundanciesinnewsrooms
acrosstheglobe,andoftencom-
pleteclosures.A senatecommit-
teewastold 3000 journalismjobs
had beenlostfrom2012-2017,
representingonequarterofall
Australian journalism jobs.
During 10 yearsfrom2008,15%,
or106,localandregionalnews-
papersshutinAustralia,leaving
21 localgovernments without
coverage from a single local
paper.Andthere’slittleincen-
tive,orresources,fromnational
titles,suchasTheAustralianor
TheGuardian, tocovercommu-
nitynewswhenthey’revyingfor
massreachtosurvive.
Newsmediacompanieshave
respondedtothesurgefrombig
tech,inpart,bypubliclycalling
for themto be reinedit.The
ACCC’sinquirythatlookedinto
thisimpactdigitalplatformsare
havingonAustralianjournalism
had 23 recommendations,from
betterbargainingpowersforpub-
lishers, to tax relief for readers
It waspartly
publisherstaking
theirtime,partly
consumerattitudes
needingtocatch
up,andpartly
developments
intheadmarket
thathavebeen
welldocumented,
necessitatedthat
publisherstake
it moreandmore
seriously.DavidEisman,Nine
Entertainment Co.whosubscribe.However,expertssaythewatchdogislimitedinits
powertohelpnewsmediacompanies.
“TheactualreportwasprettyonpointinthatGoogleandFacebook,
orsocialmediagenerally,aren'tcreatingnewsthatsomehowdiminishes
theabilityoftheseothercompaniestocreatenews,”saysLotz.
“Theproblemis theycreateda bettermechanismofadvertising,they
innovatedandthat'snotsomethingtheACCCcandoa lotabout.Inmany
cases,whatthisrevealsinAustralia,andeverywherearoundtheworld,
isthatadvertisingwasnevera verygoodwaytosupportthekindof
journalismpeoplewant.Whenwewringourhandsandsayweneed
betternews,advertisingisn'tthewaytogetthat.
“Soinmanywaysthesenewformsofadvertisinghavereallyput
thepressureonnewsorganisationstorevitalisetheirbusinessesand
trytofigureouthowtodothat.”
Thesolutionfrompublishershasbeentoturntosubscriberstohelp
replacelostadvertisingrevenueandfundtheirjournalism.
A studyfromtheUniversityofCanberrafoundthatgettingpeople
topayfornewsisstillanuphillbattle.ItsDigitalNewsReportfound
that14%ofAustraliansarewillingtopayfornews,comparedtothe
globalaverageof13%.
Newspublishersalsohavetheaddedcompetitionofentertainment
platformssuchasNetf lix, with34%ofAustralianspreferring to
subscribetovideo-streamingservicesratherthanonlinenews.
Buttherearepositivesigns,withlegacymediacompaniessuchasThe
NewYorkTimespullingoffsuccessfultransformations.InFebruary,the
companyhit5.25millionsubscribers,with4.4millionbeingdigital-only.
“Mostpublishersareputtingemphasisonreaderrevenue,notso
muchadvertising,andbuildingmoredirectrelationswiththeirread-
ers,”saysMyllylahti.
“TheNewYorkTimes, forexample,hasa recordnumberofdigital
subscriptionsandtheymadethetransformationaheadofschedule.
Ifpeoplearepayingforsomething,theyexpectsomesortofquality,
andthat’sexactlywhatisencouragingpublisherstodoa betterjob.”
InFairfaxMedia’sfinalfinancialreportbeforeitstakeoverbyNine,
itsthen-chairmanNickFalloonnotedthatwhilethisnewrevenuemodel
wouldbesustainable,it wouldn’tprovidetheso-called“riversofgold”
thecompanyoncesaw.
“Ourthreepublishingbusinesses—AustralianMetroMedia,ACM
andStuffinNewZealand— areunderpinnedbya newrevenuemodel
whichismultifacetedandmoveswellbeyondthetraditionalreliance
onadvertising,printsubscriptionsandcirculation,”notedFalloon.
“Itleveragespremiumbrands,qualityjournalismandaudiences
ofgreatscale.Whilethismodelhaslowerrevenuethaninthepast,it
ismoresustainableandvaluable,featuringmultiplebusinessmodels
andrevenuestreams.”
Bytheearly2010s,erectingsuccessfulpaywallsbecamethefocus
fornewspublishers,withthemainhurdlebeingreaders’attitudes,says
Nine’sdirectorofsubscriptionsandgrowthDavidEisman.
“Itwaspartlypublisherstakingtheirtime,partlyconsumerattitudes
needing to catch up, and partly developments in the ad market thatAveragedailypaid
printcirculation
forTheAustralianPaidsubscribersforThe
AustralianandTheWeekend
Australian (print and digital)
2019 83,684 164,
2018 88,581 135,
2017 99,000 127,Figure 3:
Agenda