We Can All Fund Quality Journalism
Buyers beware, lest by the time we’re sick of bingeing on trash the alternatives are scarce.
Are Australian newspapers dying? If so, are they taking quality journalism down with them? Does it matter? Are government subsidies or philanthropy the answer?
Nutritionists draw a food pyramid to illustrate a balanced diet. We all know what our ideal diet should look like. Yet our society has an obesity epidemic because as a mass we swallow too much cheap, convenient, seductively marketed junk. It’s bad for our health and it makes it difficult for smaller producers of quality healthy food to survive.
Our consumption of media is much the same. When we prefer to read about a reality TV star over the results of a parliamentary inquiry, we choose to finance a particular type of media product. Even when we are consuming it for free, we are part of the financial transaction.
Just as, in the good old days, readership determined print advertising rates, now web traffic correlates to site advertising rates. Newspapers are dying, quality journalism needn’t go with them but they are at risk. It is us, the consumers who will decide what we pay for.
On Thursday 2 April I trotted down to the ABC studios in Ultimo and joined the forum audience for Geraldine Dougue’ s Radio National program Saturday Extra, the question up for discussion was Quality Journalism: How to pay for it? Does it matter?
The panel comprised of Eric Beecher (Eric Beecher, Publisher Crikey & Business Spectator), Wendy Bacon (Centre for Independent Journalism, UTS), Alan Kohler (Publisher, Business Spectator and Eureka Report), John Hewson (Liberal Party Federal Leader, 1990 – 1994) and Campbell Reid (Group Editorial Director, News Ltd).
Tune in to the broadcast over the weekend, or catch the follow up at www.abc.net.au/rn
Eric Beecher kicked it all off with his clarification that "quality journalism" was too broad a term. Instead, he defined a concept of "public trust journalism", by which he was referring to the type of media scrutiny which keeps politicians, business, NGOs, police and the like on their toes.
That’s a good starting point, it explains why quality journalism does matter, as John Hewson expressed on the night, it has a crucial role in underpinning a healthy democracy.
Is this type of journalism dying? One thing is for sure, it is changing. Wendy Bacon rightly pointed out that the profession is under attack on two fronts; the recent blows from the global financial crisis exacerbating wounds wrought by the seismic shift in the medium. The popular switch to digital media is changing the news business, or should I say the "content production" business.
It was disconcerting to hear Campbell Reid stay so faithfully on message. Apparently there’s nothing to worry about, as Rupert Murdoch can be relied upon to make sure everything is OK, simply because without quality journalism News Ltd would "have nothing". Sure. I love The Australian, but I can’t believe it’s not a challenging time there as elsewhere.
Alan Kohler disagreed; convinced newspapers are dying, and equally convinced that not only does this not matter, but that it is in fact a great thing. He sees the industry being reinvigorated by change and the standard of journalism on the rise.
Like Kohler, I am optimistic. However I see one huge stumbling block that must be overcome. Yes, quality journalism matters, but do enough people care?
Whilst blogs and forums have been blamed for journalists losing their monopoly as the gatekeepers of information, the real threat is not from the citizen contenders; it is from the PR & marketing departments.
One audience member responded to this concern by saying that younger audiences are so savvy that they can spot spin and overlook, it so it doesn’t matter. This is akin to arguing the problem of too much fast food in our diet is nullified by our awareness it is bad for us. Knowing we should be eating more fruit and vegetables doesn’t give us the essential vitamins, minerals and fibre we are missing:similarly an awareness that the free tabloid we read on the train every evening is a glorified advertising catalogue is no proxy for the knowledge we have denied ourselves by chosing to spend our limited time reading it rather than something else.
Consumers are still financing their media, one way or another whether we are paying for it directly or not. Government subsidies and philanthropy are not the answer. Investment is.
We are still in the thick of the knowledge economy. The internet is the deepest reservoir of quality information that ever existed. The difficulty is in finding what you want amidst the rubbish. That’s why the most exciting media companies around at the moment are focused on organising information rather than producing it: aggregators such as www.wotnews.com.au or popular social media sites typified by www.twitter.com.
Customised news services, deliverable to hand held devices, are the way of the future and they are a business model with real value.
Journalism is not at risk due to a decreasing quality of journalists, or a changing format, it’s in trouble due to the decreasing quality of the demand. We need to start making healthier media choices. Even when you get your news, current affairs and discussion for free you are taking your business somewhere. Your media time is your investment. Spend it in a way that nourishes you.
