MEDIA CHIEF’S DIRE WARNING TO GOVERNMENT

AUSTRALIAN media was “passing its tipping point” and risked “collapse” unless the Federal Government took urgent action to help keep the public informed, News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller warned yesterday.

His strongly-worded missive came after News Corp was forced to suspend print editions of its community newspapers in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia from next week due to the economic impact from the coronavirus outbreak.

Additionally, Seven West Media is slashing staff salaries and has warned that job cuts are inevitable as the COVID-19 pandemic hits the advertising market.

Chief executive James Warburton told staff yesterday that full-time employees earning between $80,000$200,000 per annum would need to work four-day weeks and take a 20 per cent pay cut until the end of the financial year.

The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance said the cutback, which followed the closure of some regional newspapers over the past fortnight, was “another sign of the stresses on media proprietors” and underlined the need for immediate government assistance.

Changes to community newspapers will affect the publication of 60 metropolitan titles during the coronavirus pandemic, with local news stories to be published digitally while the advertising industry recovers.

But Mr Miller said the economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak would not have been as devastating if the Federal Government had delivered vital media reforms, including forcing multi-billion-dollar tech giants to pay for the Australian news content they used.

“Successive governments have stood by and watched as the traditional business models of media companies have collapsed,” he said.

“Australian media is passing its tipping point.

“The unfairness of the digital playing field, along with Australia’s draconian tangle of legislation and regulation means local companies can’t compete with international platforms.”

Mr Miller said publishers, broadcasters and filmmakers had warned about inequalities within media rules “for more than a decade” but governments failed to heed the warnings, instead choosing “political self-interest over the right of Australian communities to have their voice”.

MEAA media section director Neill Jones also called for urgent government action.

“The decision by News Corp Australia to suspend printing of dozens of community titles is another sign of the stresses on media proprietors,” he said.

TODAY is a sad day for Australian media.

Every newspaper company’s paramount mission is to get the paper out. Next week, 60 of News Corp Australia’s metropolitan community newspapers won’t be printed.

Our decision to suspend print editions of community newspapers in four capital cities to assess their viability comes as other publishers also close editions and accelerate cost reduction.

Our regional community mastheads are not suspending print editions as part of this announcement.

COVID-19 did not create this crisis but it brought it to a head. The decision we have made is pragmatic but it is made with a heavy heart as we are committed to local journalism.

These print editions have no cover price and have been decimated by the sudden collapse of retail, real estate, clubs, restaurant and event advertising.

For years, we have been managing these structural trends to transform our business from purely print to print and digital.

But digital media is not a level playing field: we are forced to fight digitally with one hand behind our back and this is the fundamental issue that must be addressed. Australian media is passing its tipping point. The tragedy is that for more than a decade, broadcasters, filmmakers, publishers and local content creators have been warning successive governments this day was coming.

But time and again, governments have chosen political self-interest over the right of Australian communities to have their voice.

When confronted with issues threatening the future of our industry, governments have acted either too slowly or not at all.

The unfairness of the digital playing field, along with Australia’s draconian tangle of legislation and regulation means local companies can’t compete with international platforms.

These platforms, unlike us, have no commitment to local communities.

They employ no journalists, create no content, face almost no regulation, and pay (virtually) no tax while they make unheard of profits by taking other people’s content.

The ACCC handed the government a world-leading report last year that recommended a way forward. But the recommended timeline for change in 2019 looks dangerously slow now.

This must be the year the platforms pay for what they take. But there is little cause for optimism because governments have been kicking obvious and important decisions down the road for years. Why didn’t governments continue to reform outdated media ownership laws and give regional publishers, radio and broadcasters a fighting chance?

Why has government after government chosen to enable the piracy and profiteering of the platforms, leaving Australian communities worse off.

The sad day we face today may well have been avoided if some obvious and progressive decisions had been made.

But now we are on the brink and the future of an industry that provides a great public service crucial for democracy rests with the government and its willingness to finally act.

In Australia and internationally, long-established media companies have proved they can move online; they have innovated; created new products and embraced new forms of delivery as audiences and advertisers moved online. A heartbreaking irony of the COVID-19 crisis is the demand for trusted local news has never been greater: their audience numbers are exploding as people turn to trusted local news.

But that audience — the biggest in our history — is consuming vast amounts of our content on an internet privatised by tech giants who have created an unfair, toxic trading environment.

To have a fighting chance Australian news and creative content creators need these immediate changes:

• The Australian government must force digital platforms to pay for the content they profit from.

• Authorisation liability in Australian Copyright law must be clarified to make it crystal clear that the platforms cannot use other people’s content without their permission.

• The Australian Government must urge the US Government to change laws that exempt the platforms from making their online spaces safe.

• Google’s dominance of the opaque digital ad tech market must be confronted. Google’s unfair monopoly of the digital advertising industry must be broken up.

• Press freedom which is protected in other countries must be strengthened in Australia.

• Outdated media ownership rules must be abandoned.

The time to keep faith with the Australian community is now.

THE DECISION WE HAVE MADE IS PRAGMATIC BUT IT IS MADE WITH A HEAVY HEART AS WE ARE COMMITTED TO LOCAL JOURNALISM