Media laws must change

IT was one of the most meaningful pieces of journalism this newspaper has been involved with in recent years.

The findings from our Fair Go for Regional Australia campaign surprised even us.

The statistics were confronting. If you don’t live in Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne, you will likely be less wealthy, die earlier, have more health issues and less access to key services and education opportunities.

During last year’s Federal election, we campaigned hard. There were some wins – and even in the most recent Budget, Canberra confirmed it was looking at shifting jobs to the regions by moving some Government departments out of the cities.

But real change is going to take time.

So many things happen in Canberra that have massive impact here. Often, the repercussions are overlooked.

Case in point is the debate over media law reform. It has focused on whether moves by the Turnbull Government to redo the rules -- last seriously tinkered with before the Internet became all powerful -will just make the rich get richer, and reduce diversity.

The point not made often enough is that mainstream media are struggling, and when they do, the regions suffer the most.

If people like our owners, News Corp, can’t properly compete with the social media channels hoovering up our content and advertising dollars, the news, literally, will be dire in the regions.

This newsroom has downsized in recent years. Thankfully we have been smart enough to rethink how we put out our products, and the effects on frontline journalist numbers have been minimised. But how long can that continue?

We live to tell the stories of real regional Australians. And anything that could impact that should be fought, tooth and nail. Standing still on media reform cannot be an option, for the good of this city.