Government pledges $180m to map out a future for ‘vital’ local news
A federal funding initiative will help local news outlets bolster public-interest journalism.
Local news and community broadcasting is at the core of a $180 million media funding package that is aimed at helping local news sites such as InDaily.
The Albanese government overnight revealed plans for its News Media Assistance Program, known as News Map, which plots a path for services considered critical to Australian democracy.
The four-year program is designed to support media sustainability in a contracting market, with an expert advisory panel to guide its rollout, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said.
“Local news and community broadcasting is at the heart of local communities and makes a vital contribution to national identity and media diversity,” the minister said in a statement.
Paul Hamra, the managing director of Solstice Media and the publisher of news sites InDaily and The New Daily, said the funding initiative is timely.
“Governments are now acutely aware of the vital role local news plays in communities because it’s starting to disappear,” Hamra said.
“This funding pledge is very timely and, with a focus on smaller and independent publishers, will support needed diversity of media voices.”
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Key measures include $116.7 million across four years – just under $30 million a year spread across Australia’s local media – to help build the sustainability and capacity of news organisations as they deliver public-interest journalism.
Another $3.8 million will fund Australia’s first National Media Literacy Strategy, co-designed with the education and media literacy sectors.
The Local & Independent News Association (LINA) welcomed the Albanese Government’s investment in the news industry through News Map.
LINA executive director Claire Stuchbery said small and independent news publishers are vital to community infrastructure.
“The News Media Relief Program provides much-needed, urgent funds to eligible news businesses in the very short term and the News Map will transform the industry in the years ahead,” Stuchbery said.
“While we have seen localised glimmers of hope in the transition to the delivery of news online, challenges to business models have made it really hard to make local newsrooms viable.
“This funding provides a little water to those greenshoots in the news industry, allowing space and support to build new models of news delivery that best serve our communities.”
Stuchbery said LINA would work with the government to attract philanthropic support to the news industry, which has successfully fostered strong local news sectors in other parts of the world.
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“This funding announcement is very much a hand-up rather than a handout and LINA member publishers are ready to step up alongside our colleagues at the Australian Associated Press and in the community and First Nations broadcasting sectors,” she said.
“We are pleased to see this funding provided across the grassroots media industry, which will grow media diversity and the range of perspectives represented in public dialogue in this country.”
The Australian Associated Press will receive $33 million across three years, with the minister saying the funding recognised the newswire’s “important role in supporting media diversity and providing high-quality news”.
The not-for-profit newswire’s CEO Lisa Davies welcomed the support.
“As Australia’s only independent national newswire service, AAP is essential democratic infrastructure,” she said.
“This grant will ensure AAP can continue its crucial role of providing trusted, impartial public-interest journalism to support a diverse media landscape in Australia.”
The government has also set aside $3 million annually for regional newspaper advertising from 2025-26, providing a revenue boost for regional outlets.
Community broadcasters will receive an additional $27 million, with $15 million allocated to the Community Broadcasting Program and $12 million for the Indigenous Broadcasting and Media Program, supporting more than 450 stations.
Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy said First Nations media played a crucial role in connecting and representing communities.
“First Nations journalists, broadcasters and media are a vital part of Australia’s media landscape,” Senator McCarthy said.
“They help connect, represent and tell the stories of our communities across the country.”
The package builds on previous commitments including $15 million for the News Media Relief Program and $10.5 million for the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s Diversity Measurement Framework.
– with AAP
