2. 2
What matters to me?
67
56
51
45
42
37
36
36
33
31
29
29
28
26
24
22
4
2
Local news (e.g. about my region, city, or town)
International News
News about coronavirus
Political news
News about crime and personal security
Science and technology news
Sports news
Environment and climate change news
Fun news (e.g. satire, news that makes me lauch)
Business, financial and eonomic news
News about mental health/wellness
Culture (e.g. music, books, film, arts, etc.)
Lifestyle news (e.g. food, fashion, travel, etc.)
Entertainment and celebrity news
Social justice news (e.g. race/gender ineqaulity, LGBTQI+ rights,…
Education news
None of these
Don't know
People LOVE local news,
regardless of where they
live.
With this preference we
would expect that news
engagement with regional
publications is steady.
However…
Source: Park, S., McGuinness, K., Fisher, C., Lee, J. Y., McCallum, K. & Nolan, D. (2022). Digital News Report: Australia 2022. Canberra: N
3. 3
Despite strong interest in regional and
local news, there is clear trend towards
a decrease in consumption of digital
content from news providers.
This is driven by a reduction in services
but also in a reduction in relevance
and an increased preference for
national platforms and pages.
Regional or Local Newspaper Website Use 2016-2022 (%)
12
7
8
6
4 4
3
26
14
15
11 11 11
4
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Major City Regional Area
Source: Park, S., McGuinness, K., Fisher, C., Lee, J. Y., McCallum, K. & Nolan, D. (2022). Reuters Institute Digital News Report: Australia 2022. Canberra: N
4. 4
“Closures of local news outlets have had a greater
impact on smaller regional communities. Two-thirds
(67%) of those who live in LGAs with populations less
than 30,000 people said there was a decrease in
information about the local community and 33% said
they had fewer topics to share with friends. Losing a
news outlet, where there are few news services will
affect the community more, as they have fewer
alternatives.”
Source: Park, S., McGuinness, K., Fisher, C., Lee, J. Y., McCallum, K. & Nolan, D. (2022). Digital News Report: Australia 2022. Canberra: N
5. 5
National News Distribution
This map shows the number
of local publications available
in local government areas.
The lighter the green, the
fewer publications. The
darkest green areas only
have 1 publication with the
black areas having 0.
Source: Dickson G. and Arturi S. 2022. Australian Newsroom Mapping Project: Local news producers. Melbourne: Public Interest Journalism Initiative.
6. 6
State News Distribution
This map shows news
distribution in NSW and
Victoria illustrating
significantly reduced variety
of local journalism in regional
areas
Source: Dickson G. and Arturi S. 2022. Australian Newsroom Mapping Project: Local news producers. Melbourne: Public Interest Journalism Initiative.
7. 7
Population: 340,419 (2018)
Distance from Melbourne: 60kms
Size: 407 km2
Metropolitan News Producers
- Herald Sun
- The Age
Local News Producers
- Star News Group
- Leader South East
- The Local Paper
Casey
8. 8
A network of local news and information
websites across Canada. Publishing local
news, current events, obits, features,
24 community sites
35 sites with partners
4m unique monthly visitors
Independent public interest journalism
throughout the Canberra region, South
East NSW and the South West Slopes.
5 community sites
15 social properties
700k monthly unique monthly visitors
9. Get in touch
Gaven Morris
0406 296 400
gavenm@bastionagency.com
bastionagency.com
