Media industry leaders are expected to meet with the communications minister Paul Fletcher today to discuss how the government could support publishers as the pandemic deepens revenue woes.
The push for government support comes following news that Australian Community Media (ACM) joined Nine and News Corp Australia in suspending a number of its titles.
The regional media company will stop printing operations at four press facilities across Canberra, Murray Bridge, Wodonga and Tamworth until June 29, with a number of non-daily newspapers to be halted due to the pandemic.
Affected employees have been stood down until the end of June, with other employees asked to reduce hours and executives to take pay cuts. Daily newspapers, such as The Canberra Times, Newcastle Herald and The Border Mail, are not affected by the measures.
Off the back of the announcement, ACM executive chairman Antony Catalano says the pandemic has put further pressure on advertising revenue, and called on the government to provide support.
Catalano is asking for the “voices test” rule, which requires a minimum of four separate media companies in regional areas, and the “one-to-one market” rule, which prevents a TV broadcaster from operating more than one TV licence in a market, to be scrapped, according to reports.
Catalano says he has spoken to the communications minister about providing relief.
“I also put forward the case for financial support for the sector,” Catalano told The Australian.
“We cannot have a situation where communities around the country are left in the dark about the issues affecting our nation. I think the government could be forgiven for believing that media operators were posturing last year to force consolidation, but those of us operating these businesses knew the seriousness of the situation.”
The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) has also previously called for more government funding to support regional and small publishers. The union body labelled the government’s early release of $5 million as “wholly inadequate”.
Australia’s large publishers also took measures soon after the nation-wide lockdowns were imposed due to coronavirus. News Corp Australia suspended 60 community newspapers and cut jobs as its advertising revenue was hit. Nine also suspended a number of its magazines and liftouts in response to weak advertising.
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