Closer to Home, Louder Than Ever: The Case for Independent News

By CLAIRE STUCHBERY

Across the globe we’re seeing an increasing level of polarisation in politics. But is that reflective of what’s going on in our communities? Much of our media landscape would have you think we’re fighting with our neighbours, where the reality for most of us is that we just want to know what’s going on from someone we can trust and we’re quite capable of making rational and logical decisions about the issues that impact our lives from there.

That’s what public interest journalism does. It tells us something about where we live, the topics we care about and the people in our communities. Without it, we’re just people living in the same general area. News helps us understand each other’s perspectives, when gathered, analysed and summarised under professional editorial standards—things like accuracy, transparency, fairness and accountability.

The International News Media Association (INMA) recently published a piece about the difference between news and journalism that resonates with me in the lead-up to the federal election. News, it argued, is reporting facts. Journalism provides context. Journalism is a process that includes verifying information, fact-checking, gathering views and feeding that information back to communities in a manner that helps inform, substantiate, sense-make and sometimes resolve topics that matter to us. It explores nuances and facilitates civic engagement so you can act on issues should you choose to.

That’s why the theme of the national fundraising campaign for the Local & Independent News Association (LINA) is Our News, Your Voice. Mosman Collective is the news service, but your voice is what matters in the public dialogue.

LINA member publishers, like Mosman Collective, are embedded in the communities they serve. Mosman Collective is part of a movement of 166 newsrooms across the country which collectively share over 2,000 stories per week that would otherwise remain untold. These are the voices of your community, represented in news media. These are the stories that connect us, reported by people with knowledge of the area because this is what we live and breathe. In a media landscape that’s increasingly syndicated with content produced by centralised services from Sydney, news services informed by subject-matter expertise are particularly valuable.

Right now, newsrooms across the country are providing information on a range of candidates to help voters make informed choices when they head to the polls on Saturday. This importance of this role has only increased with the proliferation of mis and disinformation, meaning newsrooms are increasingly relied upon to educate audiences in media literacy and act as an antidote to sophisticated campaigns that threaten democratic processes across the globe. Local and independent journalists are at the front line of this fight, combatting mis and disinformation in communities with verified and reliable news.

It’s no secret that undertaking this work is not for the faint-hearted. Business models sustained by advertising and user fees have weakened globally, while demand for local news content delivered via multimedia channels continues to expand. Over 9 million readers get their news from LINA member publishers each month. Audiences often expect to access news content for free, but journalism is not free to produce. This tension has seen the closure of newsrooms across the country. Now, newsrooms must call on readers to contribute to their work, after all, it is our news, but it’s your voice that’s represented.

Claire Stuchbery is the Executive Director of the Local & Independent News Association, an industry association supporting digital news publishers to produce high quality public interest journalism for the communities they serve.