‘Money for media’ | Prime Minister gives $67 million to journalists

I'm keen to know whether you knew that the Albanese government is now providing funding to Australian media companies.Are you shocked or are you not?Millions of dollars of taxpayers money is being diverted from your pocket to part pay thousands of journalists.Does this feel a little bit wrong?There's been very little said about the Journalism Assistance Fund, maybe because some big media companies have been on the receiving end of the assistance.Under the deal, they received $39 ,000 for each full -time equivalent journalist over three years, paid as a wage subsidy.

The program is run out of the office of Communications Minister Annika Wells.And Australia's biggest media companies have been cashing in on the scheme.For example, Nine Entertainment, got $16 million.7, run by Kerry Stokes, got $11 million.So that's $27 million just between 7 and 9, which is a serious chunk of change.Australian community media received $6 million.

They published the Canberra Times, the Newcastle Herald, and the Illawarra Mercury.The Star News group in South Australia copped $5 million.Now don't get me wrong.It's good money if you can get it.And as a journalist, I love the idea of people investing in media.

But should taxpayers be forced to fund private media companies, some of them being very big media companies?And could the financial connection lead to a perception that media companies are going soft on government?

Now, I'm not suggesting that's happened here.But you've got the PM and the Treasurer handing millions of dollars to media companies.A website called One News Australia has done a lot of homework on this.They've published the full list of who's getting what.And they've revealed that late last year the $67 million was snapped up by 184 newsrooms in just 28 days.So who got the money?

Well it reads like a who's who of the outlets that cover federal politics.Nine.Seven.The Conversation.Crikey.The Saturday Paper.

The Daily Oz and Mamma Mia.This means the Albanese government is part -paying the wages of more than 2 ,000 journalists.The payments run until March of 2028, but the money does not arrive as a lump sum.They're drip -fed against progress reports the government must be satisfied with.And nothing in the guidelines requires a funded outlet to disclose the subsidy on its website or in its stories.If an outlet chooses to mention it, it must use the government's wording that support from the program covers part of the cost of employing journalists, but does not influence the production of specific content.

So the denial comes pre -written.And that's what's been published by the website One News Australia.We've asked Annika Wells to let us know if there's anything in the story that's incorrect.Because there are some fascinating examples of what happens when free money is flying out the door.For example, Wire Media Group had its ABN registered just two days before applications opened.It registered its business name the day after and collected $85 ,000.

Business News Australia had its $128 ,000 grant published on December 17.Five weeks later, the company entered creditors' voluntary liquidation.Korean News had its $39 ,000 grant approved in February.Its Australian business number was cancelled by June.The radio business, ARN, got nearly $1 million.So that's effectively a government contribution to help pay the $100 million deal that they signed with Kyle and Jackie O. Another radio business,

SEN, got some money.So did the regional TV networks Prime and Win.Who else got some cash?Mumbrella, Women's Agenda, The Manly Observer, The Western Weekender, The Chinese Herald, Japanese Language Business News, Indigenous Radio and The Philippine Times.There are many more.and they're all disclosed on GrantConnect.

And there's no suggestion that these media companies have sacrificed their independence, but if you ask me, governments funding journalists who then report on those same governments is just asking for trouble.There's already a lack of trust in the political class and the mainstream media, so when it's discovered that money is flowing from one to the other, the conspiracy theorists will be absolutely peaking.By the way, the eligibility rules bar any foreign -controlled Australian entity from applying, so that locked out The Guardian, Daily Mail Australia and News Corp.And the story by One News Australia also says this, the scheme is Labor's answer to Meta walking away from news deals in 2024.that left a revenue hole.The fix it chose was direct.

Put part of the wages bill on the Commonwealth tab and write the rules on who qualifies.And the office of Annika Wells tells us that One News Australia is actually run by One Nation supporters.But as we've explained to them, we don't care where the information's coming from.We just want to know if it's correct.And I think Aussie voters will be keen to know that their taxes are going to wealthy media companies.