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By Claire Stuchbery
Not-for-profit journalism has a crucial role to play in the battle against misinformation and dis-information, says Claire Stuchbery, executive director of the Local and Independent News Association.
2024 was a bumper year for democracy around the globe with 74 countries taking to the polls in an election supercycle.
Here in Australia, we have watched increasing polarisation of communities, encouraged by partisan media and stoked by a swirling mass of misinformation and disinformation that is becoming increasingly difficult to identify now that generative AI has joined the ruckus.
Media are no longer viewed as gatekeepers of information. Instead, the digital space has been flooded with unverified, harmful, sensationalised or simply unnecessary and distracting information, becoming not so much a competition of the most considered or reputable findings, as a room full of the loudest and sometimes richest voices.
Governments themselves, whose very existence is threatened by these anti-democratic outcomes, have added to these murky floodwaters, seen in recent years making baseless accusations of fake news levelled at reputable media outlets, and slyly disguised PR campaigns (troubling media reports detailed accounts of political parties distributing fake newspapers promoting their candidates in the 2024 UK general election).
Unsurprisingly, audience perceptions of the media have been affected over time. This has led not so much to greater media literacy and healthy scepticism, but rather to a deep distrust in the media (not to mention governments and other authorities), often not synonymous with the editorial quality of the publication and its fact verification processes.
While the alarmingly rapid closure of Australian newsrooms has stabilised somewhat in the past year, Australia remains one of the most concentrated media markets in the democratic world. Editorial choices made by very few individuals have significant influence over the information available for readers to base their voting and life choices on.
Embedded within the communities they serve, journalists at local news publications are uniquely positioned to counter misinformation and disinformation and share critical information during emergencies, including increasingly common extreme weather events.
Local news organisations cover emergency preparedness in the lead-up to summer, informed by local knowledge and community connections. Following disasters, when other media have quickly moved on to the next developing news event, local news organisations are there to report on the clean-up, the community meetings, the business re-openings, the road repairs status, the consultation processes and the stories that unite us.
Similarly detailed coverage of local councils, elections, businesses and other leaders is crucial to the flourishing of local democracies.
"In the battle for the truth there’s no time to lose."
The value of a diverse news media landscape was highlighted during the covid pandemic, when localism took on a new level of importance in our day to day lives.
Yet this role is hampered by the rise of misinformation and disinformation spreading during times of crisis, disrupting the type of nuanced political discourse that allows us to find solutions to shared challenges.
One increasingly common form of misinformation is the distribution of fake academic papers, complete with reputable branding. For example, as debate over proposed windfarms offshore in the Illawarra region raged last year, a report circulated in social media forums claiming the proposed turbines would disrupt the migration of whales along the NSW coast.
Local news publisher the Illawarra Flame investigated and found the report, supposedly published by the University of Tasmania was fraudulent and the university had no such study or even department.
There is an increasing role for news services in identifying misinformation and disinformation as it begins to circulate in local communities, fact-checking sources, verifying information and presenting it with transparency and accountability in a manner that allows people to form their own views and develop the media literacy skills needed to scrutinise information independently.
Understandably, audiences are fatigued by the constant barrage of bad news and are seeking ways to contribute towards positive actions, but news services are beginning to take on constructive roles in communities to help foster conversation and bring out solutions to common problems.
Local Toronto news publication the Green Line provides an excellent example through its Action Journey program. Each action journey is sponsored or supported by a grant or partnership and runs over four weeks; it includes an explainer, a long-form investigation, an event for discussion and publication of the most popular solutions and ways for audiences to take action. Topics are non-partisan and based on the pillars of liveability that affect everyone: food security, housing, transport, employment, healthcare, education. The aim is to help readers better care for the city they live in and/or each other.
With support from funders and partners, the 135 newsrooms that make up the not-for-profit Local and Independent News Association (LINA) are eager and well-placed to provide similar programs within their respective communities around Australia.
These newsrooms are already producing public interest journalism that upholds strong editorial standards, and their success is bucking industry trends.
In 2023-24:
Notable changes to income sources include a jump in reader contributions from 8% in 2023 to 45% in 2024, primarily attributable to the Our News, Your Voice campaign and upskilling program.
While the business model for running local news service has never been under more pressure, the contribution local news makes within communities continues to grow in response to emerging needs within local regions.
These newsrooms are contributing to their communities through relationships with local partner organisations and by amplifying voices and stories in other forums such as academia, government and national media.
Newsrooms are not places for the faint-hearted, but they are places of hope within an industry that has been struggling through its own existential crisis and technological transition.
So, who is helping? The Australian Government recently announced its News Media Assistance Program (News MAP) (coming into effect in 2025-2026) and a renewed news media bargaining incentive intended to bring tech companies to the negotiating table to pay for news content that fills feeds.
However, the details of both programs remain works in progress with implementation on the horizon and an election in the interim.
Despite recommendations from the Productivity Commission that access to deductible gift recipient (DGR) status be expanded to include public interest journalism, the government is yet to implement recommendations of the Commission's inquiry into philanthropy.
This is acting as a handbrake on the development of a not-for-profit news sector, which has been modelled so successfully overseas, and leaving the philanthropic community to partner with intermediaries such as industry associations to strengthen civic engagement and solutions-journalism through public interest reporting.
While we don’t know what type of fresh crisis 2025 might throw our way, we do know there’s an election ahead and there are lessons to be learned from 2024 in the fight against misinformation and disinformation.
In the battle for the truth there’s no time to lose.
Claire Stuchbery is executive director of the Local and Independent News Association (LINA) and has a background in community and First Nations media policy.
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