Without wanting to be negative at the opening of this newsletter, it has to be said – the news business can’t catch a break.
After Meta’s decision to stop funding news organisations under the auspices of the News Media Bargaining Code, one of the few possible solutions to the continued news funding crisis has been shelved, perhaps only momentarily. Spooked by Donald Trump’s threats of tariffs on even friendly nations, the federal government is delaying close examination of the NMBC Incentives proposal – the one which would impose an ATO issued levy on certain digital platforms. Platforms which renew or start anew deals with news publishers to compensate for the content they use would be able to offset the levy. Michael is taking a look at what that delay means.
It’s not just funding that bedevils news media organisations. Trust and audience drift away from traditional media has been problematic for quite a few years now. With a federal election around the corner, our political leaders look to be doing what they’ve always done – drifting towards friendly outlets. And if they don't find those in traditional media, they look elsewhere. As we saw in the recent US election, star podcasters were a strong lure for both Donald Trump, who appeared on 14 major podcasts, including three hours with a very friendly Joe Rogan, and Kamala Harris who responded by hitting the airwaves on Alex Cooper’s Democrat friendly, Call Her Daddy, a podcast with the 2nd biggest audience after Joe Rogan on Spotify. The US trend looks like it could hit Australia.
Last week, Anthony Albanese spent more than an hour chatting to Abbie Chatfield, a reality TV star whose podcast It’s a Lot has a sizable audience too. It ranks number 1 in the category of ‘personal journals’ and ‘society and culture’. Unconstrained by journalism's requirement of impartiality, Chatfield and the PM chatted about how much better the ALP has been at the job of government than the Coalition has or ever could be. And Chatfield’s audience, more used to hearing interviews about body shaming, UTIs and Married at First Sight recaps, also got a decent dose of the PM talking about his impending marriage.
Audience reaction to the PM’s interview is worth noting:
“Abbie Chatfield interviewing the prime minister of Australia is incredible and such a power move on both their behalf’s”
“How refreshing to hear the PM answer questions without being interrupted, or being cut off, talked over and slapped with insults.”
“Listening to the Albo interview with Abbie Chatfield and its crazy how she did a better job of interviewing the PM than legacy media.”
On and on it went on X, formerly Twitter.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton also went for friendly outlets such as Sky, with Peta Credlin along with a soft interview on a big audience podcast, Diving Deep with Sam Fricker which broadcasts on multiple platforms, including Spotify, You Tube, Tik Tok and Instagram.
Australian politicians aren't yet doing a Trump and entirely sidelining traditional media for personalities with outsized audiences, but it's worth keeping an eye on whether the American trend picks up pace. Podcasters, as Maxwell Modell of Cardiff University has noted, use ".. supportive interactional behaviour: expressing agreement, displaying active listening (hm, umm, yeah, go on), and laughing and nodding along with politicians. This “softball” questioning can result in the host becoming an accomplice to the politicians’ positive self-presentation rather than an interrogator."
Also, this week, Alana is looking at the decision by Australian Community Media to move all its 65 daily and non-daily mastheads to only one print edition per week over the next seven years. Tamara is looking at instances of media stings gone bad following News Corp’s embarrassing attempt to catch out instances on anti-Semitism and Alena is looking at the voluntary Ethical Political Advertising Code to combat disinformation in the lead up to the impending federal election.
Monica Attard, CMT Co-director