As part of our ongoing work with the Valuing News project, we are investigating the wide range of subsidies that nations are using to not only support their media ecosystem but also evaluate it and guide it to the outcomes they would like to achieve. While Australia has had its own takes on such subsidies, providing some funding for cadets and regional journalism, other nations take a far more expansive and robust approach. These countries provide funding that specifically targets goals like media diversity, education, or democratic functions that demonstrate the range of benefits a media system can provide as well as the different shapes it can take.
One of the key lessons from this investigation has been how the media system these funds are supporting extends beyond the simple reporting of current affairs or warnings about some impending concern. For instance, media subsidies in Belgium and South Korea encourage media professionals to foster media literacy directly with students in the classroom from the earliest days of their education. Belgian support for postage of newspapers to rural communities plays the dual role of ensuring regional access to news and providing operational funding for the postal service. Support for indigenous news in New Zealand and Norway not only provides for diversity in the media but also helps these people communicate with their communities, preserving language and heritage while attending to local concerns. Placement of government notices in UK and South Korean newspapers simultaneously provides funding for media organisations and helps government services perform their functions.
Media, by its very name, occupies a middle space, and the support mechanisms that we have seen in many countries exemplify this. While there are concerns that such government intervention in the media can raise political issues, research has found the opposite can also be true – that a well-supported media system is an independent media system, while a struggling media system is one more beholden to influence. It is no coincidence that the top-ranked countries for media freedom engage extensively with these subsidies. The research suggests that, while media subsidies can provide existential assistance to journalists and journalism, they will also impact on the larger community and can be specifically targeted to play these roles. Risks of corruption and undue political influence are genuine, but the randomised audits and reporting used by Norway or the reliance on external groups to mediate funding in Belgium are just some of the examples of how these challenges can be mitigated. These subsidies offer valuable blueprints for policymakers seeking to not only improve their media systems but also realise the broader benefits that media can achieve.
Tim Koskie, CMT Researcher