News media



Report

Valuing diversity in news and newsrooms

This report is an overview of research findings from the 'Valuing Diversity in News and Newsrooms' project. The project seeks to ask questions about how audiences and journalists perceive diversity in the Australian news landscape. It also seeks to understand how journalists think about and...
Report

Supporting media diversity: Nordic lessons

This report examines how Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland have been able to cultivate a diverse media landscape, and how the lessons learned from doing so could inform the Albanese Government’s strategy on reforming Australia’s media.
Report

News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code: the Code’s first year of operation

The News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code (the Code) was a world-first initiative. As such, its prospects were uncertain when it took effect on 3 March 2021. The Code aims to address bargaining power imbalances to ensure that news businesses receive fair remuneration...
Report

Who gets to tell Australian stories? 2.0

This report examines the Indigenous and cultural diversity of Australian news and current affairs television media. Overall, the findings show that Australian news and current affairs programs fail to represent the society they serve.
Report

After the silence

Other authors
Mona Chatskin, Megan Deas, Tanja Dreher, Kristy Hess, Emma John, Samantha Joseph, Alanna Myers, Eli Skogerbø, Poppy de Souza, Lisa Waller
This report provides a snapshot of the wide-ranging work that has been undertaken for the 'Breaking Silences: Media and the Child Abuse Royal Commission project'.
Policy report

Misinformation and disinformation: an international effort using behavioural science to tackle the spread of misinformation

This paper outlines some key behavioural insights to help improve policy responses to stop the spread of mis- and dis-information.
Policy report

Suppressing the truth and spreading lies

This report explores how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is using a range of influence channels to shape, promote and suppress messages in the Solomon Islands information environment. Through an examination of CCP online influence in the aftermath of the Honiara riots in late 2021...
Report

Mainstream media use in far-right online ecosystems

This research looks at the ways that far-right social media users use mainstream media outlets for their ideological messages. Researchers analysed over 55,000 social media posts from far-right users on Facebook and Gab, and found that all mainstream media outlets, regardless of their political leaning...
Report

Should media coverage affect sentencing?

This report explores the approaches of Australian sentencing courts towards adverse media coverage and the significant consequences it can have for offenders. It reveals why and when media coverage might be a relevant sentencing consideration. The aim of the report is to draw attention to...
Report

Making big tech pay for the news they use

Efforts to rebalance the relationships between journalism and 'big tech' are focused primarily within three distinct, yet at times overlapping, policy areas: digital taxation, competition policy and intellectual property. This report analyses the evidence and justification for these various policies and examines the implications for...
Report

Digital news report: Australia 2022

This report is part of a long-running international survey coordinated by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, an international research centre in the comparative study of journalism based at Oxford University. This year’s report contains positive signs for the Australian news industry.
Interactive resource

Australian News Index

The Public Interest Journalism Initiative is collecting information about news producers from all around Australia. The Australian News Index is intended to help communities, researchers and policy-makers access and use their data.
Report

The future of regional newspapers in a digital world

Regional newspapers have been challenged for more than a decade by loss of revenue, loss of talent and rising costs that have forced many to permanently close their doors. The recommendations made in this report are an important starting point to address the ongoing viability...
Report

COVID-19: Australian news and misinformation longitudinal study

This study examines how and where Australians are getting information about COVID-19, which sources they find trustworthy and their experiences with misinformation. The report extends the understanding around the access, consumption and critical engagement with news and misinformation during the ongoing global pandemic.
Report

The shattered mirror: 5 years on

This report discusses how to save local news in Canada, and how to best adapt the Australian model of negotiated compensation between Google/Meta and the news industry.
Report

Report of the Inquiry into media diversity in Australia

Throughout this inquiry, the Committee heard significant evidence that Australia’s system of media regulation is not effective, citing the weakness of its mechanisms, its inconsistent governance arrangements and standards across platforms, and the lack of oversight for digital media.
Interactive resource

Australian Newsroom Mapping Project: local news producers

The Public Interest Journalism Initiative is collecting information about print and digital local news producers from all around Australia. This map of local news producers is intended to help communities, researchers and policymakers see where local news is flourishing, and where it might be struggling.
Report

News futures: research and policy roundtable

The News and Media Research Centre at the University of Canberra hosted the 'News futures: research and policy roundtable', on 3rd September 2021. This report highlights key themes that emerged from the discussion and provides numerous examples of research priorities that require attention.
Report

2021 Women for media report

This report explores the role of female voices in Australian news, those quoted in news stories, and those who wrote the stories. The 2021 report combines quantitative and qualitative analysis of more than 60,000 articles across the month of May 2021, plus in-depth interviews with...
Report

The future of work in journalism

Information industries have lost some 60,000 jobs in Australia in the last 15 years, almost half during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research report highlights the need for active policy supports to stabilise the media industry and protect the public good function of quality journalism.
Report

Translating tension: Chinese-language media in Australia

This report provides some insight into the published content of Chinese-language media organisations in Australia. It examines the production and representation of news stories covering bilateral tensions between Australia and China during 2020, the perceived links between Chinese-language media and the Chinese Communist Party, and...
Report

Understanding the role that philanthropy can play in supporting public interest journalism and how to enable it

This report draws on a series of interviews conducted with approximately forty stakeholders from news media organisations and philanthropy to provide insights into the motivations and mechanisms that impact philanthropic giving to public interest journalism.
Briefing paper

Bridging Papua New Guinea’s information divide

In the lead-up to the 2022 national election, Papua New Guinea must address its information gap by investing in the public broadcaster, writes Lowy Institute's Media and Communications Manager, Shane McLeod.
Report

Covering COVID-19: how Australian media reported the coronavirus pandemic in 2020

This report presents the findings of a comprehensive study of the volume, patterns and nature of Australian journalists’ reporting of the COVID-19 global health crisis during 2020.
Guide

Preparing for the unimaginable: guidelines for organisational response and staff support before, during and after disaster

Affected communities need long-term support far beyond what many disaster relief volunteering organisation can often commit to. This project explores the phenomenon of support before, during and after disaster (specifically the floods in Townsville and North West Queensland), focusing on organisational support for staff to...