The Centre for Media Transition’s regional news project started in late November 2017 and since then, the state of regional news media has become a more pressing issue.

This article finds evidence in the Australian context supporting the concept of a “fake news” contagion. Fake news language has emerged as part of Australian strategic political communications since Donald Trump’s election; however, its usage is not (yet) widespread among Australian MPs.

This snapshot study of news media critiques the inclusion and representation of young Australians (aged 4-18 years). The findings from this study suggest that young people are seldom given the opportunity to speak for themselves in the news.

Online media manipulators often use specific techniques to hide the source of the false and problematic information they circulate. The authors label this strategy “source hacking.” Typically used during breaking news events, source hacking targets journalists and other influential public figures to pick up falsehoods and unknowingly amplify them to the public.

The report is based on insights from digital tracking of the news consumption of young consumers in the United States and United Kingdom. The findings are underpinned by quantitative data from the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2019, which shows that under 35s are less loyal to traditional news brands and mostly prefer social media...