The Public Interest Journalism Initiative is documenting the changes in news production and availability around Australia, from media companies to mastheads, newsrooms and stations. The data being collected for this map is open for public use so that researchers, policy-makers and everybody with an interest in securing a future for public interest journalism have access...

This is a report of results of a survey commissioned by the Public Interest Journalism Initiative from Essential Media.

This project sought to shed light on the nature of the editorial deficit in different kinds of Australian newsrooms, and to gain insight into how editors and newsroom managers would deploy additional journalistic resources, should they become available.

Much like the situation in Australia, the economic challenges confronting local newspapers—which are uniquely positioned to devote the time and resources needed to undertake in-depth, investigative, and public interest journalism—has contributed to significant coverage gaps in local news markets in the United States.

The findings in this study present a dilemma for local news. The data suggest that moving into more aggressive coverage of social and political issues could further polarise views — and possibly lead to an erosion of trust. However, these are not issues that local news organizations can abandon without abdicating some of their mandate...