The importance of collaboration in meeting Australia’s local news challenges

The crisis facing local journalism is a national and international problem, with more than 200 local newspapers in regional Australia significantly cutting their service or closing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The complex state of the crisis is demonstrated by ‘local’ newspapers that have existed for more than 150 years and have a town’s name in a masthead yet have no physical infrastructure in that place, no newsroom or regularly visiting journalists and rely mostly on generic, duplicated content. At first glance, many towns appear well-served, but detailed analysis reveals a completely different picture. This commentary outlines how the authors have been working to understand how local news providers might be able to collaborate under the auspices of the main public broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, to support regional, rural and remote areas lacking access or areas vulnerable to losing access to quality local public interest journalism.