Study: Aussies Still Hungry For Quality Investigative Journalism (& Are Willing To Pay For It)
A new study conducted by Galaxy Research, commissioned by PR and social consultancy Red Agency, has revealed that despite recent mass redundancies across major news organisations, the majority of Australians are hungry for good quality investigative journalism, and more than half of us believe we should pay for it.
The research comes just weeks after Fairfax announced it was cutting 125 full-time journalist positions in a bid to help save $30 million across its Australian newspaper operations, and three months after the ABC announced the axing of 200 jobs as part of a major restructure.
An overwhelming majority of Australians (93 per cent) still want good quality investigative journalism, with 42 per cent of those surveyed saying that it’s important to understand what is happening in Australia and the rest of the world, and 51 per cent wanting to ensure that politicians are held accountable for their actions.
James Wright, CEO of Red Agency, said: “Our new research is a timely reminder that despite the considerable journalist cuts in recent years, there is still a very healthy appetite here in Australia for quality investigative reporting that delves deeper into the stories and issues that matter to us most.”
The results also uncovered that Australians are wary of ‘fake news’ and do not necessarily trust what they read online, preferring to get their news from traditional sources including TV news, radio and print newspapers, with just 3 per cent of Aussies believing all the news they read online is real, and a further 16 per cent thinking that most or all online news is fake.
Older generations were found to be more likely to believe most news they read online is real, while Millennials were the most cynical age group, with a staggering one in six believing most news online was fake or not completely true. Furthermore, 8 per cent said they weren’t confident they could tell the difference between real and fake news.
“While traditional news mediums are still considered to be the most trustworthy, the challenge for all media outlets is how to fund this, which begs the question: how do they get consumers to pay for something they have previously been able to access for free?” Wright said.
The answer could lie with advertisers, with 32 per cenr of Australians saying they would be happy to view advertising if it meant they received good quality news. Meanwhile, Millennials who have grown up with paid-for subscription services such as Netflix and Spotify were the age group most likely to say consumers should pay for access to quality news services (29 per cent).
Conversely, 32 per cent of Aussies think good quality journalism should be funded through a collaboration between all news providers to make journalism more efficient.
Around 1 in 10 of Australians think good quality journalism should be paid for by third-party funding through government, academia, industry and/or public donations.
“Australians are clearly looking for solutions to help safe-guard the future of quality of journalism in this country because, as this research has found, there is a highly engaged audience who are willing to pay for it,” Wright said.
“Frighteningly, with so many full-time investigative journalist positions being slashed, the risk of a saturation of fake news is very real, so it is up to news organisations to think creatively about pooling resources and sourcing additional revenue streams where necessary to help keep the fourth estate an important and functioning pillar in this country.”
Latest News
Giving Women A Voice: VMWare’s Heidi Savva On How The Tech Industry Can Support Women Leaders
In preparation for B&T’s Women Leading Tech awards, we’re speaking to some of the industry’s most inspiring female leaders. Heidi Savva is the Director for Dell Synergy ANZ at VMWare. Savva spoke to B&T about the importance of education to encourage women to join the tech industry, and why she wishes her mobile phone had never been invented! […]
Has Australia Missed The Tech Boom (And How We Can Catch Up)
Historically, Australia hasn’t been known for its tech start-ups. Despite the success of some outliers —Airwallex, Canva, Atlassian and Afterpay, to name a few—we’ve not been regarded as an entrepreneurial, Silicon Valley-style paradise. Five years ago, many of our best and brightest were moving to California, especially the Bay Area, where the seed money flowed […]
VERSA Launches “World-First” Website Delivering Hyper-Personalisation
This is promising a "world-first" which, admittedly, is something you don't read on B&T very often.
British Railway Passengers Mortified By Greyscaled Train Timetable Tribute To Prince Philip
It appears anti-monarchists & loathers of public transport scored double the fun following Big Phil's death last Friday.
The End Of Average: Why ‘Addressable Priming’ Is The Future
In this guest post, Wavemaker’s national strategy partner, James Boardman (pictured below), talks addressable priming and why it’ll be the end of average and the peak of creativity in media planning… For my entire career media plans have contained a large amount of average. I’m not talking about the quality of my planning skills (although […]
Apple “Not Against Digital Advertising” Despite Privacy Crackdown: Tim Cook
Apple’s new approach to digital advertising is set to go ahead in a matter of weeks, with advertisers warned to think about user privacy first. Previously, companies that sell mobile ads have relied on Apple’s IDFA (“identifier for advertisers”) as a way to identify specific users and offer targeted ads. But with Apple continuing to […]
QMS’ pDOOH Platform Proving Campaign Attribution
As programmatic digital out of home (pDOOH) continues to help advertisers enhance their existing campaigns, digital outdoor media experts, QMS, is already seeing results pay dividends with the latest campaign for a Tourism and Travel sector client delivering over 2,000 tourist visitors who can be directly attributed from their exposure of the pDOOH campaign. The […]
Apple Will Soon Help You Find Your Anything
For years now, Apple users have located misplaced iPhones and other Apple devices via the Find My app. In case you haven’t used it before, Find My tracks the locations of iPhones, iPads, laptops and even AirPods, meaning the whereabouts of each device will come up on a map if it’s ever lost. The app […]
CBA & Football Australia Partner To Elevate The Women’s Game
Commonwealth Bank and the sport’s governing body, Football Australia, announced today that CBA will become the official naming rights partner and bank of the national women’s team, the Matildas, Junior Matildas and Young Matildas from August 2021. M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment supported Commonwealth Bank to bring the partnership together with Football Australia, and looks […]
Facebook Australia Celebrates Ramadan With Calendar Of Content
Facebook Australia is celebrating Ramadan with a range of initiatives including Lives, Reels, IGTV and more. To launch the initiative, Facebook has partnered with a number of Muslim creators and organisations, who will be sharing their perspectives of the holy month on both Facebook and Instagram. Facebook says the 30 days of content is part […]
Netflix’s Challenge To Linear TV
Netflix’s real-time streaming service, launched in France, provides an unexpected alternative to television as the platform also announced a new deal with Sony. The program, called ‘Direct’, is a real-time service with a stream that covers five days, to prevent repeat programming. It was announced in November 2020 originally and rolled out fully in December […]
Grill’d, Melbourne Storm Launch Limited-Edition ‘Storm Burger’ For Fans
The Storm burger includes the chicken wing, grapple tackle & three free ones in a brown paper bag when no one's looking.
Seven West Share Holders Allegedly Not Told Company Funds Were Lent To Ben Roberts-Smith
There can be only one winner in this whole Ben Roberts-Smith saga & that's the lawyers. And the lawyers' BMW dealership.
Twitter Users Spot Unexpected Photobomb In Little Mix Star’s Picture
This has a Twitter photobomb with a Little Mix Star. Don't worry, it's fully translated for the over 30s in the article.
Malcolm Turnbull Calls News Corp “The Most Powerful Political Actor In Australia”
Malcolm Turnbull declares revenge is a dish best served cold. And this latest attack has the Streets Viennetta about it.
The Economist Intelligence Unit Launches “EIU Viewpoint”, Political And Economic Analysis Platform
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a division of The Economist Group, has announced the launch of “EIU Viewpoint”, a new digital product that combines the EIU’s expert political insights, policy analysis, and economic outlook with forward-looking forecasts and proprietary data. “EIU Viewpoint” helps businesses, academics, governments, and financial institutions stay ahead of the shifting global […]
ITF Finds Significant Disparities Between How Men’s & Women’s Elite Sports Are Described
Study finds major discrepancies in how men's & women's sport is called. Ray 'Rabbits' Warren has declined to comment.
Hospital Research Foundation Continues Fight Against ‘The Beast’ In Latest Work Via KWP!
Adelaide-based creative agency KWP! brings more than one hundred volunteers together in an onscreen battle against life threatening diseases for the sequel to The Hospital Research Foundation (THRF) Group’s ‘Together Fight’ campaign. Two 30-second TVC’s feature the return of ‘The Beast’, who comes up against a young patient and army of real-life patients, researchers, staff […]
Hamish & Andy Oust Kyle & Jackie O From Top Three Most Popular Podcasts
B&T would love to report that some fresh, new talent had topped the podcast rankings, but alas it's the same old shit.
Blis Launches Playbook ‘Preparing For A Privacy-First World: Your Personal Guide To Getting Impersonal’
This comes with a downloadable playbook. Admittedly, not as a good as a downloadable pizza voucher, but nonetheless.
NEFF Appliances Launches First-Ever Aussie Campaign Via Keep Left
Home appliance ads celebrate the joy of home cooking, which really isn't as slothful as the sheer laziness of Uber Eats.
Archibald Williams Wins atWork Australia Account, Launches New Employment Services Campaign
Archibald Williams snares employment services atWork's creative. Hasn't quite found the time to start working on it yet.
Shopify Partners With The Peers Project To Support Millennial Leaders Podcast
Do young, high-achieving Millennials give you a bad case of the willies? You're completely exempt here.
Monday TV Wrap: Dancing With The Stars Loses Viewers Post-Premiere
Schapelle joins Roxy's husband and Mark Wahlberg in proving a stint in the slammer no impediment to career success.
Beckham Goes Floral & Chucks Donuts In Slightly Dangerous Debut For Maserati
Becks again proving he's got the Midas touch. We mean for advertising things, not necessarily as a football striker.
Increasing Presence Of Audio Prompts Launch Of S&W Sonic Branding
Globally awarded Sydney sound-house Smith and Western have officially launched a new audio branding agency, S&W Sonic Branding.
Barilla & Publicis Italy Show The Healing Power Of Pasta In New Global Campaign
Barilla Pasta unveils beautiful new spot that also works as a subtle F-you to Doctor Atkins and his fabled diet.
Colin Jowell Joins DDB’s Tribal As Its First Chief Strategy Officer
Colin Jowell joins Tribal as its very first chief strategy officer. Which, if anything, means no handover period.
InMoment Accelerates Asia-Pacific Growth With Appointment Of Carl Kimball As VP Sales
Carl Kimball appointed InMoment's VP of sales. B&T understands that's vice president and not very pushy.
Initiative Melbourne Wins Plush Sofas’ Media
Initiative Melbourne wins Plush Sofas' media, but not before cutting the tags off the office's existing sofas.
