Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the media landscape is changing. Better keep up. Photo: Thomas Lucraft.
Traditional newspapers aren’t the be-all and end-all according to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who says news media has changed and the change should be embraced.
Mr Albanese’s comments came in response to a question about what his government was doing to protect traditional media companies struggling with the loss of millions of dollars in revenue since Meta stopped paying them for news.
He responded that while the Federal Government supported the news bargaining code and respected the role of local newspapers, there was a lot more media on offer.
There’s a whole world of digital, online-only, and social media outlets that are capturing and captivating a greater slice of the news audience than traditional media outlets.
“Now, media is changing. Legacy media isn’t everything,” the PM said.
“But it’s important and I respect the role that it plays, just like I respect new media as well.
“It’s well documented, I did 20 podcasts this year leading up to the election. I’ll do others.
“I’ll continue to engage because you have to engage with people where they are.”
The recent federal election campaign saw the rise of new media like never before, particularly with the engagement of influencers and social media personalities.
Labor outperformed both the Coalition and the Greens in its use of new media and influencers, with Mr Albanese doubling the engagement and achieving five times as many views on TikTok alone than the leaders of the other parties.
The term “influencers’ election” was coined during the campaign.
Podcaster Abbie Chatfield’s campaign interviews with the Prime Minister and Greens leader Adam Bandt were the subject of a complaint to the Australian Electoral Commission by Liberal Senator Jane Hume who was then a shadow minister.
The complaint was over the lack of authorisations being issued, but the AEC found that Ms Chatfield didn’t need such authorisations for her posts.
The decision vindicated podcasts and new media as a legitimate news source.
Original Article published by Chris Johnson on Region Canberra.
