Adrian Roeling, Chief Operating Officer, Hatched
What do the Victorian Big Build scandal, the Robodebt scheme and the cover-up of child sexual abuse in the Catholic church have in common?
They were all seismic issues uncovered by journalists from independent Australian media organisations, leading to royal commissions and institutions being held to account.
In recent months, Nine’s Nick McKenzie has led the charge in exposing the Big Build scandal. If you haven’t been following along at home, Nick’s reporting revealed rot at the heart of the state’s road and rail infrastructure project. Through meticulous reporting, it came to light that government officials were warned of corruption within the scheme but allegedly did nothing to stop it, despite the cost reaching an (allegedly) outrageous $15 billion, which has come from taxpayers’ pockets.
Thank God for Nick McKenzie. Without him, we would still be in the dark about all of this, and nowhere in terms of building reform.
Why should you care?
The advertising industry, whether we like it or not, plays an important role in supporting Nick and his fellow independent journalists to uncover and break stories like these.
With the exception of investigative journalist legend Chris Masters – who worked for the ABC most of his career – Australia’s most powerful investigative journalists, including Kate McClymont, Adele Ferguson, Laurie Oakes and Lenore Taylor, have worked for independent Australian commercial media companies.
Australia’s biggest scandals of institutional corruption, abuse of vulnerable people, financial misconduct, government deception, corporate misconduct and systemic regulatory failure, almost always follow the same pattern.
First, the issues are exposed through independent, investigative journalism. Next comes public outrage. A Royal Commission tends to follow before there is finally reform.
What happens to Australian journalism if advertisers stop advertising with Australian media companies?
The funds dry up, and we can forget about uncovering corruption and social injustices.
Is the government going to step in?
Would they fill the financial void to ensure investigative journalists can continue to hold people – including those in government – to account?
Probably not, and would we even want this to happen?
It goes without saying that the Australian media also plays an important role in producing content that shapes our unique Australian culture. And don’t forget local media owners pay tax in Australia and create jobs for Australians. The value of this is immense.
Of course, advertisers are under pressure to deliver business results. Likewise, it is the priority of media agencies to ensure media strategies are in our clients’ best interest; to drive optimal short and long-term business results.
Investing in Australian media at the expense of business performance is not feasible. For advertisers or agencies.
We can have our cake and eat it too
For the good of the Australian media and, in turn, our society, advertisers and agencies need to support Australian media owners.
Let’s start by ensuring they are given every opportunity to respond to marketing challenges and media briefs. They may not make the plan, but at the very least, they should be given the opportunity. And critically, given feedback to ensure they can improve where needed.
It’s also our responsibility to ensure we are evaluating the impact media plays on delivering incremental business results. Are you planning and buying media based on vanity metrics that might look good on paper but aren’t actually moving the needle?
We all need to focus on media that delivers accountability and incrementality, not just low-cost countability. Gaining attention and creating impact to build brands in brand-safe environments is critical for effective media campaigns, and it’s something Australian media companies are very good at.
If the Big Build scandal tells us one thing, it’s that now, more than ever, we need people like Nick McKenzie. Independent Australian journalists and the organisations they work for matter. And we’re in a unique and privileged position to do something about it.
Adrian Roeling, Chief Operating Officer, Hatched. Image: supplied.