Meta and the Country Press Australia (CPA) has announced the recipients of Meta’s Newsroom Sustainability and Digital Transformation Fund.
Across Australia, 106 regional publications will receive a share of the fund, with the recipients serving a broad range of local and regional audiences. No dollar amount has been revealed.
Andrew Hunter, news partnerships lead, Facebook Australia, said: “The Country Press Australia fund builds upon Meta’s ongoing work to support the growth of small rural and regional newsrooms in Australia, and we are thankful to CPA for their collaboration and partnership in designing this program.”
“From Colac to Cairns, our partnership with CPA is driving innovation and sustainability for the small newsrooms dotted around the nation that are doing the essential work of keeping their local communities informed.”
Dispersed by Country Press Australia to its member newsrooms, the three-year fund will support the digital transformation of regional newsrooms in Australia, providing further investment for sustaining the news ecosystem across the country.
The President of Country Press Australia, Andrew Manuel, welcomed the Meta initiative, saying it was the culmination of many long months of collaborative consultation, in which the digital platform was always a willing and enthusiastic partner.
He said: “This is a real win for public interest journalism in regional and rural Australia. And that is what this is about. It is not so much about the dollars but more importantly what it achieves in assisting publishers to continue to provide quality journalism.”
He said that, equally importantly, Meta had recognised the importance to communities, and their need for local media as being fundamental to their well-being.
“This really is about sustainability of journalism in small businesses all around regional and rural Australia, and with it, their vital engagement with their communities. For this we are indeed grateful,” Manuel added.
Examples of how recipients will utilise the fund:
Lauren Duffy, general manager and editor of The North Central Review, Whittlesea Review said: “To increase our production of public interest journalism, we need to increase readership and advertising revenue, and we believe improving our digital presence will do this.
“In order to grow in the digital space, we need someone to step into the leadership role, which will not only assist in the production of news content but increase website traffic, which will increase digital advertising,” she added.
Andrea Graham, director of Colac Herald said: “It is our responsibility as it has been for over 155 years to provide this local, professional and independent journalism to keep our community educated and informed.
“The funding would provide for two areas of our business: new camera equipment and maintaining editorial personnel will assist in continuing to provide our premium local news content that will feature on multiple channels including our print and digital editions, social media including Facebook and Instagram. Retention of staff and upgrading equipment allows up to move forward in both print and digital,” Graham added.
Andrew Schreyer, general manager – Warragul Regional Newspaper P/L, publisher of the Warragul and Drouin Gazette said: “This funding will be used to strengthen the circulation of our paid weekly newspaper, the Warragul and Drouin Gazette. A strong circulation is critical to the sustainability of a paid newspaper.
“The funding will allow us to employ additional journalist resources, add extra editorial content to our publication and print additional copies of our paper to distribute to new housing estates and secondary schools. The aim of this project is to secure new readers and subscribers. I’d like to thank the CPA negotiating team and Facebook for this funding. It will make a big difference to all successful applicant publishers and the industry,” Schreyer added.
The fund was available to Country Press Australia members only.