Australia's biggest local news survey reveals readers' passion for print

The biggest survey of local news audiences in Australia, conducted as part of the 'Media Innovation and the Civic Future of Australia’s Country Press' project, reveals the passion people have for their local newspaper and their desire for a much bigger say about its future. The Australian Research Council-funded project involves researchers from Deakin and RMIT universities with the support of Country Press Australia.

The findings come as country newspapers have struggled to survive the pandemic and dwindling revenue streams. The survey asked almost 4200 Australian country press newspaper readers in rural, regional and outer suburban areas about the role of local newspapers within their communities and their ideas for innovation within the sector.

Key findings include:

• There is continued strong demand (and passion) for the printed product in rural and regional Australia. In fact, the majority of audiences prefer a printed newspaper, with younger generations also part of this trend. Country Press readers overall are 2.6 times as likely to read their local paper in print than in digital format.
• Audiences overwhelmingly view a printed copy of their newspaper as an essential service for their community. This accords with our previous research that has advocated for recognition at the policy level of the vital importance of the printed paper.
• 94 per cent of respondents say they should be invited to have a say about government policies and decisions affecting the future of local newspapers.
• 61 per cent of respondents say policies that affect the future of local newspapers would influence the way they vote at the next federal election.

Other findings include:

• Audiences indicate they are five times as likely to go directly to a local news website for their local news than Google or Facebook, and almost 10 times as likely to go to the local newspaper website over a local council website for their local news and information. Surprisingly, just five per cent of younger audiences say they mostly use social media to find out about local news.
• Audiences believe local newspapers should be collaboratively funded by a range of relevant stakeholders including media companies, advertisers, subscribers, government and philanthropy to ensure their future.
• While some media lobbyists and academics in Australia and internationally have called for newspaper subscriptions to be made tax deductible, 71 per cent of respondents are not in favour of such initiatives.
• Audiences overwhelmingly indicate any additional funding for local news should be directed to employing more local journalists to report news (71 per cent), over increasing digital connectivity (13 per cent) and digital innovation products (17 per cent).

Project leader Associate Professor Kristy Hess, from Deakin's School of Communication and Creative Arts, said the voices and perspectives of everyday audiences were often missing in policy discussion about the future of local media and people had offered innovative ideas to support their future.

"It's clear that the local newspaper really matters to Australian audiences. Personally I don't think that was ever in doubt, but we can see from this survey just how passionate readers are about the sustainability of news that provides good quality local content and keeps them informed about people and happenings in their community," Associate Professor Hess said.

The survey is part of a three-year project that aims to develop and road-test a new map to support local news media in the digital era.

Almost 30 per cent of Australia’s population, close to eight million people, live outside major cities in rural and regional areas less well serviced by the media than their urban counterparts.