Meta, in partnership with Country Press Australia (CPA), announced awards in the Newsroom Sustainability and Digital Transformation Fund.
106 regional publications will get a share of the fund. The dollar amount of the fund hasn't been revealed.
“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” said Andrew Hunter, News Partnerships Lead, Australia.
“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.”
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: “This is a real win for public interest journalism in regional and rural Australia,” Mr Manuel said. “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.
“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."
Lauren Duffy, General Manager / Editor - The North Central Review, Whittlesea Review: “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.”
Andrea Graham, Director - Colac Herald: “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.”
Andrew Schreyer, General manager - Warragul Regional Newspaper P/L, publisher of the Warragul and Drouin Gazette: “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”
The fund was available to Country Press Australia members only.
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