The Digital News Report (DNR): Australia 2020 released by the News and Media Research Centre (N&MRC) from the Faculty of Arts and Design at the University of Canberra found that of the over 2000 adult Australian news consumers surveyed, 76 per cent would miss their local newspaper if it went out of business.

The report also found 79 per cent would miss their local TV news, 81 per cent would miss their local radio news service and 74 per cent would miss local online news offerings.

Lead author of the report Associate Professor Sora Park said the findings were important in light of recent closures of regional media outlets nationwide due to COVID-19.

In May News Corp announced that 76 of its community and regional newspapers would become digital-only mastheads and another 36 would no longer be published.

In April publisher ACM, which owns The Courier, temporarily suspended the printing of a number of non-daily newspapers.

"Our findings identified that local newspapers are the main source of information for over half of regional news consumers," she said. "In regional Australia, a lot of people rely on the print edition of newspapers rather than online, so all these closures of regional newspapers are affecting how people take in news.

"If they close, disadvantaged groups will be hit hardest, especially the elderly, those who are not online or have poor internet connection. I think it's extremely important that each community has its own voice and its own news source."

These sentiments were echoed by Senior Research Fellow at Melbourne University, Dr Denis Muller.

He said that large-scale, worldwide news organisations simply cannot provide the local, vital community news updates needed in regional areas.

"It's absolutely crucial, social media and the big global platforms won't tell you what's going on in regional areas," he said.

"You can't get that news anywhere else. If you haven't got your local newspaper telling you what's going on, you can't get it anywhere. Local papers tell the story of the local community... you're not going to get local golf club articles on Google."

This week Facebook told a parliamentary inquiry it wouldn't be significantly impacted if Australian news outlets pulled content from social media.

The tech giant said it and Google were being unfairly targeted by proposed new regulations to force them to pay for news content on their platforms.

"News content is highly substitutable and most users do not come to Facebook with the intention of viewing news," it said.

In its submission to the competition watchdog's draft code, Facebook dismissed concerns it shared an unequal market dominance with Google.

Facebook and Google dominate the digital advertising market, benefiting greatly from the content of news publishers on their platforms. For every $100 of online advertising excluding classifieds, $47 goes to Google, $24 to Facebook and $29 to other players.

IN OTHER NEWS

Dr Muller identified providing important community information and holding branches of power accountable as two important roles local newspapers played.

"A community needs information that is tailored to its own needs and its own interests," he continued.

"Looking at the COVID-19 pandemic, yes there is general news that may be available elsewhere, but for local warnings, information about where you can get tested, how many cases there are locally, all of that comes from community news.

"As well as that, without local news, there's a failure of accountability for people of power. Police, councils and local MPs all use the newspaper to get their messages across, but the paper can also hold them accountable and make sure they're doing the right thing."

As an example of the theory people want local news, The Courier, which has not ceased to publish during the pandemic has enjoyed the largest audience in its 153 year history.

The three months of the pandemic have produced consecutive record online months according to Google Analytics including a unique user audience of 1.2 million people in March. Subscriptions also continue to grow.

Dr Muller said communities across Australia will have to be prepared to pay for their news if local newspapers have a hope of continuing to operate effectively.

"The problem going forward is that people need to understand that journalism costs money," he said.

"There's been this very unfortunate idea that you can get news for nothing, but people have to get past that. They need to be prepared to pay to get access to news."

The reports also found that only 14 per cent of those surveyed continue to pay for online news, but more are subscribing.

Correction: An earlier version of this article should have said publisher ACM temporarily suspended the printing of a number of non-daily titles due to the economic impact of COVID-19 control measures. The number quoted was incorrect.

If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Courier, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling Ballarat's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great city.