“Hey Jake, what’s going on in Australia these days?” I hear you ask frequently. Gosh, stop bugging me! Just kidding, I’ll tell you. It looks like of the two major news organisations in the country, the one that isn’t owned by Rupert Murdoch is about to be taken over and restructured by an absurdly wealthy mining baron who’s posited via her cooperators within the organisation that the board should have control over editorial decisions! This is a very complicated debate and some are blaming the Australian public for not buying enough newspapers and therefore making Fairfax an easy target for a self-interested predator like Rinehart, some are blaming the board for being inept, and others venture that regardless of profitability, the organisation should have the integrity to ward itself against such obviously insidious ownership. Personally I think the whole system is broken and we should be shifting our support to philanthropically-funded organisations like The Global Mail, which has some content issues but at least provides supporting evidence for a sustainable new model. I’m worried that, if we haven’t yet, we’re shifting towards taking it for granted that the financial backers of a media organisation will seek to exert its influence for their political gain, when all we need to do is find more deep pockets that value good news over their financial interest. Easier said than done, obviously, but if there was ever a time to start looking, now would be it.
