Major media no longer sways federal elections: report

The days of major mastheads having sway over the voting public with editorial endorsements are over, according to a new report from the Australia Institute.

The report shows the dwindling impact of media endorsements in Australian federal election campaigns, claiming the two most recent campaigns mark a turning point in Australian media.

In the 1950s, there were 15 daily newspapers in the capital cities, with 10 different owners. Today there are 10 newspapers, with just four owners. While this concentrated ownership means that over the past few decades, scoring a newspaper endorsement has been a lot more important for candidates, the rise of social media, digital news outlets and general fragmentation of audiences has rendered the endorsements useless.