‘The historic fear of the front page of the Daily Telegraph really shouldn’t be shaping policy anymore’: New Schwartz Media CEO wants a diverse landscape

Independent media is crucial for the Australian landscape to help audiences challenge orthodoxy, not just as a counterweight to the concentration of media ownership, according to Schwartz Media’s editor-in-chief and new CEO, Erik Jensen.

Jensen stressed that independent media can “shake the country out of some of its worst impulses”. For example, it can build audiences that challenge the way politics and media are intertwined.

The shadow cast by Murdoch press in Australia has altered the conversation about local media, he argued, and he’d like to see a more diversely-owned landscape dispel this.

“It’s not diverse enough in terms of ownership… because of that, many politicians still react to the Murdoch media as if it is the media that is determining the outcome of elections,” Jensen explained.