‘Very much a hand-up rather than a hand out’: Albanese commits $180.5m to fund local news
The Albanese Government has committed $180.5 million to fund local media and community broadcasting outlets under the News Media Assistance Program (News MAP).
The Government will invest $153.5 million over four years to News MAP, with an additional $27 million given to the community broadcasting sector.
The AAP newswire service will be given $33 million over three years, while $3.8 million will be spend to develop a national media literacy strategy “to better equip Australians to critically engage with news and media”.
Governments inevitably fund inefficiencies in private commercial businesses where there is no demand. It’s time to get the government out of the market and let free-market economics decide