A 'new deal' to support news?

The 2026 Digital News Report was released this week by the University of Canberra. Monica gives us a report on some of the highlights below.

Measuring our preparedness to pay for news is a key theme the DNR has been charting for the last decade. Over that same period, other ways of supporting the news have also emerged. Digital platforms, international media and the rise of influencers and content creators have all challenged traditional business models. It’s not surprising that the industry has sought government support in the form of direct funding as well as a legislative scheme known as the News Media Bargaining Code. The most recent version of this is the proposed News Bargaining Incentive, which we spoke about in our most recent newsletter. But the conduct last week of one of the likely recipients of NBI funding has led me to question its entitlement to this form of public support.

On Monday and Wednesday last week, The Sydney Morning Herald ran ads for Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party across the bottom of page 1 of its print editions. Many of us have probably seen the party’s pleas for ‘a new deal’ in which it spruiks everything from a 25% tax on the export of iron ore to an increase in pensions funded by the abolition of the NDIS and net zero. But these ads went further. In the usual yellow and black design, they read: “Smash the Labor and Liberal Una party”. This seems to me to cross a line, but it’s hard to identify which line.  It’s not incitement to violence, and because it’s an ad, we don’t assess its performance against a set of standards as we do for news reports and even commentary such as cartoons – as seen in Alena’s discussion below about last week’s Australian Press Council finding that the same organisation, Nine Entertainment, breached one of the Council’s rules when it published a cartoon by Cathy Wilcox earlier this year.

And yet, the language in the Palmer ad is extreme. When Treasury published its consultation paper on the development of the NBI, it explained that payments under the levy “would be for a clear and valid public purpose: ongoing investment in news and journalism in Australia”. Treasury said, “This reflects the important role that news and journalism play to support a healthy democracy, keep local communities connected and promote social cohesion.” That’s something many of us would support, but it seems in this case the Herald is partnering its news and journalism with ads that undermine this very purpose. And it follows the dismal practice exposed last week by Media Watch where the same company, Nine Entertainment, promoted Sports Bet during an editorial segment on the Today program.

At CMT we’ve consistently argued that a substantial public policy intervention like the NMBC or the NBI to support news should bring with it a greater commitment to media standards. The evidence is mounting.

 Finally, an update on my item from last week. I mentioned the criminal conviction of a man in Victoria for sexual assault committed against two school girls in the 1980s. After publication, and after speaking to the journalist Nina Funnell, I made a few amendments to my article to provide additional contextual information, to correct an error, and to respect survivor rights and interests. In keeping with that approach, I’m not naming the man, who has now been sentenced. 

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Links

Digital News Report 2026 https://apo.org.au/node/333994  

Australian Press Council adjudication: https://presscouncil.org.au/document/1859-complainant  

Treasury consultation paper on the News Bargaining Incentive: https://consult.treasury.gov.au/c2025-718159  

Media Watch story on Today and Sportsbet: https://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/episodes/sportsbet/106773492